2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships: Semifinal matchups set

The 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships officially have semifinal matchups Friday evening. In a wild morning and afternoon of quarterfinals, all semifinalists are now All-Americans.

The semifinalists in the NCAA Wrestling Tournament are guaranteed top-six on the podium. But the ultimate prize is still up for grabs.

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Without further ado, let’s dive into the spicy semifinal matchups. There was some chalk as well as some big surprises.

125 lbs.

No. 4 Vince Robinson (NC State) vs. No. 8 Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh)
No. 3 Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 7 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State)

Robinson made his first semifinal with a 4-2 win over Rutgers’ Dean Peterson while Seymour knocked off the No. 1 seed Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) in tiebreakers. Ventresca is back on the podium and Spratley beat 2023 finalist Matt Ramos (Purdue) to get to this point.

133 lbs.

No. 1 Lucas Byrd (Illinois) vs. No. 4 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly)
No. 2 Drake Ayala (Iowa) vs. No. 14 Zan Fugitt (Wisconsin)

It was almost chalk in this bracket, but Fugitt came to wrestle. Multiple upsets led to a Badger becoming an All-American, making up for a tough dual season. At this rate, could he beat anyone?

141 lbs.

No. 1 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) vs. No. 5 Cael Happel (Northern Iowa)
No. 2 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State)

Nearly all chalk here too. Happel needed tiebreakers to win while we get another matchup of Bartlett and Mendez, in which the Nittany Lion has won the matchups this season.

149 lbs.

No. 1 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech) vs. No. 13 Dylan D’Emilio (Ohio State)
No. 2 Ridge Lovett (Nebraska) vs. No. 3 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State)

It took overtime for Henson, but the defending champion is going back to the semifinals. D’Emilio has been on a bit of a Cinderella run. Also, we get Lovett and Van Ness again, a rematch from earlier this year won by Lovett.

157 lbs.

No. 8 Joey Blaze (Purdue) vs. No. 20 Trevor Chumbley (Northwestern)
No. 2 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell) vs. No. 3 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska)

A wild one here as Blaze beat top seed Tyler Kasak (Penn State) to advance to the semifinals. Chumbley has been on a tear and blew up the bracket. Shapiro and Taylor should be must-see TV and could arguably be an NCAA final.

165 lbs.

No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) vs. No. 12 Christopher Minto (Nebraska)
No. 2 Peyton Hall (West Virginia) vs. No. 3 Mikey Caliendo (Iowa)

Minto knocked off Utah Valley’s Terrell Barraclough, who a lot of people wanted to see wrestle former teammate Mesenbrink. Minto is continuing his stellar freshman campaign. Hall and Caliendo should be a banger as no one other than Mesenbrink has been able to beat Caliendo this year.

174 lbs.

No. 1 Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) vs. No. 13 Cade DeVos (South Dakota State)
No. 2 Levi Haines (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Dean Hamiti (Oklahoma State)

DeVos took out No. 5 Simon Ruiz (Cornell) by holding him off in the end. O’Toole, Haines and Hamiti have been the top three and only one is guaranteed a spot in the finals on Saturday evening. O’Toole is going for his third title, Haines his second and Hamiti his first.

184 lbs.

No. 1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs. No. 4 Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State)
No. 2 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)vs. No. 3 Max McEnelly (Minnesota)

All chalk here at 184 pounds. The best guys in the country all season long will settle it on the mat in Friday night’s semifinals. A fresh matchup looms between Keckeisen and the impressive freshman McEnelly.

197 lbs.

No. 1 Jacob Cardenas (Michigan) vs. No. 4 Josh Barr (Penn State)
No. 2 Stephen Buchanan (Iowa)vs. No. 3 AJ Ferarri (Cal State Bakersfield)

More chalk here at 197 as Buchanan and Ferrari will get a rematch years in the making. Cardenas and Barr are set to run it back for the third time, tied 1-1 this season.

285 lbs.

No. 1 Gable Steveson (Minnesota) vs. No. 4 Owen Trephan (Lehigh)
No. 2 Wyatt Hendrickson (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)

Steveson rolled to a tech fall and is looking for his third national title. A new and improved Hendrickson looks to finally beat Kerkvliet as well, the defending national champion.