InterMat Staff

Stagg

Unity Christian

Northside

MOC-Floyd Valley

Hoke County

Bunn

Edgewood

Brush

Selma

Bon Homme/Scotland/Avon

Mulvane

Bradley Central

Northwest

Point Pleasant

Benedictine Military

Patriot

James Wood

Oceanside

On Tuesday afternoon, at-large berths were released which finalized the field of 330 wrestlers for the 2025 NCAA Championships. Just because a wrestler was forced to rely on an at-large berth doesn’t mean they can’t be a key player in the action in Philly. That group of wrestlers that received good news yesterday includes five past All-Americans and likely a few in the future. Of course, relying on an at-large berth can happen for various reasons. Sometimes a wrestler simply had a bad day, there’s no horrific backstory, just an unforeseen loss or two. Other times, their respective conferences may be limited in allocations at their weight. Also, injuries play a key role in this. Some, like Carter Starocci or Mekhi Lewis, weighed in and injury defaulted - assuming they’d get an at-large. To illustrate that relying on an at-large berth isn’t a death knell for All-American, and even national championship hopes, take a look at the wrestlers below who have either earned All-American honors or advanced to the All-American round (bloodround) at the previous five tournaments. There is a disproportionate amount of wrestlers on the list from 2021. Remember, that was the first NCAA Tournament after Covid and the regular season started in January. There was little data to go on for allocations and fewer were given out through the conference tournaments. All-Americans 1st (2024) Carter Starocci (Penn State) 6th (2024) Bryce Andonian (Virginia Tech) 8th (2023) Killian Cardinale (West Virginia) 2nd (2022) Kizhan Clarke (North Carolina) 8th (2021) Eric Barnett (Wisconsin) 6th (2021) Michael McGee (Arizona State) 3rd (2021) Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) 8th (2021) Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State) 8th (2021) Jackson Turley (Rutgers) Bloodround (2024) Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) (2024) Tyler Wells (Minnesota) (2024) Jared Simma (Northern Iowa) (2024) Andy Smith (Virginia Tech) (2023) Vince Zerban (Northern Colorado) (2023) Caleb Fish (Michigan State) (2022) Noah Surtin (Missouri) (2022) Chad Red (Nebraska) (2022) Yahya Thomas (Northwestern) (2022) Max Lyon (Purdue) (2021) Chance Rich (CSU Bakersfield) (2021) Real Woods (Stanford) (2021) Max Murin (Iowa) (2021) Jacob Wright (Wyoming) (2021) Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech) (2021) Rocky Jordan (Ohio State) (2021) Thomas Penola (Purdue) (2021) Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) (2021) Austin Harris (Oklahoma State) (2019) Matt Findlay (Utah Valley) (2019) Justin Thomas (Oklahoma) (2019) Devin Kane (North Carolina) (2019) Sam Stoll (Iowa)

The field of 330 is now complete as the NCAA has released at-large selections for the 2025 NCAA Championships. They are as follows: 125 lbs Koda Holeman (Cal Poly) Joey Cruz (Iowa) Spencer Moore (North Carolina) Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) Alternate - Diego Sotelo (Harvard) 133 lbs Ethan Berginc (Army West Point) Evan Frost (Iowa State) Tyler Wells (Minnesota) Tyler Knox (Stanford) Alternate - Markel Baker (Northern Illinois) 141 lbs AJ Rallo (Bellarmine) Danny Pucino (Illinois) Josh Edmond (Missouri) Jayden Scott (North Carolina) Alternate: Cole Brooks (Wyoming) 149 lbs Wynton Denkins (Campbell) Malyke Hines (Lehigh) Sam Cartella (Northwestern) Willie McDougald (Oklahoma) Jaden Abas (Stanford) Gabe Willochell (Wyoming) Alternate: Finn Solomon (Pittsburgh) 157 lbs Blake Saito (Brown) Jimmy Harrington (Harvard) J Conway (Missouri) Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern) CJ Hamblin (Oregon State) Dylan Evans (Pittsburgh) Grigor Cholakyan (Stanford) Alternate: Nick Stampoulos (Lock Haven) 165 lbs Gunner Filipowicz (Army West Point) Will Miller (Appalachian State) Tyler Lillard (Indiana) Drake Rhodes (South Dakota State) Alternate: Tony White (Rutgers) 174 lbs Myles Takats (Bucknell) Nick Incontrera (Penn) Jackson Turley (Rutgers) Lorenzo Norman (Stanford) Alternate: Michael Wilson (Rider) 184 lbs Caden Rogers (Lehigh) Colin Fegley (Lock Haven) Colton Hawks (Missouri) Ryder Rogotzke (Ohio State) Dennis Robin (West Virginia) Alternate: Daschle Lamer (Cal Poly) 197 lbs Carson Floyd (Appalachian State) Wolfgang Frable (Army West Point) Tucker Hogan (Lock Haven) Joey Novak (Wyoming) Alternate: Luke Cochran (Central Michigan) 285 lbs Daniel Herrera (Iowa State) Isaac Trumble (NC State) Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers) Alternate: Xavier Doolin (Morgan State)

Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh) Kurt Phipps (Bucknell) Josh Koderhandt (Navy) Trae McDaniel (Army West Point) Logan Rozynski (Lehigh) Kyle Mosher (Hofstra) Dalton Harkins (Army West Point) Michael Beard (Lehigh) Pat Santoro (Lehigh) Matt Azevedo (Drexel) Jamie Franco (Hofstra)

What a conference weekend we just experienced! I’d be hard pressed to remember another one with as many high level upsets as this one. Of course, that makes things extremely difficult for compiling rankings and for the NCAA seeding committed who is probably working on putting together brackets, as you read this. It’s rare where we get multiple brackets where there could be so much debate regarding the #1 seed. That’s the case at 125 and 141 lbs. In both instances, we’ve decided to stand pat with the incumbents. Both Matt Ramos and Beau Bartlett started the postseason unbeaten and fell in the semifinals to high quality opponents. In both situations, there isn’t a clear-cut wrestler that should slide in and take the top-ranking from them. Bartlett has a strong resume and a head-to-head win over the other potential #1 in Big Ten champion Brock Hardy. At 125 lbs, Luke Lilledahl has the head-to-head win over Matt Ramos, but Ramos probably has a slightly better resume. Lilledahl’s two losses are to Dean Peterson and Brendan McCrone (by fall). Lilledahl still gets a strong boost from #8 to #3. 157 lbs is another interesting weight. The top two didn’t change and are easy to figure out. After that, there are a bunch of guys that have exchanged wins with each other at the Big Ten Championships. A relatively clean resume for Brandon Cannon has him sliding into the #3 spot. Though he fell to Blaze in the B1G third place match, Antrell Taylor still holds two wins over Blaze. From there, head-to-head’s take over. Like 157 lbs, 133 is easy to get the top-two….after that, wow! Conference championship at deep weights push McGonagle and Serrano to #4 and #5. We will have new #1’s at both 133 and 197 lbs. While the rankings are a great tool and guide for what to expect in Philly - the coaches rankings’ and bracket are what really matter at this time of year. At large berths are slated to be announced today and brackets will be released tomorrow night. For full rankings, click here

