InterMat Staff

The 2025 NCAA Championships are still fresh on our minds and in that tournament Penn State captured their fourth straight national title and 12th under head coach Cael Sanderson. Despite falling victim to a couple of upsets, the Nittany Lions still managed to put ten wrestlers on the podium - a feat only accomplished once before. Much has been said about Penn State’s record in the most important rounds of the national tournament. We’ve decided to see how that stands after the 2025 tournament and how that compares to a handful of other programs around the country. Below are 21 programs sorted by their overall records at the NCAA Tournament from 2021-25. Along with their total record is how each program fared during that time period in the NCAA finals, the semifinals, the quarterfinals, and the bloodround. The programs listed below have had a total of at least 125 matches at the NCAA Tournament between 2021-25, so every team is not listed. 1. Penn State Total: 196-47 (.807) Finals: 17-6 Semifinals: 23-7 Quarterfinals: 30-8 Bloodround: 8-3 2. Iowa Total: 149-86 (.634) Finals: 2-7 Semifinals: 9-6 Quarterfinals: 15-13 Bloodround: 12-5 3. Michigan Total: 123-73 (.628) Finals: 2-4 Semifinals: 6-8 Quarterfinals: 14-6 Bloodround: 5-8 4. Cornell Total: 102-61 (.626) Finals: 4-0 Semifinals: 4-3 Quarterfinals: 7-4 Bloodround: 6-7 5. Arizona State Total: 100-63 (.613) Finals: 1-3 Semifinals: 4-7 Quarterfinals: 11-7 Bloodround: 9-1 6. Nebraska Total: 132-84 (.611) Finals: 2-3 Semifinals: 5-5 Quarterfinals: 10-13 Bloodround: 14-7 7. Ohio State Total: 119-83 (.589) Finals: 2-3 Semifinals: 5-4 Quarterfinals: 9-8 Bloodround: 8-11 8. Oklahoma State Total: 119-86 (.580) Finals: 3-5 Semifinals: 8-3 Quarterfinals: 11-5 Bloodround: 8-4 9. Missouri Total: 109-85 (.562) Finals: 2-1 Semifinals: 3-4 Quarterfinals: 7-9 Bloodround: 8-9 10. NC State Total: 112-88 (.560) Finals: 1-2 Semifinals: 3-5 Quarterfinals: 8-10 Bloodround: 8-7 11. Iowa State Total: 97-77 (.557) Finals: 2-1 Semifinals: 3-2 Quarterfinals: 5-5 Bloodround: 7-6 12. Virginia Tech Total: 108-89 (.548) Finals: 1-2 Semifinals: 3-5 Quarterfinals: 8-14 Bloodround: 10-7 13. Northern Iowa Total: 83-70 (.542) Finals: 1-2 Semifinals: 3-2 Quarterfinals: 5-3 Bloodround: 1-8 14. Northwestern Total: 73-63 (.537) Finals: 1-0 Semifinals: 1-2 Quarterfinals: 3-7 Bloodround: 6-3 15. North Carolina Total: 67-63 (.515) Finals: 2-1 Semifinals: 3-1 Quarterfinals: 4-4 Bloodround: 6-2 16. Stanford Total: 66-63 (.512) Finals: 1-1 Semifinals: 2-2 Quarterfinals: 4-4 Bloodround: 5-4 17. South Dakota State Total: 73-70 (.510) Finals: 0-1 Semifinals: 1-2 Quarterfinals: 3-1 Bloodround: 5-5 18. Minnesota Total: 91-89 (.506) Finals: 2-1 Semifinals: 3-2 Quarterfinals: 5-7 Bloodround: 8-5 19. Rutgers Total: 68-69 (.496) Finals: 0-0 Semifinals 0-2 Quarterfinals 2-3 Bloodround: 5-5 20. Oregon State Total: 60-67 (.472) Finals: 0-0 Semifinals: 0-2 Quarterfinals: 2-5 Bloodround: 5-3 21. Lehigh Total: 59-71 (.454) Finals: 0-0 Semifinals: 0-5 Quarterfinals: 5-4 Bloodround: 2-6

