2025 NWCA All-Star Classic Preview

At long last, the 2025-26 NCAA wrestling season is here. What better way to get the season underway than to watch some of the best in the nation? That’s the case at tonight’s All-Star Classic. The event will feature a match in each of the ten DI men’s weights, along with a meeting between a #1 from DII and one from DIII, plus four NAIA vs. NCAA matches from the women’s collegiate wrestling world. Before the action begins, here’s some background information about each of the participants and their potential history with one another. Women’s Matches 138 lbs - #1 Zaynah McBryde (Life) vs #1 Katie Lange (Grand Valley State) The women’s matchups are all NAIA/NCAA and this one features a NAIA champ (McBryde) taking on an NCAA champ (Lange). The 2023 U23 world teamer, Lange, has been quite active since winning her collegiate title. She was a U23 runner-up this year and finished fourth at the US Open and the World Team Trials. Back in 2024, McBryde fell in the NAIA national finals to the same opponent who defeated Lange in the U23 finals, Adaugo Nwachukwo. 145 lbs - #1 Esther Kolawole (William Penn) vs #2 Reese Larramendy (Iowa) Here’s a matchup between a pair of wrestlers from Iowa schools, Kolawole and Larramendy. Larramendy was an NCWWC national champion as a freshman and third last season at this weight. Kolawole is a three-time U23 world medalist for Nigeria who captured an NAIA national title at this weight in 2025. Her most recent medal came just over a week ago. 160 lbs - #1 Latifah McBryde (Life) vs #1 (145) Bella Mir (North Central) This will be the third time that we see Latifah McBryde at the All-Star Classic. In 2023, McBryde fell 8-3 to Iowa’s Marlynne Deede. Last year, she pinned Cheyenne Bowman. Earlier this year, McBryde finished third at the World Team Trials and then earned a spot on the national team with a win at Final X. Mir was an NCWWC national runner-up in 2025 and just finished competing at U23 worlds. After making the U23 world team, Mir narrowly missed out on winning a Senior title at the US Open. 117 lbs - #2 Salyna Shotwell (Life) vs #1 Sage Mortimer (Grand Valley State) This is the only women’s match where we have some recent history between the participants. At the World Team Trials, Sage Mortimer pinned Salyna Shotwell in the quarterfinals. Mortimer went on the fall in the finals. A couple of weeks earlier, Mortimer was fourth at the US Open. She won an NCWWC title for Grand Valley last year, while Shotwell was a finalist at the NAIA level. D2 vs D3 Match 141lbs - #1 Mark Samuel (Roanoke) vs #1 Khyvon Grace (West Liberty) It’ll be a #1 vs. #1 battle between a pair of stars from non-DI schools when Mark Samuel takes on Khyvon Grace. Samuel became the first NCAA champion in school history earlier this year when downed Chicago’s Sean Conway 9-3 in the finals. To get to the title match, Samuel defeated regional rival Josh Wilson of Greensboro, an opponent responsible for half of his four losses on the year. Khyvon Grace was a regional runner-up as well for West Liberty, but he went on to make the D2 finals. It was his second time making the podium - he was seventh in 2024. D1 Men’s Matches 149lbs - #5 Casey Swiderski (Oklahoma State) vs #2 Lachlan McNeil (Michigan) In a sign of the times in the world of college athletics, both of these wrestlers will be making their debuts for new programs on Saturday night. It’s also a Michigan native taking on a new star wrestling for Michigan. The recent news that 2024 NCAA champion Caleb Henson will redshirt in 2025-26 has made a 149 lb weight class, which isn’t particularly deep, even less so. Both McNeil and Swiderski become title threats with Henson out of the picture. Even when Henson was around, McNeil pushed him into sudden victory at the 2025 ACC Championships. Swiderski made the podium in 2024 (7th), but redshirted and transferred to Oklahoma State. After the success of veteran transfers like Dean Hamiti and Wyatt Hendrickson in 2024-25, we’ll see if Swiderski can make similar gains during year one in Stillwater. 174lbs - #3 Simon Ruiz (Cornell) vs #7 Lenny Pinto (Rutgers) The home fans will get the first glimpse of Lenny Pinto wearing a Rutgers singlet. Pinto is a two-time NCAA bloodround finisher and a Big Ten runner-up. In fact, the last time Pinto stepped on a collegiate mat, he lost to Simon Ruiz in the 2025 bloodround. I’m sure Pinto didn’t foresee getting another crack at Ruiz so quickly. Ruiz finished fifth in the nation last year as a freshman. Despite having such a strong freshman campaign, it seems like Ruiz might have gotten overlooked nationally. After a strong spring and summer on the freestyle circuit, it’s probably a time for Ruiz to take the next step and become a consistent title threat. 197lbs - #3 Joey Novak (Wyoming) vs #4 Stephen Little (Little Rock) We’ve got a pair of programs that have developed a reputation for punching above their weight and consistently developing their own wrestlers. Two examples are Joey Novak and Stephen Little. The last time each wrestled a collegiate match, it was against the other. Novak majored Little, 8-0, for fifth place at the NCAA Championships. That was a bit of payback from the 2024 national tournament, when Little majored Novak and knocked him out in the consolation Round of 16. This will be the second consecutive All-Star appearance for Little. 