The NCWWCs concluded on Saturday after a nail-biter team race with Iowa ahead by 13.5 points heading into the finals. However, unlike last year when Iowa found themselves with 9 wrestlers in the finals, this time the team got the job done on the backside in consolations. All 15 Iowa wrestlers earned All-American status, which made all the difference with the team only sending four to the finals this year. North Central also sent four wrestlers to the finals, while 3rd place McKendree sent five. The other finalists come from Grand Valley State who sent 3, King who sent 2, and one each from Otterbein and Aurora. With the stage set, fans watched a crazy final round that ultimately landed Iowa in the top spot with 201.5 points. North Central secured second with 181 points, with McKendree and Grand Valley State following with 158.5 and 129.5 points respectively. Notably, 6 different schools had national champions in this tournament, showing the dominance across teams for this sport this year. Here is a recap of the finals matches that capped off an incredible tournament: 103 lbs: #4 Olivia Shore (Otterbein) over #2 Gabriele Tedesco (McKendree) 2-1 This was a bit of a low-scoring match with minimal offense between the two, however, Shore had just a bit of the competitive advantage scoring two shot clock points to Tedesco’s one. Otterbein is in its first year and Shore represents its first champion. Shore transferred to Otterbein from McKendree where she competed last year after starting her career at Tiffin. 110 lbs: #1 Sage Mortimer (GVSU) over #3 Samara Chavez (King) 11-7 Mortimer continued the pattern of getting a first-year team a national champion with her 11-7 win over Samara Chavez. This match had a bit of an opposite feeling than the one before it with non-stop action from both wrestlers. Chavez struck first with a big takedown that created a short live scramble that had Mortimer on top to tie things up 2-2. In that exchange, Chavez appeared to get hurt momentarily and had to take some time with her coaches on the mat. Once action returned, Mortimer was after it immediately, landing another takedown and looking for an armbar before the action was stopped. Not to be outdone, Chavez gets to an ankle after the reset and it is tied 4-4 going into the second period. Period two was more of the same with a Mortimer push-out point and Chavez takedown quickly followed by a Chavez push-out and Mortimer takedown. However, Mortimer strings together two quick 2-point moves to put it away. These two were absolute fireworks and a great stylistic matchup that made this really fun to watch. 117 lbs: #3 Sydney Petzinger (North Central) over #4 Clare Booe (King) 10-6 This was another great and competitive match between one wrestler who had made it deep in this tournament before and a freshman. Booe got on the board first with a really slick takedown. After the reset, Petzinger gets a takedown of her shot and rolls her through for two more. Petzinger gets in again on another good shot, but Booe can defend and score making it 4-4 headed into the second. Petzinger hits a huge double that puts Booe on her back for a 4-point move. Booe continues to try to generate offense after the reset, but Petzinger is able to capitalize on the attempt and step over for a takedown and two exposure. It’s 10-6 with :47 seconds left after a flurry of offense and while a lot more shots are taken from both wrestlers, that ends up being the final score as time expires. Petzinger finished second her first time to NCWWCs followed by two 4th place finishes. She finally gets her championship finish here and gets big points added to the North Central score. 124: #1 Amani Jones (North Central) over #3 Shelby Moore (McKendree) 5-0 These two were both working hard in the hand fight, but Jones was awarded the first shot clock point. Almost immediately after it is awarded, Jones shoots and gets the takedown to go up 3-0 headed into period two. Moore is working hard in the second period but can’t get close to Jones’ legs. Jones goes for a good shot of her own, but Moore gets a good whizzer to hold her off. Moore then gets in deep, but Jones displays some impressive defense of her own and the two get reset. Jones caps things off with another clean takedown and wins it 5-0 to claim her second national title and get those placement points for the Cardinals. 131: #1 Alexis Janiak (Aurora) over #2 Sara Sterner (North Central) 6-4 North Central’s luck ran out here with Alexis Janiak putting together an impressive win over Sara Sterner. The two had a history with this being the third-place match at NCWWCs last year and the two meeting at regionals just a few weeks ago. They were 1-1 with Janiak having the more recent victory. Janiak gets an early point and then hits a huge takedown immediately to a roll through and is up 5-0 quickly. The action is limited the rest of the period. Off the whistle in period two, Janiak goes for a big shot, but Sterner is ready with a counter and ends up on top for the two instead. Sterner continues fighting and goes for a big final move and gets 2 just as time expires. Her coaches throw a brick, possibly to look for potential exposure or additional points, but the officials call for no change. Because North Central lost the challenge, Janiak gets an additional point tacked on to the total, making it a 6-4 decision for Janiak. 