Women’s College Wrestler of the Year finalists: Blades, Jones, Kilty, Kolawole, Mortimer, Ogunsanyah, Rodriguez, Welker. Fan vote through April 6 The finalists have been named for the 2025 USA Wrestling Women’s College Wrestler of the Year Award. The award will be selected by a vote from three major constituent groups: wrestling journalists, women’s college head coaches and the fans. Each of these groups will account for one-third of the vote. The eight finalists were all undefeated college national champions in 2025: NCWWC (NCAA institutions) champions Kennedy Blades of Iowa, Amani Jones of North Central, Macey Kilty of Iowa, Sage Mortimer of Grand Valley State and Kylie Welker of Iowa, plus NAIA champions Esther Kolawole of William Penn, Christianah Ogunsanyah of William Penn and Cristelle Rodriguez of Doane. . Fan vote for 2025 Women’s College Wrestler of the Year https://usawrestlingevents.com/wcwoty Women’s college varsity wrestlers from all of the recognized college organizations were eligible, including NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA/junior college programs. The finalists were selected by a committee overseeing the award program, featuring representatives of the media, college coaches and wrestling fans. These eight wrestlers were selected from a pool of 31 college national champions from the NCAA, NAIA and NJCAA. Fan voting opens today (Tuesday, April 1) and runs through Sunday, April 6. The announcement of the winner of 2025 USA Wrestling’s Women’s College Wrestler of the Year will again be announced on FloWrestling on Tuesday, April 8. How to vote for USA Wrestling Women’s College Wrestler of the Year Review the candidate bios Click “cast vote now” button Enter your email Click on the one athlete you are voting for On bottom of page, click “save vote now” button Fan vote for 2025 Women’s College Wrestler of the Year https://usawrestlingevents.com/wcwoty The award was created in 2023. Past winners were Yelena Makoyed of North Central College in 2023 and Adaugo Nwachukwu of William Penn University in 2024. USA Wrestling’s goal is to elevate the new award to have the significance and impact as other college athletic awards, such as the Dan Hodge Trophy for men’s college wrestling, the Heisman Trophy for college football, the Hobey Baker Award for men’s college hockey, the Patty Kazmeier Award for women’s college hockey, the Naismith College Player of the Year in men’s and women’s basketball, the Dick Howser Trophy in college baseball, the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and similar college awards. The Finalists (Alphabetically) Kennedy Blades, junior, University of Iowa 2025 NCWWC champion at 160 pounds 25-0 record 2 pins and 23 technical falls 2025 NCWWC Region 7 champion Outstanding Wrestler at 2025 NCWWC tournament 2024 Olympic silver medalist for Team USA Amani Jones, senior, North Central College 2025 NCWWC champion at 124 pounds, now 2x NCWWC champion 27-0 record 6 pins and 13 technical falls 2025 NCWWC Region 5 champion 2x age-group World medalist for Team USA Macey Kilty, graduate student, University of Iowa 2025 NCWWC champion at 145 pounds 28-0 record 3 pins and 21 technical falls 2025 NCWWC Region 7 champion 2x Senior World medalist for Team USA Esther Kolawole, freshman, William Penn University 2025 NAIA champion at 145 pounds 23-0 record 2 pins and 19 technical falls 2025 Heart of America Conference champion 2024 Olympian for Nigeria Sage Mortimer, junior, Grand Valley State University 2025 NCWWC champion at 110 pounds 24-0 record 9 pins and 11 technical falls 2025 NCWWC Region 5 champion 2024 U23 World champion for Team USA Christianah Ogunsanyah, freshman, William Penn University 2025 NAIA champion at 117 pounds 23-0 record 1 pins and 20 technical falls 2025 Heart of America Conference champion 2024 Olympian for Nigeria Cristelle Rodriguez, junior, Doane University 2025 NAIA champion at 124 pounds, now 2x NAIA champion 14-0 record 5 pins and 8 technical falls 2025 Great Plains Athletic Conference champion 2025 NAIA Women’s Wrestler of the Year 2024 U20 World champion for Team USA Kylie Welker, sophomore, Univ. of Iowa 2025 NCWWC champion at 180 pounds, now 2x NCWWC champion 28-0 record 6 pins and 21 technical falls 2025 NCWWC Region 7 champion 2021 U20 World champion for Team USA PAST USA WRESTLING WOMEN’S COLLEGE WRESTLERS OF THE YEAR 2024 – Adaugo Nwachukwu, William Penn University 2023 – Yelena Makoyed, North Central College Fan vote for 2025 Women’s College Wrestler of the Year https://usawrestlingevents.com/wcwoty

