LAS VEGAS – Multiple members of the Northern Michigan Greco-Roman Wrestling program competed at the U23 World Championships in Las Vegas this week, with each of them earning an individual victory. 

Kenneth Crosby (55 kg) opened his tournament with a hard-fought win over Azerbaijan's Farid Sadikhli, advancing on a 3-3 criteria decision. His run came to an end in the quarterfinals, where he was stopped by Barsbek Asankozhoev of Kyrgyzstan by a 10-0 tech fall. Because Asankozhoev was defeated in the semifinal round, Crosby was not pulled back into the repechage bracket.

Max Black (60 kg) started strong in the qualification round, securing a 5-1 decision over China's Dahua Xiong. Moving into the next round, he ran into Kubanych Arinov of Kyrgyzstan, who defeated Black by an 8-0. Arinov's subsequent loss in the quarterfinal round eliminated Black from contention for the repechage.

Landon Drury (63 kg) earned a strong opening victory in his first match, defeating India's Chetan Chetan 7-3 by decision. In the quarterfinals, he faced Turkey's Servet Angi in a high-scoring bout, ultimately falling 12-3. Angi was then dropped in the semifinals, which closed the door on a repechage path for Drury.

Also competing, former NMU wrestlers Otto Black (67 kg) and Mikey Altomer (87 kg) both put together solid runs in their respective brackets. At 67 kg, Black opened his tournament with a 3-1 victory over Ukraine's Imed Khudzhadze in the qualification round before falling 6-3 to Armenia's Yurik Hoveyan. Hoveyan was subsequently defeated in the quarterfinals, preventing Black from entering the repechage. Meanwhile, Altomer strung together two dominant victories at 87 kg, defeating China's Saimaiti Wajiti 8-1 in qualifications and shutting out Japan's Daichi Oka 9-0 before being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Norway's Martin Ljosaak.