Facts, Trends, and Numbers from the 2025 NCAA Championships

With the at-large's announced on Tuesday and brackets released Wednesday, the NCAA Championships are officially looming. And now, less than a week away. Before we get into the meat and potatoes of our previews, here's a fun look at the NCAA Tournament and its competitors (individuals/teams). It's some of the facts, trends, numbers, and overall randomness that you never thought to look up about the participants of the 2025 NCAA Championships. State-related facts For the second straight year, Beau Bartlett is the only national qualifier from Arizona. California has always been a place for great lightweights - this year is no different. Six of the state’s 26 national qualifiers are at 125 lbs. Joey Cruz (Iowa), Richie Figueroa (Arizona State), Antonio Lorenzo (Oklahoma), Maximo Renteria (Oregon State), Richard Castro-Sandoval (CSU Bakersfield), and Koda Holeman (Cal Poly). The last time California hit the 26-qualifier mark was in 2008. This is the first time since 2019 that Connecticut failed to have a qualifier. Georgia has nine wrestlers in the 2025 tournament. A third of them are at the 184 lb bracket with Gavin Kane, Gabe Arnold, and Jaxon Smith. Six of Northern Iowa’s ten national qualifiers are homegrown from Iowa. That’s the most in-state qualifiers for any school. Iowa State’s Frost twins (Evan/Jacob) both qualified for the 2025 tournament. That is the first time that multiple Louisiana residents have qualified in the same year since 2013 when Ben Willeford/Cleveland State and David Bonin/Northern Iowa made the tournament. In 2021, it was believed that Jaydin Eierman was the first Missouri native to win a Big Ten title. Now, Luke Lilledahl has joined the list. New Jersey has 26 national qualifiers and six of them are at 149 lbs. Shane Van Ness (Penn State), Andrew Clark (Rutgers), Sammy Alvarez (Rider) and the Ivy League’s Ethan Fernandez (Cornell), Cross Wasilewski (Penn), and Ty Whalen (Princeton). Whalen and Fernandez meet in the first round. Although Pennsylvania has 41 total qualifiers - only one of them is at 125 lbs (Sheldon Seymour/Lehigh). One other weight has two qualifiers (165). All others have three or more. South Carolina has four qualifiers this year (Chandler Amaker/Thomas Snipes/Patrick Brophy/Owen Trephan). That is the most for the state since 2001 when Travis Drake (Appalachian State), Robby Bell (The Citadel), Mike Regner (The Citadel), and Adam Duncan (Chattanooga) all qualified. Also with a good year from down South is Tennessee. They have six Tennessee natives headed to Philly. That’s the most for the state since seven went to the 2009 tournament. That year two of them ended up on the podium (Jordan Leen/Nick Marable). One of the most remarkable facts of this entire tournament was brought to us by Ben Askren on Twitter (X). There are six of his ex-Askren Wrestling Academy wrestlers in the 165 lb bracket. Mitchell Mesenbrink, Braeden Scoles, Cody Goebel, Noah Mulvaney, and Joey Bianchi are the wrestlers. Having six total wrestlers from one state is a good number in some places. Having six all in the same bracket is pretty remarkable for any state - much less one club. Team Related Facts Cornell, Northern Iowa, Ohio State, and Penn State are sending all ten of their starters to Philly. Devan Hendricks won the 184 lb weight class in the SoCon becoming the first Bellarmine wrestler to qualify for the DI national tournament….in their first year of eligibility. A few days later, he was joined by AJ Rallo (141 lbs), who was added as an at-large berth. Brevin Cassella became only the third Binghamton wrestler to win an EIWA title - joining Louie DePrez (x3) and Tyler Deuel. Hunter Leake became the first California Baptist to qualify for the DI tournament on multiple occasions. Donny Pritzlaff’s Columbia team has sent five wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament in his first year. Incredibly enough, because of Ivy League eligibility rules, there are a handful of former Columbia wrestlers also in the field. Nick Babin (125/Pittsburgh), Angelo Rini (133/Indiana), Kyle Mosher (165/Hofstra), Josh Ogunsanya (174/North Carolina), Lennox Wolak (174/Virginia Tech), Nolan Neves (285/North Carolina). Great job by Pritzlaff and crew reloading on the fly and hat’s off to former head coach Zach Tanelli’s staff for crushing it on the recruiting trail. Drexel had a trio of qualifiers after not having any in 2024. Edinboro has a pair of qualifiers after not having one in 2024 and only having one in 2022 and 2023. Iowa will be without a 141 lber at the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016 and only the second time since 2003. Iowa State continues to have one of the most geographically diverse lineups of national qualifiers. This year’s group includes qualifiers from Louisiana (x2), Alaska, Tennessee, California (x2), Pennsylvania, and Iowa. Of Michigan’s seven NCAA qualifiers, only Sergio Lemley returns from the 2024’s nine qualifiers. Northern Iowa will send all ten starters to Philly. It’s the first time that UNI has their entire lineup headed to nationals since 1986. Head coach Doug Schwab’s older brother, Mark, was an All-American at 118 lbs on that team. From what I can tell, Cross