The NAIA Women’s Wrestling Championships concluded over the weekend after an incredible slate of finals matches. Life secured their first team title scoring 190.5 team points and crowning 3 champs. After the tournament, Life’s Ashley Flavin was named NAIA Coach of the Year by the NAIA. Grand View finished in the second place spot with 120.5 points, despite not having any wrestlers in the finals, showing the depth of their lineup by scoring points after losses. Close behind were Cumberlands and William Penn with 116.5 and 114 points respectively. Cumberlands' third place finish represents their highest team finish in program history, held up by their six All-Americans, including a national runner-up. William Penn finished the tournament with six All-Americans as well, including two national champs. 
Here is a recap of the finals matches that capped off an incredible tournament, starting with the first match of the finals at 131 lbs.:
131 lbs: #5 Jumoke Adekoye (Dickinson State) over #3 Xochitl Mota-Pettis (Missouri Valley) 5-3
These two spent a lot of the first period trying to get the offense going, each making some good threats, but it was Adekoye who struck first with a takedown and quick roll-through with under a minute left. Pettis gets a caution point before the period ends, making it 4-1 headed into the second. From there, I was sure Mota-Pettis was about to put up big points with a throw on the edge, but she only gets awarded for the step out and it gets challenged. The call stands and each wrestler continues to look for more offense, but things end 5-3 in favor of Adekoye of Dickinson State. Adekoye becomes the first National Champion in program history for the Blue Hawks.
 
138 lbs: #1 Zaynah McBryde (Life) tech over #2 Waipuilani Estrella-Beauchamp (Providence) 10-0
At 138 lbs, the first of three McBryde sisters made her way to the mat to face an incredibly offensive wrestler in Estrella-Beauchamp. After some back and forth in the hand fight, McBryde makes her move and scores a takedown late in the period. After also being awarded an activity point, she scores another takedown to go up 5-0 heading into the second. Quickly after action resumes, she gets the pushout point then a slick throw-by to score again. Now up 8-0 with over a minute left, McBryde is hunting for the tech. With just 8 seconds left, she finds the opening to score again and get the bonus point win in the finals. This was Zaynah’s first national title after a runner-up finish last season. 
 
145 lbs: #3 Esther Kolawole (William Penn) over #1 Jamilah McBryde (Life) 12-5
This was destined to be a competitive match with the returning National Champ Jamilah against Esther, the transfer who was an Olympian for Nigeria. Kolawole scored first with a quick throw by. McBryde goes for a shot of her own and is in deep, but Kolawole leverages to get points of her own. Towards the end of the period, Kolawole scores again with a takedown and exposure to go up 8-0. McBryde then sneaks one in at the end of the first to make it more interesting at 8-2 heading into the second. There is a big scramble in the second and the points are awarded to Kolawole for exposure. However, Life has a successful challenge and the score is 8-3 with about 1:30 left. McBryde forces a step out, but Kolawole responds with another takedown. McBryde gets awarded 1 more, but it is not enough to rally back and Kolawole wins her first national title by a score of 12-5.
 
160 lbs: #1 Latifah McBryde (Life) over #7 Darby Weidl (Ottawa) 7-2
Life remains on the mat for another one here as Latifah McBryde takes on the #7 seed who had an amazing tournament run, Darby Weidl of Ottawa. This match started pretty low-scoring with both wrestlers doing a great job of neutralizing the other’s offense. McBryde leads 1-0 heading into the second. McBryde is awarded another point early in the second and scores a quick takedown. However, Weidl answers back with a great takedown as well. A scramble ensues and McBryde picks up the reversal. Weidl goes for the ankle, but McBryde defends and scores her own off the attempt to win it 7-2. McBryde had been a runner-up two years in a row leading up to this, and finally made it to the top of the podium.
 
