NDSU Wrestling’s Jones Wins U20 Greco-Roman World Team Trials

GENEVA, Ohio – North Dakota State wrestling’s Shilo Jones won the U20 Greco-Roman World Team Trials this past weekend at the Spire Academy, and will represent Team USA at the 2025 U20 World Team Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria in mid-August.
 
After winning the 130kg U20 Greco-Roman National Championship at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas in April, Jones faced Trayvn Boger of Protos Wrestling Club in a best-of-three championship series at the World Team Trials for the right to represent Team USA.
 
Jones picked up an 8-0 tech fall over Boger in the opening match with six points in the first period before a final two-point score in the second. In the second match, Jones would secure the win with a 4-3 victory. Boger recorded a pair of one-point scores in the first period to take the lead, but Jones answered back with four points in the second period and held on for the win.
 
In the second half of the weekend, Jones wrestled in the U20 Freestyle World Team Trials, but dropped both of his matches, 6-0 and 4-1.
 
Ezekiel Witt picked up a third-place finish in the 55kg U20 Greco-Roman event. Witt started off his weekend with a 5-1 decision before falling in the semifinal. Witt answered back with a fall before a 6-1 win in the third-place match.
 
Kody Tanimoto also wrestled in the 55kg event, securing a 9-1 tech fall in his first match before falling 6-5 to eventual champion Nicolas Enzminger. Tanimoto fell in his first consolation match 7-1. Tanimoto and Witt also wrestled in the 57kg freestyle, with both wrestlers going 0-2.
 
Drew Blackburn-Forst competed in the U23 Nationals, also held at Spire over the weekend, recording a fourth-place finish in the 130kg Greco-Roman event. Blackburn-Forst reeled off three-straight wins to reach the semifinals, including an 8-0 tech fall, 7-3 decision and 11-8 decision.
 
After dropping the semifinal by fall, Blackburn-Forst answered back with a fall of his own in the consolation semis to reach the third-place match. He then suffered another defeat by fall, taking fourth overall. Blackburn-Forst added one more fall on the weekend in the U23 Freestyle Nationals. After an opening round loss 10-7, he recorded a 39 second fall in his first consolation match but suffered defeat in his next match to close his weekend.
 
With his win in the best-of-three finals, Jones will compete in two national events later this summer. Jones will first compete at the 2025 U20 Pan American Championships in Lima, Peru from July 10-12 after winning the US Nationals. The freshman will then head to the U20 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, with the event taking place August 18-24.