Aiello opens competition at U23 World Championships Friday

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Jay Aiello, a member of the Virginia wrestling team, will represent the United States in competition at the U23 World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, beginning Friday.

Aiello will be competing at 97kg with the opening rounds of action getting underway at 5:30 a.m. ET. Friday will feature the Round of 16, quarterfinals and the semifinals. The finals will begin at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday (Nov. 6). The event will be streamed by FloWrestling on a subscription basis.

He faces Feyzullah Aktürk of Turkey in his opening match.

Aiello earned a spot on the United States’ U23 team by storming through the trials this past summer, going 3-0 on the way to the finals with a pair of shutouts and only surrendering one point on a step out in his semifinal bout. He then won both matches of the best-of-three finals by a score of 11-0 in each match over Samuel Mitchell of the Bulls Wrestling Club.

He is a three-time NCAA qualifier and was a 2020 All-American and ACC Champion at 197 pounds.