180 lbs: #1 Ashley Lekas (Texas Wesleyan) tech over #3 Kelani Corbett (Missouri Valley) 12-2
This match got off to a crazy start with a sequence between the two that ended with a takedown and exposure for Lekas, however as they keep scrambling Corbett gets two of her own, making it 4-2 as they get reset. Lekas is then immediately in on a great shot and takes Corbett feet-to-back for 4 more. Lekas scores another takedown after the reset to go up 10-2 with over a minute still left in the period. Not wanting to let this one go to the second, Lekas finds the final takedown she needs for the first-period tech. Lekas’ dominant performance earned her a second National title.
 
103 lbs: #1 Erin Hikiji (Providence) over #3 Alexis Miller (Oklahoma City) 8-2
This match got off to a low-scoring start, but some action at the end of the period put Hikiji on top with a takedown. However, when she goes to look for a turn, Miller almost gets the exposure herself, but settles in with a reversal only to make it 2-1 headed into the second. Hikiji gets a takedown on the edge. Off the reset, Hikiji hits a beautiful throw by and looks to turn, but Miller’s strong defense puts her on top again. After this scramble, they take it to review and Hikiji appears to need some injury time. After the reset, they award Miller a point and begin in parterre. No score there, but there is still 1:35 left with a 6-2 score. Miller attempts a double but Hikiji catches her head and circles for a takedown. From there, Hikiji is able to hold her off for the win. Hikiji earns the national title after two runner-up finishes.
 
110 lbs: #2 Stefana Jelacic (Lourdes) over #1 Anaya Falcon (Life) 7-2
Both wrestlers really looked for points early and often in this match. Jelacic is in deep on her first attempt, but Falcon defends well. Falcon gets put on the clock but does not score, giving a point to Jelacic. She adds to it with two takedowns to go up 5-0 heading into the second. Falcon is looking to get back in it but gives up another takedown off her attempt. With about 50 seconds left, Falcon goes big and brings Jelacic down with a huge mat return for two as time expires. This is Jelacic’s second national title after winning at 101 lbs last season.
 
117 lbs: #1 Christianah Ogunsanya (William Penn) over #3 Salyna Shotwell (Life) 8-0
Ogunsanya is the other Nigerian Olympian who transferred to William Penn this season and has had a dominant season. She continued that here with a big mat return takedown in the first to go up 3-0. Ogunsanya scores another one after that and gets awarded an activity clock point to go up 6-0 heading into the second. The second period has a slower start, but Ogunsanya strikes first with a double and begins working for a lace, but does not get it. Time runs out with Shotwell doing a great job trying to generate offense, but Ogunsanya has some serious defense to keep it 8-0 for the win. 
 
124 lbs: #1 Cristelle Rodriguez (Doane) over #2 Katie Gomez (Cumberlands) 5-5
What an incredible match to end the tournament on, with two age-group World medalists facing off. Gomez shot first and got in clean for the takedown, but Rodriguez flexed some of her defensive skill to square things back up. Gomez gets in again and is successful, leading 3-0 heading into the second. In the second, Rodriguez finds a takedown of her own, but Gomez fires back immediately to keep the lead. In short time, Rodriguez finds a way, gets a takedown for 2 and wins it on criteria. This was such a fireworks finish to an amazing tournament, Rodriguez claimed her second National title in a row and helped Doane to their highest tournament finish in program history.
As the NCAA sanctioning for Women’s Wrestling will certainly draw a lot of eyes next season, don’t let these NAIA schools out of your sight when it comes to top competitors. In many tournaments, wrestlers from both will be competing and you could very well be cheering for an NAIA wrestler on Team USA in the offseason.

The 2025 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships are less than a week away! In a few short days, 330 wrestlers will make the trek to Philadelphia, with hopes of a national title on their minds. Now it's in a city that hasn't hosted nationals since 2011, but it’s within driving distance of some of the top wrestling areas in the country. The atmosphere for the national tournament is always great, but I expect these East Coast fans to bring a little extra to the Wells Fargo Center. 
Before the action on the mat starts, InterMat will go through each individual bracket and highlight the favorites, top matches to watch, and much more.
 
