There’s a hunger living inside former Mead wrestler Leister Bowling IV. It followed him from Colorado to Las Vegas to Ohio to Peru. And soon, it’ll join him in Bulgaria, too.

Three generations of Leister Bowlings were in attendance in the Peruvian capital, Lima, on Thursday to watch the youngest capture gold at the under-age-20 Pan-American Wrestling Championships.

Around the mat, Bowling IV waved the American flag above his head during his ceremonial victory lap. He then had enough energy left to do a cartwheel-backflip combo, sticking the landing back at the center of mat.

Safe to say — even after winning his third major title in less than three months in Greco Roman’s U20 77-kilogram bracket — Bowling IV has more to give. And that’s promising, with the U20 World Championships looming in August.

“It’s been great,” he said during his layover back from Peru on Friday. “But I’m not focusing on the little wins because the goal is a world title. These were good to get out of the way, but now it’s time to focus on Bulgaria.”

In April, Bowling IV won a national championship at the US Open in Las Vegas. In May at the U.S. World Trials, he then secured his spot on the Americans’ U20 Greco-Roman team alongside former Mavericks teammate Otto Black (77 kgs) and ex-Sand Creek wrestler Landon Drury (63).

The Colorado trio — all former Class 4A wrestling champs — will represent Team USA at the U20 World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, August 18-24.

“It’s pretty cool, man, for 30% of our (U20) world team to be from 4A Colorado,” Bowling III said.

It’s only been 17 months since Black and Bowling IV were first-time individual state champs at Ball Arena, where they led the Mavericks to their first team title in history in 2024.

Drury won the same year for the Scorpions before he and Black graduated that summer. The following February, Bowling IV went on to win his second straight state title. And at the Pan-Ams, Bowling IV was one of five individual champions for the Americans, who won the Greco-Roman team title.

Over the national championships, world trials and the Pan-Ams, Bowling IV has combined to outscore his opponents a startling 108-to-3, his dad said. In the finals in Peru, the University of Iowa commit pinned Colombia’s Alonso Parra Garcia in 4 minutes and 12 seconds.

“This has been a special journey for him,” Bowling III said of his son. “He was never the kid that won everything growing up. He never won a youth state title, then was a three-time state finalist and two-time champ. His mindset has taken him very far.”

Black, meanwhile, did not qualify for the Pan-Ams after winning gold there in 2024. Drury was there in Lima but sustained an injury and could not finish.