The 2025 North American Cup Series (NACS) continued this weekend in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The series, which allows athletes from the Americas to compete at an elite level outside of the World Cup circuit, saw standout performances across both adult and U17 categories. Nearly 100 athletes traveled to Climb Murfreesboro for the second competition in the series, which featured the Lead discipline.

Sato Takes Gold and Third National Victory 

Nathan Sato impressed the audience with a score of 36+, falling a few moves from the finish. In Semi-Finals, Sato fell above the separator move, which is what originally put him on the podium, before climbing comfortably ahead of Joshua Platko in Finals.

Celebrating his third win at a national-level competition, Sato said, “It feels really good. It feels like I’ve been under quite a lot of pressure in the last few rounds and competitions in general, so this time I just tried to focus on having fun.”

Platko finished in Silver with a score of 27. Nathan Monte took Bronze with a score of 26+ after successfully fighting to stay on the podium since the Qualification round.

Men’s Lead Podium (Adult): 

Nathan Sato (USA)
Joshua Platko (USA)
Nathan Monte (USA)

Pikiewicz Wins by one Positive Motion Point 

In one of the closest finishes of the weekend, Kestrel Pikiewicz took Gold by only one positive motion point ahead of Lilah Kottke. After reaching the volume portion of her Finals route, Pikiewicz was able to stick her feet back on after briefly campusing the middle of the section. Pikiewicz also placed first in Semi-Finals, being the only female athlete to top any of the Women’s adult routes throughout the entire competition.

This being Pikiewicz’s first time winning a national event, she was asked to comment on her experience, saying, “I’m just expanding into the adult series, so that should be pretty fun.”

Only a motion point behind her, Kottke faced similar challenges to Pikiewicz, but used entirely different beta while resting for nearly a full minute on the volume section. Kottke took Silver with a score of 40 compared to Pikiewicz’s score of 40+. In Bronze, Boya Peng, who placed 7th in Semi-Finals, made a comeback with a spot on the podium in Finals.

Women’s Lead Podium (Adult): 

Kestrel Pikiewicz (USA)
Lilah Nottke (USA)
Boya Peng (USA)

Boyer Wins by one Positive Motion Point 

Mitchell Boyer took Gold after staying consistently in first place in both the Qualification and Finals round. Boyer topped both Qualification routes before scoring a 26+ on his Finals route, being only one positive motion point ahead of Logan VanAntwerp, who took Silver. VanAntwerp came just shy of Gold with a score of 26. In Bronze, Nate Emery tied with Ryan Wylie, sharing a score of 21+, however, Emery entered the competition with a higher national ranking, which in the end, bumped Wylie off the podium.

Men’s Lead Podium (U17):

Mitchell Boyer (USA)
Logan VanAntwerp (USA)
Nate Emery (USA)

Suleman Takes Gold in Tie-Breaker 

Both Khadija Magali (KM) Suleman and Maha Ather topped the Women’s Finals route, but it was Suleman who took home the Gold, winning the tie-breaker based on her higher national ranking. Suleman had also tied for first in the Qualification round with Lovisa Nystrom, who was briefly on the podium before making way for Ather in Silver, and Adriana Yockelson in Bronze.

Ather and Yockelson had similar beta at the technical volume section of the Finals route, with both athletes opting to go feet-first the entire way through. Yockelson appears committed to the NACS, having just competed in the Greenville Cup last weekend.

Women’s Lead Podium (U17):

Khadija Magali (km) Suleman (USA)
Maha Ather (USA)
Adriana Yockelson (USA)

You can rewatch the Semi-Final and Final rounds of the 2025 NACS Murfreesboro at any time on the USA Climbing YouTube Channel. The next NACS competition will be hosted by Climbing Escalade Canada from May 3-4 in Montreal, Canada.

Follow @usaclimbing on social media for future updates and behind-the-scenes action.