The Top Seed: #1 Jacob Cardenas (Michigan)
A Big Ten finals win for Jacob Cardenas gives him the top seed at the NCAA Championships for the first time. Cardenas was a two-time All-American for Cornell but was unable to use his final year of eligibility with the Big Red due to Ivy League rules. That led to a move to Michigan where Cardenas emerged as a national title contender early in the year. 
Cardenas earned bonus points in all five of his bouts at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. It was his second time placing at the toughest tournament of the regular season (he was fourth last year). Cardenas ended up winning his first 14 matches in the Maize and Blue. That streak was stopped by a loss in tiebreakers to Penn State freshman Josh Barr. It remains his only loss of the season. 
At the 2025 Big Ten Championships, Cardenas got some revenge on Barr with a 4-1 sudden victory win in the semifinals. In the finals, Cardenas handed Iowa’s Stephen Buchanan his only loss of the season. Buchanan was ranked number one in the national and the presumptive favorite to earn a top seed in Philly. The two met last year in the NCAA third-place bout and Buchanan won by a 9-4 score. 
The Contenders: #2 Stephen Buchanan (Iowa), #3 AJ Ferrari (CSU Bakersfield), #4 Josh Barr (Penn State), #5 Michael Beard (Lehigh)
 
The Conference Champs
ACC: #6 Mac Stout (Pittsburgh)
Big 12: #7 Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa)
Big Ten: #1 Jacob Cardenas (Michigan)
EIWA: #5 Michael Beard (Lehigh)
Ivy: #11 Luke Stout (Princeton)
MAC: #26 Brock Zurawski (Rider)
Pac-12: #3 AJ Ferrari (CSU Bakersfield)
SoCon: #21 Levi Hopkins (Campbell)
 
Top First Round Matches
#17 Nick Stemmet (Stanford) vs. #16 Evan Bates (Northwestern)
#21 Levi Hopkins (Campbell) vs. #12 Stephen Little (Little Rock)
#13 Trey Munoz (Oregon State) vs. #20 Camden McDanel (Nebraska)
#19 Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) vs. #14 Zach Glazier (South Dakota State)
#11 Luke Stout (Princeton) vs. #22 Mickey O’Malley (Drexel)
#15 Joey Novak (Wyoming) vs. #18 Dillon Bechtold (Bucknell)
 
All eyes have been focused on this weight class with the addition of AJ Ferrari and the transfers of Cardenas to Michigan and Buchanan to Iowa. The controversial 2021 national champion, Ferrari, started the year ranked number one in the nation at this weight. He gave way to Buchanan after both he and Cardenas wrestled substantially more difficult schedules and remained unbeaten. Though Ferrari remains undefeated heading into the NCAA Tournament, the coaches rankings and the seeding committee agreed and made him the third seed. 
Buchanan started his campaign in Iowa with a win over All-American Trey Munoz and passed every test after that. He grabbed a title at the Soldier Salute and later handed Barr his first collegiate loss in the Hawkeyes much-anticipated dual with Penn State. 
Ferrari got a chance to face his toughest competition of the year in the Pac-12 finals opposite returning All-American Stephen Little. Ferrari was able to shut down Little in an odd match with multiple stoppages for injury. I’d expect Ferrari to use his third seed as a motivational tool during his tournament in Philly. 
Barr was expected to be a 184 lber but had to move up when it was apparent that Carter Starocci would be at the weight in 2024-25. The redshirt freshman never looked undersized or out-horsed at the weight and won his first 12 bouts at the weight - 11 coming with bonus points. That span included a major decision over Michael Beard and a sudden victory win against Little. After losing to Cardenas at Big Ten’s, Barr appeared to suffer a leg injury against Isaiah Salazar and defaulted out of the match. In the early rounds, it will be something we monitor. 
Beard gets the #5 seed after capturing his second EIWA crown. He’s searching for his third All-American honor, as well. His path is not easy with a potential matchup against the All-American Little in the Round of 16 and Barr in the quarterfinals. 
One of the stars of Pittsburgh's tough group of upperweights is ACC champion Mac Stout. Stout comes into Philly on a 20-match winning streak and majored both of his opponents at the conference tournament. Stout only has one match against the top five seeds (a loss to Beard), so it’s sort of difficult to get a read on where he stands in the bracket. 
As brackets were released one of the random quirks that stood out to me was the placement of Stout and his older brother, Luke, the Ivy League champion from Princeton. Should both win their opening matches, and they are favored, we could have a brother versus brother matchup. 
This year has been one of the breakout variety for Northern Iowa’s Wyatt Voelker. He was a national qualifier last year, as a redshirt freshman, but took the next step this year and won the Big 12 and has emerged as a strong podium threat. 
 