125lbs - #4 Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech) vs #5 Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) Once again, we have an NCAA tournament rematch! This pits ACC champion Eddie Ventresca against EIWA champion Sheldon Seymour. The two met in the fifth-place bout at nationals and Ventresca ended the season with an 11-4 win. He’ll probably have some extra motivation wrestling in his home state. For Seymour, it will be the beginning of a season where he’s expected to be “the guy.” Seymour saw plenty of mat time before his junior year, but was never the full-time starter for Lehigh before 2024-25. 157lbs - #6 Ty Watters (West Virginia) vs #4 Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) Here’s a fun matchup between a pair of wrestlers who were generally off the collegiate radar in 2024-25. Ty Watters had a remarkable freshman year and finished fourth in the nation at 149 lbs. He returned for the 2024-25 campaign and was lost for the year via injury in mid-November. The plan was always to redshirt Cardenas last season, so he only saw action in one open tournament. Like Watters, Cardenas was also an NCAA fourth-place finisher in 2023-24; however, he did so at 157 lbs. 165lbs - #4 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) vs #10 Max Brignola (Lehigh) One of the high points from the 2024 All-Star Classic was Hunter Garvin’s match with Peyton Hall. Unfortunately for Garvin, he lost via fall, but not before plenty of action from both parties. This year, Garvin intends on getting his hand raised. Just like in 2024, Garvin is coming in fresh off a sixth place finish at the national tournament. As a freshman, Garvin was a bit up-and-down before getting on the NCAA podium, while he was much more consistent last year. 2025-26 could be a big year for Max Brignola. Brignola qualified for the NCAA Tournament twice for Lehigh at 149 and 157 lbs. He redshirted in 2024-25 as he transitioned to 165 lbs. That proved to be a smart move as Brignola went a perfect 22-0. Brignola’s excellent redshirt campaign led to a top ten preseason ranking and a berth at the All-Star Classic. 184lbs - #4 Jaxon Smith, Maryland vs #7 Zack Ryder, Oklahoma State We have the extremely rare instance with a redshirt freshman in the All-Star meet; however, Zack Ryder has plenty of credentials. Ryder went unbeaten while redshirting for Penn State. He captured titles at the Black Knight Invite and the Southern Scuffle, along the way. Ryder also boasts three age group world medals in freestyle. A bout with 2025 All-American will represent Ryder’s toughest test, to date. Smith has placed in the top four at the Big Ten Championship on three occasions and broke through and earned a spot on the NCAA podium last year, in sixth place. The opponent that Smith beat in the bloodround (DJ Parker) is someone whom Ryder also defeated at the Scuffle. 285lbs - #1 Yonger Bastida , Iowa State vs #4 Taye Ghadiali , Michigan The All-Star Classic will mark the return of both of these All-Americans. Yonger Bastida and Taye Ghadiali both missed most of the 2024-25 season and did not get an opportunity to wrestle in the postseason. Ghadiali was a participant in last year’s event and pulled off one of the more impressive wins of the evening. Takedowns in the first and third period led to an 8-3 win over Ohio State All-American Nick Feldman. Top-ranked Bastida won a 2024 Big 12 championship and handled Wyatt Hendrickson, one of his final collegiate losses. This should be an excellent matchup as both heavyweights are athletic and offensive-minded. 133lbs - #1 Lucas Byrd, Illinois vs #8 Dylan Shawver, Rutgers This is one of those rivalries that goes way back. No, it’s not limited to their collegiate careers. Back in 2018, Lucas Byrd beat Dylan Shawver in the Ohio DI state finals at 113 lbs. Now, both wrestlers have put on 20 lbs and have had lots of collegiate success. Shawver captured a Big Ten title and was an All-American for the host school in 2024. Byrd has gotten on the podium three times for Illinois and won a national title at this weight in March. Since the pair made it to college, their only meeting has been a 6-5 victory for Byrd in last year’s dual. 141lbs - #6 Anthony Echemendia , Iowa State vs #1 Jesse Mendez, Ohio State As the only two-time NCAA champion in action tonight, Jesse Mendez will have the honor of closing the show in a main event against Anthony Echemendia. A year ago, Mendez went into hostile territory and posted a win 4-1 over Beau Bartlett at the 2024 All-Star Classic. Mendez and Bartlett squared off in the NCAA semifinals, as well, and Mendez prevailed and put himself in position to win title #2. Like a few of his Iowa State teammates, Anthony Echemendia also had his 2024-25 season cut short due to injuries. Back in 2024, Echemendia made the NCAA semifinals and finished in fifth place. The wrestler who beat Echemendia in the semis? Yes, Mendez by a 6-4 score. This is certainly a match we could end up seeing again in the semis, or perhaps, the NCAA finals.

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