2025 NCAA Quarterfinals Running Blog

Check here often as David Mirikitani will live blog for the quarterfinals

It’s Christmas in March ladies and gentlemen!! Laptop is charged, phone is charged, caffeine is loaded, LET’S GO! Quarterfinals and WBs this morning. ESPN in the house. If you are rooting for a favorite school or your fantasy squad, you already know, this is moving day. Winners in the quarterfinals get 6 points for guaranteed 6th place, 1 for advancement and 1, 1.5 or 2 for bonus. Same for the semis. Melina Cruz absolutely crushed the national anthem and this place is hyped. This is the real March Matness!! Brackets are ready to go. 125 matchups: Lightning Luke vs Seymour in a rematch, Peterson vs VRob, Eddie V vs Strick and Sparkplug vs Ramos.

125 lbs

Inside mats frontside, Outside backside, you know the drill. What are you hyped about? Let my man Earl Smith know, he has all the answers. Penn State is undefeated and favored in 9 of the 10 quarters. Seymour to a leg early, LL with a nice shin whizzer. Feeling out process on these mats. Seymour with another shot. 7 B10 teams in the top 10. Peterson and VRob scrambling on 4. VRob clutch last night. Sparkplug scores 1st vs Ramos with a scramble stepover TD. Big :13 here for the rideout. 3 bouts 0-0 at the break. Spratley 3-0. Seymour is up and out. 

Peterson up and out then VRob with TD to go up 3-1. Ramos R2 to close it to 3-2. Peterson out 3-2, VRob choice next. LL up and out. 1-1. TD will decide it. Spratley makes it 4-2. VRob picks down and he is out. Peterson applying pressure. Ramos cuts Spratley. Down 3 time to go. LL patented lefty swing single and Seymour forward roll out hit for stalling. OT LL and Seymour. Ramos in on a single needs to finish. VRob into the semis!!! Spratley into the semis!! Strick and Eddie V into OT. Stalemate LL and SS. wildness!! Great no score scramble Eddie V and Strick. Warning Eddie V. Rideouts for LL and SS. Seymour out in :12. Eddie V with clutch OT TD to advance. LL down. Has 11 to get out. Restart. SS only has to rid :03 to be ahead. Stall Seymour. LL gets out he wins if not he loses. Seymour wins the rematch!!! Lehigh has an AA. Semi matchups #8 Seymour vs #4 VRob and #3 Ventresca vs #7 Spratley in a rematch that sparkplug won big at their dual at GIA in December prior to Hall of Fame Duals.

133 lbs

On to 133. #1 Byrd vs #8 Davis, #21 Rini vs #4 Romney, #14 Fugitt vs #5 McGonagle and #7 Bouzakis vs #2 Ayala. OSU up to 2nd and VT up to 4th and NCST up to 8th with those results. 4 minute break to catch our breath and back at it. McGonagle quick TD and E1. Romney quick TD. Ayala up 9-3 just like that. These 133s aren’t easing into it. At All. Byrd up 3-0. E1 Rini. TD Bouzakis to make it 9-6. Fugitt feet to back for the fall!!! Into the semis!! 10-6 the Drake after 1. Love the Drake to all the Seinfeld fans out there. Drake 14-6 now. Byrd feet to back to blow it open vs Davis. Romney up 6-2. 125 quarters were bonkers nailbiters. 133 massive separation so far. A fall and 3 bigger point spreads. Ayala 17-7 into the 3rd. 20-8 now. Byrd going to win by major 8 big team points for your Fighting Illini. Romney into the semis 8-2 and the Drake wins 23-10. Hopefully you bet the over in that match. Semis are set #1 Byrd vs #4 Romney and #14 Fugitt vs #2 Ayala. 141 on deck. #1 Hardy vs #9 Frost, #5 Happel vs #4 Koderhandt, #3 Mendez vs #6 VomBaur and #10 Composto vs #2 Bartlett.

141 lbs

Top 6 seeds still alive. Iowa from off the board to 4th and IL off the board to 5th. Moving day folks. It’s oddly quiet here for now. Defending champ Mendez quick TD and E1 for VomBaur. In 1965 had 10 in the qtrs and same for 1982 IA. in both cases they went 6-4 in the qtrs and ended with 9 AAs. PSU going for 10 AAs to match Minnesota. 2nd TD Mendez. TD Hardy. Hardy has a cradle locked up. Mendez came to wrestle. 3rd 1st period TD. Bartlett E1 to start 2nd period and gets the TD to go up 4-0. Hardy up 7-0 and gets the fall in a tilt that ended up in an inverted mount. Nebraska will move into 2nd with 9 points. Mendez 13-2 all over Vombaur. Koderhandt ties it up. Composto chooses neutral down 4-0 and 1:08 RT. Koderhandt and Happel OT. BB into semis for PSU. 