Wasilewski’s #9 seed is the best for a Penn freshman…..ever? The Citadel will send four wrestlers to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2014. They also had three SoCon champions, which was their most since that same year. The last time they finished second in the SoCon…you guessed it, 2014! Gylon Sims became the first freshman to win a SoCon title for The Citadel since Aaron Walker achieved the feat in 2014. Four teams have three freshmen headed to Philly. They are Cornell, Michigan State, Stanford, and Virginia Tech. The three freshmen account for Michigan State’s entire contingent. Recruiting Related Facts The MatScouts Big Board has been a very solid indicator of collegiate success. Most of the high finishers at the 2024 NCAA Championships were highly ranked coming out of high school. Looking at these brackets, the 125 lbs group is the one with the most wrestlers (13) who were unranked coming out of high school. Heavyweight is second with (12). Most other brackets were closer to 6 or 7. With Gable’s return, the 285 lb bracket has three wrestlers who were ranked #1 overall in their respective recruiting classes. Steveson (2018), Greg Kerkvliet (2019), and Nick Feldman (2022). No other weight has more than one. There are only nine true freshmen from the Class of 2024 who have qualified. Lilledahl, Cholakyan, Rozynski, John, Neitenbach, Bechtold, Hogan, Herrera, Monchery. Interestingly enough, 197 lbs and 285 lbs are the weights with the most freshmen (true and redshirt combined) with seven each. 285 lbs also leads the way with nine transfers - that’s the most of any bracket. (Neves, Kerkvliet, Heindselman, Nevills, Slavikouski, Hendrickson, Mitchell, Trephan, Hoffman) There are 11 wrestlers in this tournament from the high school Class of 2018. Brock Hardy, Colin Realbuto, Jacori Teemer, Danny Braunagel, Evan Bockman, Zac Braunagel, Michael Beard, Mickey O’Malley, Gable Steveson, Seth Nevills, and Gavin Hoffman. Seed Related Facts AJ Ferrari is the first CSU Bakersfield wrestler to receive a top-three seed since Stephan Neal was the top-seeded heavyweight in 1999. Lucas Byrd is the first Illinois wrestler to earn a #1 seed since Isaiah Martinez in 2018. Nasir Bailey’s #3 seed is the best ever for the Little Rock program. Josh Koderhandt’s #4 seed is the highest by a Navy wrestler since Ed Prendergast was the #3 seeded heavyweight in 2008. In addition to Koderhandt, Navy also has Danny Wask as the #7 seed. It’s the first time since 2009 that Navy has had multiple top-ten seeds (Joe Baker #8 and Bryce Saddoris #6). With Nebraska’s Brock Hardy earning the #1 seed, it gives the Huskers #1 seeds in back-to-back years after Ridge Lovett was a top seed in 2024. The last time Nebraska had back-to-back years with a #1 seed was in 2014 and 2015 with James Green (‘14) and Robert Kokesh (‘15). Brock Hardy is the first Utah native to earn the top seed at the NCAA Championships since 2002 when Ryan Lewis (Minnesota) and Cael Sanderson (Penn State) got the #1 seeds. Garrett Thompson is the first Ohio wrestler to earn a top-four seed since Jake Percival received that same seed in 2004. Penn State has four #1 seeds for the second consecutive year. Before 2024, they had never had four #1’s in the same season - under Cael Sanderson or before. Penn State has had at least one #1 seed every year since 2016. Since 2000, only 12 freshmen have earned the #1 seed at nationals. Penn State’s Luke Lilledahl is the latest at 125 lbs. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has a pair of #1 seeds with Tyler Kasak and Carter Starocci. It has produced at least one #1 seed every year since 2016. Seeded #2, Matt Ramos is the first Purdue wrestler since Chris Fleeger (#1 in 2003) to receive a top-two seed. Caleb Henson is only the third Virginia Tech wrestler to earn the #1 seed at nationals and this is the first time the school has ever had a #1 seed in back-to-back years (Mekhi Lewis 174/2024). Gable Steveson is the third wrestler in the last 25 years to earn the #1 seed at the NCAA Championships on four occasions. Isaiah Martinez and Cael Sanderson are the others. Of course, Steveson has been able to compete in five postseasons. Bracketing Fun With first-round wins at 125 lbs, we could see former Virginia Tech teammates clash with #3 Eddie Ventresca and #19 Cooper Flynn (Minnesota). Ventresca is 5-0 career against Flynn, although they are typically close matches. Maybe there will be some NIL money on the line in the potential 157 lb Round of 16 match, which might be called the “Battle of the Paper Products.” Scott vs Downey. Ed vs. Ryder. Also in the 157 lb bracket is a potential Round of 16 meeting between the returning NCAA runner-up and third-place finisher in Jacori Teemer and Meyer Shapiro. There will be a first-round match at 165 lbs between Iowa’s Michael Caliendo and former Iowa teammate Aiden Riggins. In the Round of 16, the winner could face another former Hawkeye, Drake Rhodes. We’ve already mentioned all the former Askren Wrestling Academy products in the 165 lb bracket. Two could meet in the Round of 16 - Mitchell Mesenbrink and Noah Mulvaney. The first-round match at 174 lbs will feature a pair of Ohio neighbors doing battle. #9 Carson Kharchla of Powell/Olentangy Liberty against #24 Lennox Wolak of Columbus/Dublin Coffman. Speaking of the Kharchla/Wolak matchup, it is one of two at 174 lbs in the first round between past All-Americans. Dean Hamiti/Jackson Turley is the other. No other weight has one. At 184 lbs, there’s a first-round matchup between the only wrestler in the field from Rhode Island (Nick Fine) against one of two from Alaska (Evan Bockman). Kind of an unusual matchup to see at the NCAA Tournament. 