Darkhorse All-American Candidate: #12 Stephen Little/#13 Trey Munoz 
We’re actually going to have two here since Stephen Little and Trey Munoz are both from the Pac-12, both seeded next to each other, and both are returning All-Americans. They met in the Pac-12 semifinals and Little was victorious 7-4. 
With their respective seeds, each will have a very difficult Round of 16 contest. Little could have Beard and Munoz is lined up with Barr. Should they both lose in the Round of 16 and win their first consolation match, they’d meet each other in the consolation Round of 16. 
 
Extreme (20+) Darkhorse All-American Candidate: #22 Mickey O’Malley (Drexel)
We did this at 174, so let’s do it again at 197! We’re taking a notable wrestler from one of the host schools, assuming he gets that little extra boost from the home fans and some local Jersey supporters. Mickey O’Malley was a 2022 EIWA champion and NCAA Round of 12 finisher at 174 lbs. He missed the entire 2023-24 season due to an injury and has moved up to 197 lbs for his last go ‘round. The Drexel staff has been very deliberate as to how they utilize O’Malley this season. With it being nationals, he’ll be free of any restrictions and ready to make one last run at the podium. 
Team Race: We haven’t discussed Michigan wrestlers much for the team race this year; however, should Cardenas win this weight, it’s a big chunk of points. Only two others need to get on the podium and the Wolverine could be within striking distance of a trophy. 
Another team we haven’t mentioned much is Lehigh. Despite missing Ryan Crookham, they are still built for big tournaments. A top-five finish from Beard would help them secure a spot in the top 15 and maybe higher, depending on his teammates. 
Of course, a finals appearance and title from Buchanan would go a long way for the Hawkeyes. You also have the two Big 12 finalists, Voelker and Surber.  They are seeded seven and eight, respectively - by no means a podium lock. Their efforts will be very important and a potential head-to-head matchup could decide a spot in the standings. 
 
Projected Quarterfinals
#1 Jacob Cardenas (Michigan) vs. #8 Luke Surber (Oklahoma State)
#5 Michael Beard (Lehigh) vs. #4 Josh Barr (Penn State)
#3 AJ Ferrari (CSU Bakersfield) vs. #6 Mac Stout (Pittsburgh)
#7 Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa) vs. #2 Stephen Buchanan (Iowa)
 
Projected Semifinals
#1 Jacob Cardenas (Michigan) vs. #4 Josh Barr (Penn State)
#3 AJ Ferrari (CSU Bakersfield) vs. #2 Stephen Buchanan (Iowa)
 
Projected All-Americans
1st: AJ Ferrari (CSU Bakersfield)
2nd: Jacob Cardenas (Michigan)
3rd: Stephen Buchanan (Iowa)
4th: Josh Barr (Penn State)
5th: Michael Beard (Lehigh)
6th: Mac Stout (Pittsburgh)
7th: Luke Surber (Oklahoma State)
8th: Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa)
 
Projected Round of 12 Finishers: #10 Isaiah Salazar (Minnesota), #11 Luke Stout (Princeton), #13 Trey Munoz (Oregon State), #9 Zac Braunagel (Illinois)
 
Projected Consolation Round of 16 Finishers: #15 Joey Novak (Wyoming), #20 Camden McDanel (Nebraska), #12 Stephen Little (Little Rock), #17 Nick Stemmet (Stanford)