138: #1 Katie Lange (GVSU) tech #2 Haylie Jaffe (McKendree) 10-0 Grand Valley sent in their second wrestler in the finals here against a crazy-tough Haylie Jaffe of McKendree. Unfortunately for Jaffe, Lange breaks things open early with a takedown on the edge. She then defends a deep single-leg shot from Jaffe to circle around and get two more. Another takedown at the : 45-second mark put Lange up 6-0 headed into the second. Off the whistle, Lange began hunting for another takedown and found it quickly. She drops down to the legs and gets the lace to roll through and get the 10-0 technical fall, the first bonus point win of the finals. Lange becomes a 2x National Champ with this win after also taking first place in 2022. 145: #1 Macey Kilty (Iowa) over #3 Bella Mir (North Central) 7-2 Things felt different from last year when Iowa competed in nearly every finals match, as 145 lbs was the first time a Hawkeye competed for 1st. Apparently “Bad Blood” played in the arena during walkouts with #1 Macey Kilty taking on #3 Bella Mir, a former Hawkeye now at North Central. You could tell there was a bit of chippiness in this match, but there was a lot of action and gritty hand-fighting to go with it. There were no points until just before the one-minute mark when Kilty was awarded a shot clock point. From there, she opened things up with a takedown and two for exposure. Headed into the second up 5-0, it seemed like Kilty may easily put this away. However, Mir is able to roll through a Kilty attempt and get two exposures to make it 5-2. Kilty attempts again and gets it this time going up 7-2. Mir gets in deep on a shot but Kilty defends and almost turns, holding the score at 7-2 as time expires. There appeared to be a few words exchanged between the two after the match, but eventually, they shake hands and Kilty gets hers raised. This win clinched the team score for Iowa. 160: #1 Kennedy Blades (Iowa) tech #2 Kaylynn Albrecht (McKendree) 10-0 The Hawkeye gauntlet continued here with Blades doing what she does best with early, clean offense. She gets takedown after takedown on the edge. There is a pushout point as well followed by a few more takedowns to nab the technical fall 10-0 with :05 seconds left in the first period. Blades went completely undefeated this season with a 100% bonus rate. 180: #1 Kylie Welker (Iowa) tech #2 Sabrina Nauss (GVSU) 10-0 It was a very similar story at 180 lbs, with Welker putting on a master class against her opponent Sabrina Nauss. Nauss fought hard with some attempts and good defense, however Welker was up off her first shot with a takedown and lace 4-0 almost immediately. From the reset, she hit another perfect shot and got to her tight waist for 2 more rolls and that was it. A 10-0 technical fall for Kylie Welker in just :57 seconds. Welker has had “blink and you’ll miss it” style matches all season and joins Blades in having a perfect season: 100% wins, 100% bonus point wins. 207: #2 Tristan Kelly (McKendree) over #1 Jaycee Foeller (Iowa) 6-0 Tristan Kelly set out to turn the tides of how her McKendree teammates had fared so far in the finals and she was successful in doing so. After going back and forth with tough handfighting and some strong ties, Kelly hits a slick throw-by for a takedown with exposure up 4-0. That was the extent of the offense in the first period. Period two is low scoring, with each wrestler defending their opponent's shots and fakes very well. However, with less than 10 seconds in the match, Kelly hits another slick takedown to make it a 6-0 win and solidify a 3rd-place finish for McKendree. I know a lot of headlines highlight the Iowa Hawkeyes, but it is incredibly notable how they were able to succeed this year with five fewer finalists than last season. Placement points are big for team score, and this could have easily gotten out of hand when 2024 National champs for the Hawkeyes dropped matches on the front side of the tournament. However, the resiliency and culture that must have been instilled in these athletes made all the difference with all 15 wrestlers becoming All-Americans. Every wrestler who dropped to the backside of the bracket won at least one more match after that loss. That created a scenario in which the “lowest scoring” wrestler for the Hawkeyes still earned 11 team points. Every wrestler that makes it to this level fights hard, battles for their team, and works to get the best outcome possible for themselves, and that is evident in the six different schools represented among the 10 national champions, including new schools like Otterbein and Grand Valley State. This sport is always growing and evolving and at the conclusion of the final NCWWC tournament in its current form, wrestling fans should be feeling excited about what the first NCAA Women’s Wrestling tournament has in store, regardless of what team they cheer for.

