The 2025 US Open Wrestling Championships is set to go down April 23-27 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will feature many of the country's top wrestlers. The men's freestyle division will take place April 25-26, with the winner of every weight advancing to Final X. Check out the article below for a breakdown of some of the best college wrestlers currently entered at this year's US Open.

Luke Lilledahl, 57 kg - Penn State

Lilledahl finished his true freshman year at Penn State with a 26-3 record, a Big Ten title, and a third-place finish at the NCAA Tournament. Lilledahl is also a 4-time age-level world medalist, winning gold twice (U17 Worlds in 2022 and U20 Worlds in 2024) and silver twice (U17 Worlds in 2021 and U20 Worlds in 2023). Marcus Blaze also has solid results on the senior level with notable wins over Liam Cronin, Daniel DeShazer, Josh Rodriguez, and Brandon Courtney. Because of those past results, Lilledahl should be considered the favorite to win in Vegas. 

Lilledahl's win over Russia's Lev Pavlov in the finals of the 2024 U20 World Championships:

Jesse Mendez, 65 kg - Ohio State

Two-time NCAA champ Mendez is also a fantastic freestyle wrestler who brings with him a great resume to the US Open. Mendez has made three age-level world teams and won a silver medal at the 2023 U20 World Championships. Along with those results, Mendez placed 4th at the 2024 Olympic Trials where he defeated Joey McKenna, James Green, Nahshon Garrett, and Yianni Diakomihalis while only losing two close matches to Zain Retherford (3-2) and Joey McKenna (4-4). 

Mendez’s toughest competition in the field at the US Open is currently Joey McKenna, Real Woods, Josh Koderhandt, and Aden Valencia. I also expect Penn State’s Beau Bartlett and Nick Lee to enter in the coming days. Even in that field, Mendez still is one of the favorites to finish on top of the podium in Vegas.

Mendez's win in the 2023 U20 World Semifinals:

Beau Bartlett, 65 kg - Penn State

Bartlett could renew his rivalry with Mendez in Vegas and should be considered one of the favorites to win the 65 kg bracket. Though Bartlett never won an NCAA title, he still finished his career as a 3-time All-American, finishing second in 2024 and third twice (2025 and 2023). Bartlett is an accomplished freestyle wrestler as a 2021 U20 World bronze medalist and senior-level wins over Joey McKenna, Nahshon Garrett, Anthony Ashnault, Luke Pletcher, and Evan Henderson. Bartlett will be right in the mix with the top guys at this weight and definitely has the potential to come out on top of this bracket in Vegas.

Mitchell Mesenbrink, 74 kg - Penn State

Mesenbrink just finished a phenomenal NCAA season, where he won his first NCAA title by going 27-0 with an incredible 89% bonus rate. Mesenbrink is also a world-class freestyler and has accumulated three age-level world medals. Mesenrbink won a U20 world silver medal in 2022, a U20 world champ in 2023, and a U23 world bronze medal in 2024. Beyond those results, Mesenbrink finished third place at the Olympic Trials last spring by defeating Ladarion Lockett (13-3), Quincy Monday (12-1), and Jarrett Jacques (10-0) while only losing to Jordan Burroughs (8-3).

Mesenbrink's toughest test in Vegas will be David Carr who defeated Mesenbrink in the finals of the 2024 NCAA Tournament (9-8). They've never wrestled in freestyle but I expect a match that's similar to their NCAA final that's decided by a takedown or less.

Mesenbrink's run at 2023 U20 Worlds:

DJ Hamiti, 79 kg - Oklahoma State

Hamiti is coming off an incredible performance at the NCAA Tournament where he defeated Levi Haines and Keegan O’Toole to win the 174-pound NCAA title. Hamiti hasn’t wrestled freestyle much over the past few years but it’s worth noting that he was a Fargo champ in 2019 and lost only to Alex Facundo (4-3) and Michael Caliendo (7-7) at the 2021 Junior World Team Trials (the last time he competed in freestyle). 

79 kg is also one of the “weaker” divisions currently at the US Open. David McFadden, Carson Kharchla, Evan Wick, and Kennedy Monday are the top contenders. Hamiti is the only NCAA champ of that bunch and should be right in the mix to win this bracket.

Highlights of Hamiti's win over Keegan O'Toole in the 2025 NCAA Finals:

Parker Keckeisen, 86 kg - Northern Iowa

Keckeisen just concluded an incredible college career by finishing runner-up to Carter Starocci. Keckeisen was a 5-time All-American at UNI, finishing 1st (2024), 2nd (2025 and 2023), and 3rd (2021 and 2021). He hasn’t wrestled much freestyle over the past few years, but his college results prove he’s right up there with the top guys at this weight. Zahid Valencia and Chance Marsteller will likely be Keckeisen’s biggest obstacles in the way to winning the Open. While I believe he’s an underdog against those wrestlers, they’re fascinating matchups and will tell us just how close Keckeisen is to challenging for the world team spot this year.