Just last week we had a portal update and almost immediately after it was posted, portal related news continued to hit. Now, we have a few notable wrestlers who have already announced their transfer destinations - along with more high-profile additions to the portal itself. Love it or hate it, it’s the reality. Student-athletes have the ability to transfer much more freely than past generations. Couple that with the extra year of eligibility doled out by the NCAA in the aftermath of the COVID years and you have a wild combination. There was lots of movement last “offseason” and I don’t foresee that changing this year. The first list of wrestlers we’ve listed have already publicly committed to a new transfer destination. That new school is listed first, along with their projected weight, followed by their former school. Below them are notable wrestlers that have gone into the transfer portal. It is not a comprehensive list. Expect many updates to this feature in the coming weeks and months. Transfers Iowa: Nasir Bailey (133/141) - Little Rock Iowa: Jordan Williams (149) - Little Rock Michigan: Taye Ghadiali (285) - Campbell Oklahoma State: Alex Facundo (165) - Penn State Oklahoma State: Gary Steen (133) - Penn State Oklahoma State: Casey Swiderski (149) - Iowa State Oregon State: Joel Adams (149) - Michigan/CKWC Penn State: Rocco Welsh (184) - Ohio State Portal Christian Carroll (197) - Iowa State Hunter Catka (285) - Virginia Tech Remy Cotton (197) - Michigan State Isaac Dean (184) - Rider David Evans (149) - Penn State AJ Ferrari (197) - CSU Bakersfield Joe Fongaro (149) - Rutgers Luke Gayer (165) - Rutgers Louie Gill (125) - NC State Eli Griffin (133) - California Baptist Bryce Hepner (157/165) - Ohio State Chase Horne (285) - NC State Hunter Mason (141) - Virginia Tech Lachlan McNeil (149) - North Carolina Billy Meiszner (149) - Kent State Spencer Moore (125) - North Carolina Draegen Orine (133) - NC State Isaiah Powe (141) - Chattanooga Caleb Rathjen (149) - Iowa Zach Redding (141) - Iowa State Mike Slade (184/197) - Campbell Brian Soldano (184) - Rutgers Sean Spidle (133) - Central Michigan TJ Stewart (184) - Virginia Tech David Szuba (285) - Rider Kysen Terukina (125) - Iowa State Jore Volk (125) - Wyoming Colton Washleski (157) - Rider

The good news continues to roll into Stillwater! Earlier today we found out that Wyatt Hendrickson has won the 2025 Hodge Trophy. Last week, we learned that 2024 All-American Casey Swiderski was transferring from Iowa State to wrestle for the Cowboys. Now, Oklahoma State has had more success from the portal as Alex Facundo announced that he’ll transfer to wrestle for David Taylor’s team. Facundo was the #2 overall recruit in the Class of 2021 and signed out of high school with Penn State. As a redshirt freshman, Facundo went 19-6 and finished seventh in the Big Ten at 165 lbs. Though he had regular season dual wins over All-Americans Cam Amine and Carson Kharchla, Facundo wasn’t able to turn that into success at the NCAA Tournament - he went 0-2 at the NCAA Tournament in Tulsa. Since then, Facundo missed the entire 2023-24 season with an injury. This year, Facundo was in the hunt to start at 157 lbs and even competed in a pair of events at that weight. In Army’s Black Knight Invite, Facundo lost a 5-2 decision to Penn State teammate Tyler Kasak. He did not wrestle for the remainder of the year. Facundo earned his high school rankings on the strength of a Cadet freestyle title in Fargo and a Super 32 championship in 2019. In the summer of 2018 and 2019, Facundo made the U17 freestyle world team and, in each year, he came away with a bronze medal from the World Championships. Because of injuries, Facundo should have two years of eligibility remaining. He could fit in immediately for the Cowboys at 157 or 165 lbs. Oklahoma State has plenty of young talent at those weights and Facundo’s presence could lead Taylor to redshirt some of them.

St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Mary's

Northeastern

Manton

Fremont

West Creek

Eau Claire Memorial

Mother McAuley

McQueen

Stoughton

Hoffman Estates

Prairie View

Sullivan

Leslie

Woodrow Wilson

Garden City

Cranberry

United

Warren

Brecksville

Ocean Township