The U17 world championships are taking place in Rome Italy July 25-31. Before the whistles blow and cameras roll let's take a look at some of the front runners in the team race and see how USAWrestling's rep at 110kg, Koy Hopke, stacks up against the latest Iranian HWT phenom. 

Since United World Wrestling has brought back this age-level world championship, the United States has historically had a very solid showing. Last year at the Cadet World Championships, the US finished in second place, edged out by a gold medal performance from India. At the time, Coach Kevin Jackson was at the helm of USA Wrestling‘s developmental program. He argued that the US still had the best age-level program in the world.

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Iran has become the “Minnesota University of international wrestling“ they are producing a long line of very successful heavyweight wrestlers. This trend does not seem to be stopping anytime soon. The reigning heavyweight world champion is Amir Zare. You can watch his final from the senior world championships last year in Oslo Norway here. Just below him on the Iranian ladder is a young man named Amirreza Masoumi who won a cadet world title last year beating Big Jim Mullen in the finals. The young man that seems to be next in line is U17 Asian champion Mohammadreza Lotfi. The US representative at that weight is Koy Hopke. Hopke is a Wisconsin native that trains at Pinnacle in Minnesota. The full technique breakdown of their matchup is above.