Sinclair wins gold, Morales falls short at U20 World Wrestling Championship
Mizzou wrestler Aedon Sinclair earned a gold medal at the U20 World Wrestling Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Friday.
Mizzou wrestling’s Aeoden Sinclair stares off into the distance during a tournament. Sinclair won a gold medal at the U20 World Wrestling Championships on Friday in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Aeoden Sinclair
Aeoden Sinclair celebrates after winning the gold medarl at the U20 World Wrestling Championships on Friday in Bratislava, Slovakia. Sinclair defeated Russia's Akhmad Mukutov in the final 8-4.
Redshirt sophomore Mizzou wrestler Aeoden Sinclair took home a freestyle gold medal representing the United States at the U20 World Wrestling Championships on Friday in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Sinclair is the first Mizzou wrestler to win a U20 World Championships title since Keegan O’Toole and Rocky Elam in 2021. Sinclair did it in the 86-kilogram weight class.
He finished off his gold medal run with a victory over Russia’s Akhmad Mukutov, winning 8-4 after losing the first four points. Sinclair started off the tournament with a win over Askhab Khajiyev of Kazakhstan and followed it with victories over Iran’s Abolfazl Shamsipour and Japan’s Natsura Okazawa.
Sinclair will compete at the U23 World Championships starting Oct. 12 in Las Vegas. He can become the only Mizzou wrestler to win a U20 and U23 gold medal in the same year.
Incoming freshman Yandel Morales also competed at the U20 World Championships but didn’t have the same success as Sinclair. Morales represented Puerto Rico and did not place, but he did defeat Bulgaria’s Aleksander Delchev in a 15-3 technical fall.
Morales represented Puerto Rico at the U17 World Championships in 2023 and was a three-time Massachusetts state wrestling champion.