OTTAWA — After their impressive showing at the 2025 U20 Pan-American (Pan-Am) Championships, the Canadian U20 team is set to take on the world, Aug. 17-24, at the World Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria.

Canada will send a team of 18 athletes, plus coaches and support staff to the World Championships. Of those 18 wrestlers, 15 were on the Pan-Am team and captured a medal at that competition.

“We’re incredibly proud to announce this talented group of athletes representing Canada at the 2025 U20 World Championships in Bulgaria. After an outstanding showing at the Pan-Am Championships earlier this year—where every team member brought home a medal—we’re heading into Worlds with strong momentum and confidence. With 15 returning athletes from that medal-winning team, we’re excited about both the experience and determination this group brings to the international stage,” said Chris Woodcroft, High Performance Director, Wrestling Canada Lutte.

The women’s side will see three Pan-Am gold medalists in action. Coming off their wins earlier this year, Maple Ridge, British Columbia’s Agnia Krakovska and Calgary’s Annika Fines will look to build on that momentum. Krakovska, Coast RTC, will compete at 57kg while Fines, Dinos WC, will compete at 62kg.

Joining them will be another Pan-Am gold medalist in Maple Ridge’s Madisyn Grof. Grof, who won gold at the 2024 Pan-Ams, went on to notch a top 10 at the 2024 Worlds. With that experience, she will be looking to find the podium this time in Bulgaria.

The men’s side will be led by Brunswick, Ohio’s Kade Brown. Brown, a dual citizen who trains at Coast RTC, won gold at this year’s Pan-Ams at 70kg. It was his first international event after declaring for Canada. Now, he will look to duplicate the performance on the world stage.

Another name to watch among the men will be Abbotsford, British Columbia’s Michaeljeet Grewal. Grewal is a two-time gold medalist at the U17 Pan-Ams and captured a silver this year at his first U20 Pan-Ams. In 2024, he was also fifth at the U17 Worlds, so he’ll be looking to see how he stacks up against the new age group.

2025 U20 World Team

Joining the athletes will be the coaches and support staff. The group includes event coaches Shane Bradley, Frank Mensah and Gord Peavy, personal coaches Keith Gavin and Kanwaljit Kang, and physiotherapist Nadine Plotnikoff. Abbas Mohammadian will represent Canada as an official.

For live updates, schedules, and results, visit the official tournament page at: https://uww.org/event/u20-world-championships-0/athletes. The event will be streamed on UWW+.