Robideau, Ross Win U20 World Team Trials to Earn Spot at U20 World Championships

Cowboys will be 20% of the United States’ U20 World Team.

Landon Robideau and Drershaun Ross won the U20 World Team Trials on Friday in Geneva, Ohio to earn the right to represent their country at the 2026 U20 World Championships in August in Slovakia.

Robideau, the reigning 157-pound NCAA champ, was able to sit out to the final best-of-three series in the 70 kg bracket after winning the U20 U.S. Open.

Melvin Miller, the No. 1 prospect in the 2027 class, emerged from the bracket to face Robideau in the best-of-three series. Robideau won two matches to none, beating Miller by a combined score of 17-0.

PURE DOMINANCE 💪#GoPokes | @LandonRobideau pic.twitter.com/jD0BkOzxlw

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) May 29, 2026

The path wasn’t so simple for Ross — an incoming freshman who will likely start for the Cowboys at heavyweight next season.

Ross lost to Coby Merrill (younger brother of Cowboy wrestler Cody Merrill) in the final at the U.S. Open, meaning Merrill was able to sit out to the best-of-three series.

Ross had to win two bouts to get to Merrill, who will be at Iowa State next season. Ross pinned Dean Bechtold before teching Michael Mocco, son of Steve Mocco, 11-0.

In their U.S. Open final, Merrill was able to get the better of Ross by forcing him off the mat, with a step-out being worth one point in freestyle. By the looks of it, Ross has probably had David Taylor and Wyatt Hendrickson pushing on him the past couple of weeks because Ross was able to hold his ground much better this time around.

But that didn’t mean it was easy.

Merrill won the first match via an 11-0 tech, scoring a takedown that he turned into a leg lace. Merrill used his strength to twist Ross over and over, ending it early.

But Ross rebounded in the second bout, winning 9-2. The two were gassed late in the final minute of the bout, and both attempted a shot at the same time. Ross got the better of the exchange, scoring the match’s first takedown.

They were the only series to go to three matches, meaning they just took a 20-minute break and went back at it for Match 3. Ross won it 7-1.

He shot Merrill off the mat thrice to take a 3-0 lead into intermission. Needing some offense, Merrill got aggressive late, but Ross was able to come out on top of the exchanges, scoring on a big double-leg and then a slick takedown on the edge of the mat while somehow avoiding a step-out.

Ross let out a thunderous yell at the final whistle before giving David Taylor a big hug while stepping off the mat.

LET ‘EM KNOW DRE 🗣️#GoPokes | @TheDreshaunRoss pic.twitter.com/V0uU9HDtlp

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) May 29, 2026

How Everyone Else Did

Dee Lockett stormed through his bracket and made the best-of-three final but fell to Penn State’s Jayden James two matches to none. Lockett was leading both of those matches late before James would find a way to get his hand raised in both bouts.

To get to that series, Lockett won his opening two matches of the bracket by a combined score of 19-0. Then he met teammate Kody Routledge in the bracket final, where Lockett won 4-1.

Despite that loss, it was a pretty successful day of wrestling for Routledge. He took out Will Denny 8-7 in the quarters. Denny started at NC State last season and made it to the blood round at the NCAA Championships.

Down at 57 kg (about 125 pounds), Ronnie Ramirez had an impressive run Friday before dropping his bout in the bracket finals ahead of the best-of-three series.

He won four matches on his way to the bracket final, a run that included a win against Dom Munaretto, a Top 20 recruit in the 2026 class who is headed to Ohio State, and a win against Hayden Schwab, a Top 25 prospect in the 2027 class who is committed to Northern Iowa.

Ramirez’s loss came to Grey Burnett, the No. 6 wrestler in the 2027 recruiting class who is committed to Penn State, with the future Nittany Lion winning 3-2.

Also of note in the 57 kg bracket, incoming OSU freshman Rocklin Zinkin didn’t compete despite reportedly registering. So, we didn’t get a Cowboy vs. Cowboy bout at that weight.

Incoming freshman Mikey White took fourth in the bracket at 86 kg. Both of his losses were to Jarrett Wadsen, who was a freshman at South Dakota State last season. Fun fact: Wadsen was a classmate of Robideau’s at St. Michael-Albertville in Minnesota.

Then David Taylor had two 2027 commits in the 92 kg bracket, with Tanner Hodgins going 1-2 and Ladd Holman going 0-2. They didn’t wrestle each other.

U23s Get Going Saturday

More Cowboys will wrestle in Geneva on Saturday as part of U23 Nationals. Here’s a list of Cowboys expected to scrap:

57 kg — Troy Spratley
61 kg — JJ McComas
61 kg — Jake Hamiti
70 kg — Beau Hickman
70 kg — Kolter Burton
70 kg — Cutter Sheets
74 kg — Casey Swiderski
74 kg — Ishmael Guerrero
86 kg — Bennett Berge (incoming South Dakota State transfer)
92 kg — Austin Johnson