2025 Big 12 Championships Final Results Team Scores 1. Oklahoma State 153.5 2. Northern Iowa 149.5 3. South Dakota State 110 4. Iowa State 107.5 5. Northern Colorado 79.5 6. West Virginia 77.5 7. Oklahoma 72.5 8. Missouri 65.5 9. North Dakota State 58.5 10. Wyoming 58 11. Arizona State 43 12. Utah Valley 21.5 13. California Baptist 15 14. Air Force 11.5 Championship Finals 125 lbs - Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia) dec Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) 5-2SV 133 lbs - Dominick Serrano (Northern Colorado) dec Kyle Burwick (North Dakota State) 11-4 141 lbs - Cael Happel (Northern Iowa) dec Tagen Jamison (Oklahoma State) 2-2RTTB 149 lbs - Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) dec Colin Realbuto (Northern Iowa) 5-4 157 lbs - Vince Zerban (Northern Colorado) dec Cobe Siebrecht (South Dakota State) 7-4 165 lbs - Peyton Hall (West Virginia) dec Cam Steed (Missouri) 2-0 174 lbs - Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) dec Dean Hamiti (Oklahoma State) 7-4SV 184 lbs - Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) dec Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State) 8-1 197 lbs - Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa) dec Luke Surber (Oklahoma State) 4-1 285 lbs - Wyatt Hendrickson (Oklahoma) dec Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State) 8-5 Third Place 125 lbs - Richie Figueroa (Arizona State) dec Antonio Lorenzo (Oklahoma) 8-3 133 lbs - Julian Farber (Northern Iowa) dec Kade Moore (Missouri) 10-6 141 lbs - Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) dec Jacob Frost (Iowa State) 8-2 149 lbs - Gavin Drexler (North Dakota State) dec Teague Travis (Oklahoma State) 9-2 157 lbs - Ryder Downey (Northern Iowa) dec Caleb Fish (Oklahoma State) 4-2 165 lbs - Terrell Barraclough (Utah Valley) dec Aiden Riggins (Iowa State) 1-0 174 lbs - MJ Gaitan (Iowa State) dec Gaven Sax (Oklahoma) 6-4 184 lbs - Bennett Berge (South Dakota State) maj Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming) 197 lbs - Zach Glazier (South Dakota State) dec Ian Bush (West Virginia) 4-3 285 lbs - Luke Rasmussen (South Dakota State) dec Sam Mitchell (Wyoming) 8-3 Fifth Place 125 lbs - Stevo Poulin (Northern Colorado) maj Tristan Daugherty (North Dakota State) 9-1 133 lbs - Derrick Cardinal (South Dakota State) MedFFT Hunter Leake (California Baptist) 141 lbs - Julian Tagg (South Dakota State) MedFFT Jordan Titus (West Virginia) 149 lbs - Willie McDougald (Oklahoma) dec Avery Allen (South Dakota State) 5-2 157 lbs - Jared Hill (Wyoming) dec Cody Chittum (Iowa State) 4-3 165 lbs - Cam Amine (Oklahoma State) MedFFT Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State) 174 lbs - Cade DeVos (South Dakota State) dec Jared Simma (Northern Iowa) 9-4 184 lbs - DJ Parker (Oklahoma) MedFFT Evan Bockman (Iowa State) 197 lbs - Joey Novak (Wyoming) maj Brian Burburjia (Air Force) 9-0 285 lbs - Daniel Herrera (Iowa State) dec Juan Mora (Oklahoma) 5-3 Seventh Place 125 lbs - Trever Anderson (Northern Iowa) fall Tanner Jordan (South Dakota State) 6:58 133 lbs - Evan Frost (Iowa State) MedFFT Cleveland Belton (Oklahoma) 141 lbs - Mosha Schwartz (Oklahoma) dec Cole Brooks (Wyoming) 17-13 149 lbs - Sam Hillegas (West Virginia) fall Gabe Willochell (Wyoming) 1:53 157 lbs - J Conway (Missouri) dec Caleb Dowling (West Virginia) 6-3 165 lbs - Jack Thomsen (Northern Iowa) dec Clayton Ulrey (Northern Colorado) 4-0 174 lbs - Devin Wasley (North Dakota State) dec Ayden Rix-McElhinney (Northern Colorado) 6-3 184 lbs - Aidan Brenot (North Dakota State) dec Colton Hawks (Missouri) 11-7 197 lbs - Nate Schon (Iowa State) dec Kael Bennis (Utah Valley) 9-4 285 lbs - Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) maj Andrew Blackburn-Forst (North Dakota State) 13-0 Automatic Qualifiers Arizona State: Richie Figueroa (125), Nicco Ruiz (165), Cohlton Schultz (285) California Baptist: Hunter Leake (133) Iowa State: Jacob Frost (141), Paniro Johnson (149), Cody Chittum (157), Aiden Riggins (165), MJ Gaitan (174), Evan Bockman (184) Missouri: Kade Moore (133), Cam Steed (165), Keegan O’Toole (174) North Dakota State: Tristan Daugherty (125), Kyle Burwick (133), Gavin Drexler (149), Aidan Brenot (184) Northern Colorado: Stevo Poulin (125), Dominic Serrano (133), Andrew Alirez (141), Vince Zerban (157) Northern Iowa: Trever Anderson (125), Julian Farber (133), Cael Happel (141), Colin Realbuto (149), Ryder Downey (157), Jack Thomsen (165), Jared Simma (174), Parker Keckeisen (184), Wyatt Voelker (197) Oklahoma: Antonio Lorenzo (125), Mosha Schwartz (141), Gaven Sax (174), DJ Parker (184) Oklahoma State: Troy Spratley (125), Tagen Jamison (141), Teague Travis (149), Caleb Fish (157), Cam Amine (165), Dean Hamiti (174), Dustin Plott (184), Luke Surber (197), Wyatt Hendrickson (285) South Dakota State: Derrick Cardinal (125), Julian Tagg (141), Cobe Siebrecht (157), Cade DeVos (174), Bennett Berge (184), Cole Grazier (197), Luke Rasmussen (285) Utah Valley: Terrell Barraclough (165) West Virginia: Jett Strickenberger (125), Jordan Titus (141), Peyton Hall (165) Wyoming: Jared Hill (157), Eddie Neitenbach (184), Sam Mitchell (285)