NCAA Wrestling Tournament 2023: Semifinal matchups officially set

The semifinal matchups are officially set for the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Tournament. After a wild Session III, 20 wrestlers are still alive for a gold medal Saturday night. 

Penn State highlighted the action with seven wrestlers in the penultimate championship round. The Nittany Lions went seven-for-seven in the quarterfinal round.

Below are the 10 semifinal pairings for Friday night’s Session IV.

125: No. 1 Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs. No. 4 Matt Ramos (Purdue); No. 2 Pat Glory (Princeton) vs. No. 3 Liam Cronin (Nebraska)

133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (Penn State) vs. No. 4 Michael McGee (Arizona State); No. 2 Daton Fix (Oklahoma State) vs. No. 3 Vito Arujau (Cornell)

141: No. 1 Real Woods (Iowa) vs. No. 4 Brock Hardy (Nebraska); No. 2 Andrew Alirez (Northern Colorado) vs. No. 6 Beau Bartlett (Penn State)

149: No. 1 Yianni Diakomihalis (Cornell) vs. No. 12 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State); No. 2 Sammy Sasso (Ohio State) vs. No. 3 Kyle Parco (Arizona State)

157: No. 1 Austin O’Connor (North Carolina) vs. No. 5 Josh Humphreys (Lehigh); No. 2 Levi Haines (Penn State) vs. No. 3 Peyton Robb (Nebraska)

165: No. 1 David Carr (Iowa State) vs. No. 5 Quincy Monday (Princeton); No. 2 Keegan O’Toole (Missouri) vs. No. 11 Cameron Amine (Michigan)

174: No. 1 Carter Starocci (Penn State) vs. No. 4 Chris Foca (Cornell); No. 2 Mikey Labriola (Nebraska) vs. No. 3 Mekhi Lewis (Virginia Tech)

184: No. 1 Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 4 Trey Munoz (Oregon State); No. 2 Trent Hidlay (NC State) vs. No. 3 Aaron Brooks (Penn State)

197: No. 1 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) vs. No. 4 Ethan Laird (Rider); No. 3 Rocky Elam (Missouri) vs. No. 7 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State)

285: No. 1 Mason Parris (Michigan) vs. No. 4 Tony Cassioppi (Iowa); No. 2 Wyatt Hendrickson (Air Force) vs. No. 3 Greg Kerkvliet (Penn State)

More on the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships

The 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships were held March 16-18 at the BOK Center in Tulsa (Okla). The tournament consists of 330 wrestlers in total across 10 weight classes. Each weight class features wrestlers seeded No. 1 through No. 33.

Over the course of the three-day tournament, wrestlers can achieve national champion status by going 5-0 in their bracket, through Saturday night’s finals. The top eight placewinners in each bracket are considered All-Americans.

Losing one match does not eliminate a wrestler from competition. The consolation bracket is designed to determine the remaining spots on the podium (third through eighth place).

Since there are 33 wrestlers in each weight, the competitors seeded No. 32 and 33 compete in a “pigtail bout” prior to the first round to determine who matches up against the No. 1 seed in Round 1.

Losing the pigtail drops the wrestler to the consolation bracket where there is still opportunity to finish as high as third place in the weight class.

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The 2024 NCAA Wrestling Tournament is set to take place in Kansas City (Mo.).