Nebraska will have two current wrestlers competing for spots on the U23 World Team for Team USA as well as a 2027 commit pulling double duty and competing in both U20 and U23 this weekend.
The Huskers have former U20 World bronze-medalist Camden McDanel moving up to the U23 division, while sophomore Ethan DeLeon will be competing in U23 as well. Nebraska’s top 2027 commit — Mac Crosson out of Iowa — will be competing at 74 kg in both the U20 and U23 divisions.
The U20 division will take place on Friday,
while U23s will be Saturday and Sunday in Geneva, Ohio.
Nebraska has had some recent success in putting guys on the U23 World Team — most notably Brock Hardy in 2023 when he won a U23 World bronze medal. Peyton Robb and Mikey Labriola won the U23 Trials in 2021 to make the team as well — Robb went 1-1 at the World Championships, while Labriola was a late scratch due to injury and didn’t compete.
With McDanel, Nebraska has a good shot at getting another U23 World-Teamer.
Camden McDanel
U23 — 97 kg
Camden McDanel is quietly putting together a really good collegiate career — he’s a two-time All-American with two years of eligibility left and a 49-22 career record. McDanel took a grayshirt out of high school and trained at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs before starting at 197 pounds for Nebraska as a true freshman in 2024.
McDanel took 8th place at the NCAA Championships in 2025 and improved to a 5th-place finish this past season.
In freestyle, McDanel is a high-level prospects — while at the OTC in 2024, McDanel won gold at the Henri Deglane, a Senior-level tournament in France that year.
At the U20 level, McDanel won the US Open twice, making the U20 World Team in 2023 — he went on to earn a World bronze medal. He beat Kazakhstan’s Kamil Kurugliyev 8-2 to earn bronze — Kurugliyev is a U17 World champion, a U20 World silver medalist, and he’s set to compete at U23 Worlds down at 92 kg this year.
McDanel fell to Justin Rademacher in the U20 Trials final series both of the past two years — Rademacher went on to earn U20 bronze and gold those years. McDanel did get his revenge this season in college though, beating Rademacher of Oregon State 13-5 by major decision on the way to the NCAA podium.
Moving up to the U23 level likely won’t be an issue for McDanel who looks like the best guy in the field (you can view the U23 entries here). If he makes the team, consider McDanel a real medal threat. McDanel trains closely under Olympic bronze-medalist and current Husker assistant coach Tervel Dlagnev, one of the best upper-weight coaches in the country, so I anticipate McDanel being ready to go this weekend.
This year, the U23 World Championships are just a week before the Senior tournament, so I don’t anticipate many (if any) wrestlers pulling double-duty and competing in both like we’ve seen in years past.
Last year’s U23 gold medalist Arash Yoshida of Japan has moved up to the Senior level and secured a spot on Japan’s World Team. As has Kazakhstan’s Rizubek Aitmukhan who won bronze at U23s last year at 97 kg —Aitmukhan was a Senior World Champion in 2023 at the age of 19 and has previously won U23 and U20 gold, both in 2024. Both Yoshida and Aitmukhan are still U23 eligible, but with the schedules so close this year, you’d assume the Senior-level guys will be focusing on that tournament.
McDanel’s biggest competition will likely come from whomever Russia and Iran send. Russia has returning U23 bronze-medalist Soslan Dzhagaev, and Iran has former U20 World Champion Abolfazi Babaloo of Iran returning from last year’s U23 squads — but those spots aren’t yet decided either.
The Russian spot at 97 kg could be going to Takhir Khaniev after he was sent to the U23 European Championships instead of Dzhagaev. Khaniev dominated the field on the way to European gold. A former U17 World champion in 2019, Khaniev won a U23 silver medal at 92 kg last year but has since moved up to 97 kg.
Regardless, Russia’s rep at this weight will be a title contender.
As for Iran, Mahdi Hajiloueian looks to be the leader after a recent 8-0 win over Babaloo. Hajiloueian won U23 silver in 2024, while Babaloo placed fifth last year. Of note, Babaloo beat McDanel 5-1 in the U20 World semifinal in 2023 on the way to his gold medal.
But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, McDanel still has to navigate a field of 31 American wrestlers to earn the spot.
Mac Crosson
U23 and U20 — 74 kg
A top recruit for Nebraska in its 2027 class, Crosson will compete in both divisions this weekend.
Crosson most recently had an impressive U20 US Open run where he went 6-2, falling one win shy of the podium. Well before that, Crosson was a 16U Fargo National Champion in 2022 at 88 pounds — he then placed third at 100 pounds in 2023. In the Junior division in 2024 and 2025, Crosson made it to the round of 16.
Crosson has gone through a growth spurt since, having won a pair of Iowa 3A state titles — most recently at 165 pounds. Since the high school season ended, Crosson has won titles at both the Premier Night League Championships in freestyle and at Junior Folkstyle Nationals.
Friday’s U20 Challenge Tournament will have 10 wrestlers in it, and the winner moves on to face Jayden James, the U20 US Open champion who is sitting out to the best-of-three series. James was one win shy of Final X earlier this month, so he’s a heavy favorite to win the U20 spot here. Getting to the final series would be an accomplishment in itself.
In the U23 division, Crosson will face a crowded field (currently 137 wrestlers are registered at 74 kg) that includes All-Americans Casey Swiderski of Oklahoma State, Cross Wasilewski of Penn, Nicco Ruiz of Arizona State, and Ethan Stiles of Ohio State — as well as a number of Big-Board recruits.
Ethan DeLeon
U23 — 86 kg
Likely a depth piece this year who is solid in the room, DeLeon will be in the competition this season at 184 pounds for Nebraska. The Huskers brought in Lucas Cochran via the transfer portal here, but the former Penn State backup will be coming down from 197 pounds, so he may need some duals off throughout the season. DeLeon will be a prime candidate to get some dual action.
DeLeon went 6-7 this past season and has a 25-13 career record — all at 174 pounds — he’s 7-8 against DI opponents for his career. DeLeon did wrestle at 184 as a true freshman in his redshirt year, going 17-6 on the year (6-2 vs DI).
In freestyle, DeLeon most notably found the U20 World Team Trials podium in 2024 at 79 kg, placing sixth.