The 2025 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships are less than a week away! In a few short days, 330 wrestlers will make the trek to Philadelphia, with hopes of a national title on their minds. Now it's in a city that hasn't hosted nationals since 2011, but it’s within driving distance of some of the top wrestling areas in the country. The atmosphere for the national tournament is always great, but I expect these East Coast fans to bring a little extra to the Wells Fargo Center. 
Before the action on the mat starts, InterMat will go through each individual bracket and highlight the favorites, top matches to watch, and much more.
The Top Seed: #1 Carter Starocci (Penn State)
It’s not every year where you go to the NCAA Tournament knowing you’ll see history. Most of the time it just happens. But that’s the case in 2025 at 184 lbs as Carter Starocci seeks to become the first wrestler to capture five collegiate titles. Of course, that feat has never been attempted before and the reason Starocci is in this position is an extra year of eligibility due to the Covid year (2021). 
Aside from a pair of planned injury defaults at the 2024 Big Ten Championships, Starocci hasn’t lost an official collegiate match since the 2021 Big Ten finals. With a win in the Round of 16 Starocci will notch his 100th career win against only four losses (injury defaults included). 
Starocci has been as dominant as ever in his final collegiate campaign, earning bonus points in over 90% of his bouts. His previous high came in 2022-23 when he did so in 2/3 of his matches. Starocci earned bonus points in his first 12 matches of the season before getting slowed down by Iowa’s redshirting freshman Angelo Ferrari. 
It was a redshirt freshman who pushed Starocci the most in 2024-25. Minnesota’s Max McEnelly got the first takedown against Starocci and took the four-time national champion into sudden victory during their Big Ten finals bout. Starocci was able to refocus and get the win. 
In November’s unofficial All-Star Classic, Starocci defeated the returning champion at this weight Parker Keckeisen in sudden victory, as well. Keckeisen was undefeated in 2023-24 and hasn’t lost an official match this season. 
The Contenders: #2 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa), #3 Max McEnelly (Minnesota), #4 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State)
 
The Conference Champs
ACC: #9 Reece Heller (Pittsburgh)
Big 12: #2 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
Big Ten: #1 Carter Starocci (Penn State)
EIWA: #27 Ross McFarland (Hofstra)
Ivy: #6 Chris Foca (Cornell)
MAC: #7 Isaac Dean (Rider)
Pac-12: #33 TJ McDonnell (Oregon State)
SoCon: #24 Devan Hendricks (Bellarmine)
 
Top First Round Matches
#17 Gavin Kane (North Carolina) vs. #16 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (Rutgers)
#5 Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) vs. #28 Dennis Robin (West Virginia)
#19 Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming) vs. #14 DJ Parker (Oklahoma)
#7 Isaac Dean (Rider) vs. #26 Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State)
This is the only weight where we have the top five seeds all finishing in that same order. That means based on the action during the regular season and in the conference tournaments, these competitors have created their own natural order. Now, maybe that’s a bad sign and means that chaos will reign supreme in Philly!
The returning champion is Keckeisen and his finals opponent from 2024 was Dustin Plott. Keckeisen has maintained control of their clashes winning all three of the bouts this season - one via major decision and the other two were relatively comfortable regular decisions. With the emergence of the freshman McEnelly, Plott gets bumped to the fourth seed, so chances are we don’t get a fourth matchup between the Big 12 foes. Keckeisen ran through the 2024 tournament with bonus points in every match - he has been able to tally bonus just about as frequently as during his title-winning season. 
McEnelly working his way into the third seed wasn’t necessarily a surprise. He was a perfect 15-0 while redshirting and carried that movement into his first year of official competition for the Gophers. McEnelly started the 2024-25 campaign with six straight tech falls - a streak that was broken by a tiebreaker win over returning All-American Bennett Berge. In his Big Ten season debut, McEnelly majored past conference champion Silas Allred. His potential semifinal matchup with Keckeisen became even more anticipated after the manner in which he competed against Starocci. 
Berge was the freshman who sort of unexpectedly crashed the party last year and finished fourth at this weight. A 26-5 record this year and a third-place finish in the Big 12 proves that it wasn’t a fluke. Seeded fifth, he’ll get tested early on with Allred in the Round of 16. 
A couple of Jersey guys have the sixth and seventh seeds with Ivy League champion Chris Foca at #6 and MAC champion Isaac Dean as the #7. Foca is looking to get back on the podium after taking third in 2023. Dean had a breakout season that saw him finish fifth in Vegas despite starting the tournament as a relative unknown. 
The rest of the Big Ten contingent will be pushing for spots on the podium, as well, with #8 Jaxon Smith, #10 Edmond Ruth, #11 Gabe Arnold, and #12 Allred. Arnold is a freshman and in his first nationals appearance, while Ruth is the only returning AA from the veterans. Smith and Allred have gotten close - both have lost in the Round of 12 at least once in their careers. 
Finally, coming in as the #9 seed is ACC champion Reece Heller. He went 0-3 in a December dual that included Berge, Smith, and Dean - but those account for his only losses of the year. He’s on a 14-match winning streak, a span that includes a Midlands title. 
 
