OTTAWA—Wrestling Canada Lutte (WCL) is proud to announce the athletes, coaching staff and team officials that will represent Canada at the U20 World Championships, Aug. 14-20 in Amman City, Jordan.

In total, seven of the 10 athletes heading to the World Championships won medals at the 2023 Pan-American (Pan-Am) Championships, July 6-8 in Santiago, Chile.

“Following an outstanding showing at the U20 Pan-American Championships, WCL is sending 10 athletes to compete at the World U20 Championships,” said Chris Woodcroft, WCL High Performance Director. “With seven of our ten athletes coming off medal winning performances from the Pan-Ams, including Pan-American champion Karanveer Mahil, the U20 World Championships will be a tremendous test for our team competing against the best in the world.  This competition provides a valuable steppingstone prior to these young athletes making the jump to the senior level.”

At the Pan-Ams, the story belonged to Mississauga’s Mahil. The Hamilton Wrestling Club member had a great tournament culminating with a gold medal in the men’s 125kg weight class. Mahil, who also represented Canada at the Senior Pan-Am Championships this year, will now look to take those experiences to the world stage and capture another medal.

The men’s team will also see a trio of silver medalists from the U20 Pan-Ams look to earn another international medal. The group includes Winnipeg’s Sam Pereira at 92kg, Winnipeg’s Connor Church at 79kg and Mount Hope, Ontario’s Amaan Gulacha at 74kg.

On the women’s side, there will be three Pan-Am medalists looking to add to their collections at the U20 Worlds. Saskatoon’s Myah Phillips and Port Alberni, British Columbia’s Paige Maher each captured silver earlier this year with strong performances at the Pan-Ams. Stoney Creek, Ontario’s Serena Di Benedetto also comes into the event having won a bronze at the Pan-Ams.

2023 (U20) World Championships Team

Accompanying the team are the coaching staff and team officials. The group includes David Zilberman, Ahmed Shamiya, Sergey Beloglazov, Shane Bradley and Teresa Budwal. Curtis Leung will also represent Canada as an official.

For complete tournament information, visit the tournament website at: https://uww.org/event/world-championships-65.