Happel in, roll through Koderhandt, almost cradle, short time, no TD. TBs it is. Mendez wins via major. Happel out in :05. Big advantage. Koderhandt smart decision chooses neutral, Happel :04 to avoid a TD for the dub. And he does it. UNI with a semifinalist. They will pass IL and tie IA. Hardy vs Happel 1 v 4 and Mendez v Beau 3 v 2 semis. Chalk at 141 and those matches should be fire.

149 lbs

149 Henson vs JW, Stiles vs D’Emilio, SVN vs Lachlan and Kannon vs Ridge. Lovett strikes 1st at 149 to go up 3-0. D’Emilio with a TD to go up 3-0, Henson with a TD as well, very crafty finish from the champ after great scramble D from JW. Blair vs Sem on mat 5. 3-1 Henson, 6-2 D.D., 7-0 Ridge and 0-0 SVN/Lachlan. JW E1 and TD to go up 4-3. 4-4 now. JW will be a tough out. Super Talented and a unique feel. Henson up and out, Stiles up and out, Ridge up 7-0.

Lachlan with E1. 3rd period D’Emilio picks down and he is out to increase lead to 7-3. Stoppage in Lovett match. JW chooses down. Henson trying to get RT. SVN down to start the 3rd and he is out it’s 1-1. SVN gets the TD and the lead. JW out before RT is at 1:00. D’Emilio the 13 seed into the semis. BIG for Ohio State. 4-2 SVN 40 to go. Henson and JW 5-5 20 to go, Ridge in complete control. SVN great level change to ice it. He advances, JW and Caleb in OT. Ridge wins 12-0. Henson in deep and gets it done. Winners find a way. Semis tonight #1 Henson vs #13 D’Emilio and #3 SVN vs #2 Lovett. 

157 lbs

PSU, NEB, OSU, tOSU, IL, IA, UNI, VT top 8 up to the moment.

157 1 Kasak vs 8 Blaze, 12 Fish vs 20 Chumbley, 3 Trelly vs 11 Matty B, 7 Vinny Z vs 2 Slicedawg. Fish very winnable match that would be huge for the Cowboys. Kasak shot and a stalemate, Chumbley in waterfall vs Fish. Kasak strikes 1st with the TD. Fish was going to RS this year, Teague got injured and he comes out and now both are here in Philly. Slicedawg with the TD and R2 for Zerban. Fish Chumbley 0-0 after 1. Fish down 1st. R2 Fish. 3-1 TK after 1. Trelly down 1st 0-0 after 1. Official review on mat 6. Trelly out quick and TD3 to go up 4-0. Bianchi goes feet to back on Taylor but they rule it OOB. Close call. Fish riding tough. Shapiro up 5-1. Kasak up 3-2 with choice in 3rd. Vinny R2 to make it 5-3. Chumbley down 2-0 and chooses down. Taylor up 4-2. Kasak out. 6-3 Shapiro after 2. Blaze with TD and the lead 5-4. P1 against Fish and R2 Chumbley. It’s 3-2 on the board but RT is locked so it’s 3-3. Blaze is going to upset Kasak as the 2nd PSU 1 seed goes down! Trelly into the semis. 3-3 Chumbley and Fish and Fish has RT. Chumbley gets the TD to take the lead. Up 2 with :07 to go. Chumbley into the semis and Shapiro into the semis. 157 is CHAOS folks. #8 Blaze vs #20 Chumbley and #3 Trelly vs #2 Slicedawg. Team score updates shortly. PSU 2-3 so far in the quarters. 

165 lbs

165 let’s set the table people. #1 MM vs #8 Amine, #12 Minto vs #4 Barraclough, #3 Mikey C vs #6 BMant and #7 Garvin vs #2 Hall. Minto vs BClough is interesting to me. BClough super tough on top Minto very crafty on his feet. PSU only up 0.5 points over NEB at this point. Wild. Garvin scores 1st and that is SIGNIFICANT. Hall is a monster on top and now Garvin does not need to choose down. BMant chest to chest with Caliendo. Amine trying to make it a street fight with Mesenbrink. Hands to the face warning against Amine. Minto BClough scoreless so far. BClough chooses down. My guess is Minto will choose neutral. BClough up and out. MM/Amine scoreless after 1. Hall with a TD at the buzzer to go up 4-3. Minto TD, Bclough E1. Now TD BClough to go up 5-3. Hall now up 6-3. MM up and out. Caliendo with the TD and the lead. MM TD to go up 4-0. 33 to go. Minto chose down which idk was a good decision.RT accruing for BClough. MM up 4-0 after 2. Amine down. BMant in striking distance down 3-2. Minto still down, gets the R2. Cuts him and gets TD3 at the buzzer on a go behind for the DUB!! At the moment NEB is leading the tournament, Caliendo into the semis. MM with a saddle in the 3rd period to win 5-0 and into the semis. 1 match left. PSU back in the lead. Hall up 6-5 great defense by Hall from Garvin bodylock. 60 to go. 20 to go and Hall head hands D Garvin trying everything but it won’t be enough. Semis tonight Mesenbrink vs Minto and Caliendo vs Hall. 