197 lbs could have some of the best storylines of the tournament Brothers Mac and Luke Stout could meet in the second round. Both are favored in their first match. A couple days after St. Patrick’s Day, we have an O’Malley/Stout (Luke) first-round match. How about a rematch of the 2023 Soldier Salute finals between AJ Ferrari and Zach Glazier? That could happen in round two. Speaking of Ferrari, AJ against Iowa’s Stephen Buchanan in the semis? Former Wyoming All-American, Buchanan, could meet their current star Joey Novak in the second round. Conference Related Facts The 46 qualifiers from the ACC is a conference record. Since 2011, 14 different freshmen have captured Big Ten titles. Eight have wrestled for Penn State. They are David Taylor, Ed Ruth, Bo Nickal, Aaron Brooks, Levi Haines, Braeden Davis, Mitchell Mesenbrink, and now Luke Lilledahl. Gable Steveson became the 19th wrestler to win four Big Ten titles and only the second Minnesota wrestler to accomplish the feat. Verne Gagne was able to do so in 1944, 1947-49. Gardner-Webb had back-to-back conference champions at 133 and 141 lbs. It was the first time since moving to the SoCon that they have crowned more than one conference champ. The last time they had more than one was in 2011 when Ryan Medved, Alex Medved, Jon Velazquez, and Travis Porter all captured East Region titles. Hofstra had a pair of EIWA champions in Kyle Mosher (165) and Ross McFarland (184). This is the only time that Hofstra has had two champions since moving to the EIWA. The last time they had two conference champions was in 2013 with Steve Bonanno and Jamie Franco - now head coach of the Pride. Illinois’ fifth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships marked the first time since 2013 that the Illini was able to crack the top five. Lucas Byrd’s B1G title gives Illinois champions in back-to-back years (Edmond Ruth/2024) for the first time since the end of Isaiah Martinez’s run from 2015-18. Iowa also went without a Big Ten champion in back-to-back years for the first time since 2005-06. With Drake Ayala and Michael Caliendo making the Big Ten finals, they have had at least one finalist in every season since 1967. Maryland’s 54 points and an eighth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships were both highs for the program since moving to the conference. Though they are in a new conference, Cornell extended their streak with multiple conference champions in every year since 2007 (excluding 2021 when the Ivy League didn’t wrestle). During their first year qualifying through the Ivy League, Cornell qualified all ten starters and had five conference champions. Hunter Garvin will go down as Stanford’s first ACC champion. He won the 165 lb weight class. Virginia Tech’s ACC Championship was the school’s first since 2018 and snapped a six-year winning streak by NC State. Virginia Tech also extended their streak of individual champions. They’ve had at least one per year since 2010. Rival NC State has had at least one champion every year since 2014. The one ACC champion (Matthew Singleton) for NC State is their lowest total since 2017. Ohio’s Garrett Thompson claimed a MAC title at 174 lbs. Last year, Peyten Kellar won the 157 lb weight class. That means the Bobcats have produced conference champions in consecutive years for the first time since 2014-15. At that point, now-assistant coach Cody Walters and Jeremy Johnson won in 2014. Walters would repeat in 2015. DJ McGee’s 157 lb MAC title gave George Mason three straight years with a conference champ. The last time that happened at George Mason was in 1997-99 (and that streak dates back to 1992). Anthony Noto became the first four-time MAC champion for Lock Haven and only the 10th wrestler to win four MAC titles. West Virginia had a pair of Big 12 champions in Jett Strickenberger and Peyton Hall. This was the first time that they had multiple champions since moving to the conference. Before that, their most recent time with multiple champions came in 2012 in the EWL with Mike Morales, Matt Ryan, and Brandon Williamson. Miscellaneous The school that benefitted the most from at-large berths was Stanford which had four. Army West Point and Missouri also had three. Five past All-Americans needed an at-large berth for the 2025 NCAA Championships. We’re in an era of great heavyweight wrestling. That can further be illustrated by the fact that there are eight age-group world medalists in the 33-man bracket. Gable Steveson, Greg Kerkvliet, Ben Kueter, Jimmy Mullen, Isaac Trumble, Wyatt Hendrickson, Cohlton Schultz, and Gavin Hoffman. Nick Feldman and Luke Luffman have also made age-group world teams.

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Facts, Trends, and Numbers from the 2025 NCAA Championships

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