Bechtold Places Third at 2025 CLAW U.S. Open in U20 Freestyle
4/29/2025 1:43:00 PM | Wrestling
Las Vegas, NV - Dillon Bechtold finished third at the 2025 CLAW U.S. Open in U20 Freestyle at 92 kg in Nevada this past weekend. Overall, the Bison freshman went 8-1 as he climbed his way through the consolation bracket to take a spot on the podium.
Bechtold found two straight wins by tech fall to open the tournament taking down Wylan Snoody of the NOVA Wrestling Club 10-0 and Michael Calcagno of the Tar Heel Wrestling Club 12-2.Â
He then faced Connor Mirasola, a freshman out of Penn State who saw a successful first-season with the Nittany Lion's placing third in the Black Knight Invitational at 197 lbs and going 5-0 at the 2025 Southern Scuffle to win a title. Mirasola was a big recruit for Penn State as he won four-straight Wisconsin individual state titles and tied for fifth at the 2024 U20 World Championships in Spain prior to joining the squad. Bechtold lost by a 12-6 decision to Mirasola, which was the only non-finals match that the Penn State freshman didn't win by tech fall.Â
Bechtold was then sent to the consolation bracket where he would fight his way back onto the podium with six intense bouts. Bechtold rolled through his first two bouts winning by tech fall over Anthony Bruscino 12-0 and defeating Harvard's freshman, Hudson Skove, 11-0. Bechtold then matched up against Mason Ellis who fell in the quarterfinal round of the main bracket and defeated him with a 9-4 decision.Â
Next up for the Pennsylvania native was a trio of tough bouts with wrestlers that were huge recruits in Bechtold's class. First up was Lock Haven freshman, Tucker Hogan. Prior to making it to Lock Haven, Hogan posted a 155-5 record, was a two-time PIAA State Champion and a three-time PIAA State Place Winner and he had a solid first collegiate season going 22-8 overall. Bechtold defeated Hogan by fall to move on.Â
Bechtold then faced red-shirt freshman from Virginia Tech, Sonny Sasso in the match that could send him to the third place bout. Sasso fell in the semi-final round of the main bracket to Mirasola by TF 10-0 to land himself in the bout with Bechtold and the freshman from Bucknell was able to pull out a hard-fought win by a 6-4 decision to move on to the third place bout.Â
To take third in the Open, Bechtold would have to go through Angelo Posada, a Stanford commit who as of January was 24-0 on his season and won five tournament titles, including the Reno Tournament of Champions and the Doc Buchanan in Clovis this year. Bechtold was able to dominate in the bout and win by tech fall 11-0 to earn third place in the 2025 CLAW U.S. Open in U20 Freestyle at 92 kg.Â
Two other Bucknell wrestlers also competed at the event this past weekend in Tyler Bienus (86 kg) and Creed Thomas (74 kg).Â
Bienus went 5-2 overall in the event at 86 kg. He won his first bout against Indiana Tech freshman Anthony Cashman by tech fall 10-0. He then fell to University of Minnesota red-shirt freshman Max McEnelly by tech fall 15-4 to send him into the consolation bracket. In the consolation bracket, the New Jersey native won three bouts in a row by decision and then defeated Christopher Mance III by a 15-5 tech fall. Bienus ultimately fell to UNC freshman Jake Dailey by a 13-6 decision, three bouts shy of third place.Â
Creed Thomas went 2-2 overall at the Open at 74 kg. Thomas won his first two bouts by tech falls before being faced with freshman from the University of Missouri, Dominic Bambinelli. Bambinelli was a major recruit in his class being ranked 23rd nationally on FloWrestling's 2025 Top 100. Thomas fell to Bambinelli by a 13-2 tech fall and moved into the consolation bracket. In the consolation bracket, Thomas fell in his first bout to Tre Haines by a 15-4 tech fall.Â