174 lbs

174 on deck. Keegan vs Wolak, Ruiz vs Devos, Hamiti vs PK and Wask vs Levi. Keegan for TD right away. He is not 100% physically but a complete stud mentally and intellectually. Levi TD3. Hamiti up 3-1. He wrestled Brands in the dual not PK. E1 Wask. Devos up 3-0. Keegan in again, his finish % is soooo good and he gets it. Devos 3-1 lead. Hamiti up and out to make it 4-1. Keegan with NF3 to go up 9-1. PK TD3 and E1 Hamiti. 5-4 DJ. 8-5 Hamiti now. 9-1 Keegan going into the 3rd. Brick in Devos match. Levi up 4-2. PK E1 down 2 now 40 to go. Levi TD to ice it. Hamiti wins 8-6. Lost brick I believe for SDSU. Keegan up 10-1 10 to go and he gets a TD. Top semi will be Keegan vs Devos/Ruiz winner and the bottom is the match a lot of people want to see DJ Hamiti vs Levi Haines. Devos up 4-1 going into 3rd. Ruiz will choose down. Blood for Devos. Ruiz out quickly to make it 4-2. Devos in on a leg, Ruiz sitting corner, Devos shelfing the foot, stalemate. 60 to go. Blood again. NEB is wrestling SO WELL. Very realistic chance to end up 2nd. Devos in on a leg and stalemate. 18 left. Time to run if you are Devos. P1 with 8 to go and Devos wins. 

184 lbs

184 quarterfinals: Starocci vs Jaxon Smith, Allred vs DPlott, McEnelly vs Foca and Ruth vs Keckheisen. Keckheisen with TD 30 in to go up 3-0. Plott TD3 and blood time. McEnelly TD3. This kid is special. Quick E1 for Foca. Keckheisen hard ride. Plott on top. Jaxon/Starocci scoreless 2:00 in, now TD Starocci. Plott with another TD. Keckheisen 3-0 and 2:34 RT after 1. McEnelly up and Foca tied at 6s. 3 of these matches seem to be in control with Starocci, Plott and Parker all building leads. Foca good D and it’s 6-6 and Max picks down. He’s out 7-6 lead 90 to go. 60 left. Barnburner finish coming I’d guess. Max with the go behind. E1 Foca. 10-7. 20 to go. McEnelly into the semis and 7 team points for the Gophers. Plott 11-5 and RT lead. Keckheisen with the major and UNI jumps into 4th place. Starocci with a major. Plott will win 12-5. Semis are awesome and chalk! Starocci vs Plott and McEnelly vs Keckheisen. 

197 lbs

197: Cardenas vs Sollars, Barr vs Beard rematch, Ferrari vs Stout, Shumate vs Buchanan, 5 B10 guys in this weight.

Ferrari greeted with scattered boos. Cardenas quick TD and the lead. Shumate with huge throw of Buchanan but Buchanan rolls through and no points. Ohio State brick. tOSU had a TERRIBLE brick last night at 157 where they took 2 points off the board and lost the challenge smh. Barr TD3 and the lead. Beard is out. NF4 Cardenas E1 Sollars 7-1 lead. Barr is dialing it up on Beard 10-2. Shumate takes the lead 3-0 vs Buchanan. Ferrari up 1-0 going into the 3rd. Stout chooses down. Buchanan R2 to tie it up 3-3. Sollars TD3, still down 8-5 and trying to kill RT. Barr is stacking up points and Ferrari now has RT. Cardenas will survive and advance. Buchanan with NF4 to break the match open. Barr with the major. Cardenas Barr rematch tonight. Ferrari vs Buchanan is 90 away from being a reality. Buchanan was down 3-0, said hold my drink and ran off 18 straight for the tech. Beastmode. Idk about you but I am here for Ferrari vs Buchanan and Barr vs Cardenas. 8.5 points for Iowa. Buchanan 1st ever to AA for 3 schools (WYO, OU, IA). 

285 lbs

285 quarters on deck: Olympians Gable vs Schultz (1st time ever this has happened?), Kueter vs Trephan, Kerk vs Heinz57, Trumble vs Captain America. Gable quick TD, Wyatt quick TD, Kerk TD, 285s are off and running. Minnesota will go from 9th to 6th with a win. Wyatt up 6-1 and going for the fall. Steveson 2nd TD. Fall Hendrickson!! 9 points for OSU. Kerk up 4-0 with a lot of RT. Keuter/Trephan scoreless after 1. Trephan down 1st. Gable 9-3 1:10 to go. Trephan with E1 and massive lift to go up 4-0. Trephan was sitting behind Trumble and now in position to AA. E1 Ben. 12-4 Gable. 4-0 Kerk going into the 3rd. Gable is SOOOO freaking good. Schultz is a beast and Gable making it look easy. 20-5 TF. 8.6 points for MINN. Keuter down 4-2 30 to go. Kerk up 4-0 and RT 20 to go. Lehigh with an AA Owen Trephan and Kerk AA as well. PSU went 7-3 this round and has 90.5 points as of 2:55pm. See you guys tonight for the semis!!!