Massoma Endene, 97 kg - Wartburg

Division 1 college wrestling fans might not be familiar with Endene but they likely will know his name after the US Open. Endene is a 3-time NCAA Division 3 champion, a junior college champ, and has been undefeated in college for 2 straight seasons. He was originally planning on wrestling for the University of Wisconsin last year, but opted to transfer back to Wartburg. 

Last year, Endene made the U23 World team by defeating notable D1 wrestlers Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) and Nick Stemmet (Stanford). Endene also has an incredibly entertaining style and hits highlight-reel moves in the blink of an eye. Other top wrestlers in the 97 kg field are Jay Aiello, Gary Traub, and Gavin Hoffman. I'd favor Endene over all of those wrestlers except Aiello, who won a U23 world bronze medal in 2021 and has some incredible freestyle wins on his ledger. There's also a good chance we see Kyle Snyder enter this tournament, which would obviously make things tougher for Endene. Regardless, Endene is a serious talent and I expect him to place high at this year's US Open.

These are the type of highlights you might see from Endene:

Aeoden Sinclair, 92 kg - Missouri

Sinclair just finished his true freshman year at Missouri where he accumulated an 8-4 record while redshirting. He recorded notable wins over Zac Braunagle and Isaiah Salazar, with his four losses coming against Dustin Plott, Stephen Buchanan, Wyatt Voelker, and Andy Smith. Despite that mixed bag of results, Sinclair is a phenomenal freestyler and defeated eventual NCAA runner-up Josh Barr twice last summer (10-0 at the U20 US Open and 5-3 at the U20 WTT). Sinclair ended up falling just short of making the U20 world team last year after losing to Barr in a best of 3 match series. Despite that, Sinclair should be a factor in the 92 kg bracket at the Open.

Sinclair’s biggest tests will be against established vets Trent Hidlay, Eric Schultz, and Mike Macchiavello. Because of those wrestlers in the field, I’m not picking Sinclair to win this bracket. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sinclair pulled off an upset or two.

Sinclair's win over Josh Barr in the 2024 U20 US Open Finals:

Nick Feldman, 125 kg - Ohio State

Feldman finished one match shy of All-American honors at the NCAA Tournament this year after losing to Isaac Trumble (5-3) and Ben Kueter (8-2). Despite those losses, Feldman is still one of the most athletic heavyweights in the country and should be able to make a deep run at the US Open. Feldman is also a fantastic freestyler and made a U20 world team in 2022 and then finished in fifth place at the U20 World Championships. He’ll be an underdog in Vegas with the likes of Wyatt Hendrickson and Hayden Zillmer in the bracket, but Feldman is capable of wrestling competitively against the favorites.

Special Category - High Schoolers To Watch Out For

• Marcus Blaze, 61 kg - Committed To Penn State

• Jax Forrest, 61 kg - Committed To Oklahoma State

Blaze is just a senior in high school and Forrest is still a junior, but they’re two contenders in a deep 61 kg field on the senior level. We dove deep into this weight in THIS PREVIEW, but it’s worth highlighting here how impressive these young competitors are. In the past year, Blaze finished third at the Olympic Trials (57 kg) and second at the World Team Trials (61 kg) while recording wins over Daton Fix, Nahshon Garrett, Seth Gross, Nico Megaludis, Luke Lilledahl, Nasir Bailey, Ben Davino, and Jax Forrest. Beyond that, Blaze also won a bronze medal at the 2024 U20 World Championships last summer while only losing to eventual senior world champ Masanoskue Ono (7-2). It is remarkable that Marcus Blaze is the favorite this year in Vegas in a field that includes Daton Fix, Seth Gross, Nahshon Garrett, Austin DeSanto, Nathan Tomasello, Nico Megaludis, Jax Forrest, Nic Bouzakis, and Ben Davino.

Blaze's win over Daton Fix:

Though Forrest lost to Blaze at the Olympic Trials, he’s still a real threat to win this bracket. Forrest won a silver medal at the 2022 U17 World Championships and already has several notable senior-level wins. He placed 4th at the 2024 Olympic Trials (57 kg) and 3rd at the 2024 World Team Trials (61 kg) while recording wins over Daniel DeShazer, Liam Cronin (twice), and Nico Provo. Every year we see Forrest improve and climb up the senior level ladder - this could be a year he takes out some of the established veterans in the 61 kg bracket.

Other Notable College Wrestlers To Watch At The US Open

Nico Provo, 57 kg - Stanford

Caleb Smeith, 57 kg - Nebraska

Beric Jordan, 57 kg - Oklahoma

Brendan McCrone, 57 kg - Ohio State

Sheldon Seymour, 57 kg - Lehigh

Nic Bouzakis, 61 kg - Ohio State

Ben Davino, 61 kg - Ohio State

Aden Valencia, 65 kg - Stanford

Josh Koderhandt, 65 kg - Navy

Jackson Arrington, 70 kg - NC State

Terrell Barraclough, 74 kg - Utah Valley

Carson Kharchla, 79 kg - Ohio State

Dustin Plott, 86 kg - Oklahoma State

Rocco Welsh, 86 kg - Penn State