Darkhorse All-American Candidate: #15 Dylan Fishback (NC State)
Speaking of the ACC, Heller’s conference finals opponent Dylan Fishback is someone to watch coming out of the #15 seed. He has a modest 13-6 record, but none of those defeats would be classified as “bad.” They’ve all come to wrestlers seeded in the top nine in this tournament. 
For a #15 seed to make the podium, they don’t need to beat a whole bunch of the guys seeded above them, maybe only one or two. Could Fishback be capable of reversing a result or two in Philly or pulling a minor upset? I think so. Despite being positioned next to Keckeisen in the Round of 16, I think he’s bracketed well for such a feat. 
 
Extreme (20+) Darkhorse All-American Candidate: #26 Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State)
If you’re looking for a fun, exciting wrestler to follow in this tournament, Ryder Rogotzke is your guy. Win or lose, points will be scored and big moves will be attempted. Some will land, others won’t. He’s the epitome of the wrestler who isn’t afraid to give up a takedown attempting a hold that might put his opponent on their back and end the match. 
Rogotzke gets a first-round matchup against #7 Dean. Though Dean is seeded much higher than Rogotzke, it will be his first national tournament and you never know how wrestlers respond. If that is an issue, Rogotzke can certainly take advantage of the situation. 
 
Team Race:
The top four seeds come from schools that are expected to be in the trophy hunt. A potential Keckeisen/McEnelly semifinal could be huge on that front. But, before that, McEnelley could square off with either Arnold or Foca, both of whom wrestle for contending teams. That quarterfinal and the semi that follows it will be massive. 
Arnold and Allred are both on trophy-contending teams and they are seeded outside of the top-eight. An All-American finish for either (or both) would be a huge boost to their team. 
I haven’t talked much about Illinois in this area. They could have an outside shot at a team trophy. Edmond Ruth would be one of the wrestlers they need to get on the podium for trophy hopes to materialize. 
 
Projected Quarterfinals
#1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs. #9 Reece Heller (Pittsburgh)
#5 Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) vs. #4 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State)
#3 Max McEnelly (Minnesota) vs. #6 Chris Foca (Cornell)
#10 Edmond Ruth (Illinois) vs. #2 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
 
Projected Semifinals
#1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs. #4 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State)
#3 Max McEnelly (Minnesota) vs. #2 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
 
Projected All-Americans
1st: Carter Starocci (Penn State)
2nd: Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)
3rd: Max McEnelly (Minnesota)
4th: Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State)
5th: Bennett Berge (South Dakota State)
6th: #12 Silas Allred (Nebraska)
7th: #6 Chris Foca (Cornell)
8th: #9 Reece Heller (Pittsburgh)
 
Projected Round of 12 Finishers: #15 Dylan Fishback (NC State), #11 Gabe Arnold (Iowa), #10 Edmond Ruth (Illinois), #8 Jaxon Smith (Maryland)
Projected Consolation Round of 16 Finishers: #7 Isaac Dean (Rider), #19 Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming), #13 Evan Bockman (Iowa State), #17 Gavin Kane (North Carolina)