UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Three Penn State / Penn State Regional Training Center athletes competed at the UWW Senor World Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, this week. The team brought home two medals from the event, upping Penn State / Penn State RTCs total medal count for the U20 and Senior World Championships to seven. The U23 World Championships are in October.
Senior Levi Haines claimed a World Silver Medal at 79 kg. Haines began the tournament on Sunday and reeled off three straight wins to advance to Monday’s world Gold Medal bout. Haines took down Bahrain’s Zkhidir Saipudinov 5-2 and then posted a 10-0 tech over Bumgue Seo (UWW). He met Mongolia’s Suldkhuu Olonbayer in the semifinals and posted a 4-1 win to advance to the world Gold Medal bout. He took on Georgis Kougioumtsidis in the title match and lost a hard fought 3-2 bout. Haines claimed the 2025 World Silver Medal with a 4-1 showing in Zagreb.
True freshman P.J. Duke went 1-1 at 70 kg, competing in the Senior World Championships as a collegiate freshman. Duke began the tournament with an 11-0 technical superiority over China’s Shuang Chen. He then met defending world champion Nurkozha Kaipinaov of Kazakhstan and lost a hard-fought 11-7 bout. When Kaipanov was upset in his next bout, Duke’s tournament ended at 1-1.
Penn State RTC athlete Kyle Snyer won his fourth World Championship by claiming the 2025 Gold Medal at 97 kg. Snyder began the tournament on Monday with two straight wins to advance to the semifinals. He rolled to a 10-0 tech superiority over Venezuela’s Cristian Sarco Colmenarez and beat Poland’s Zbigniew Baranowski 5-0. In the semis, he roared to a 9-1 win over Japan’s Arash Yoshida to advance to the title bout (and clinch his eighth world medal in the process). Snyder met Amiri Azarpira of Iran in the Gold Medal match and used a late takedown to post a 4-2 win.
Team USA has been dominated by Penn State / Penn State RTC athletes during the U20, U23 and Senior World Championships, with 15 of the 30 team members hailing from and training in Happy Valley. The U23 World Championships take place in October.
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