The Penn State Nittany Lions became just the second team in NCAA wrestling history to place all ten athletes on the All-American podium on Friday night when No. 1 Luke Lilledahl, No. 8 Braedan Davis, and No. 1 Tyler Kasak won their Blood Round matches at 125, 133, and 157, respectively, solidifying this year’s squad in the record books.
Let’s meet all 80 NCAA Division I wrestlers who placed in the Top 8 and won the coveted All-American title at the 2025 NCAA men’s wrestling championship, even though the 10 Nittany Lions may be the main attraction. Below is a description of their paths to the podium.
125 pounds: Lilledahl, ranked No. 1, defeated Wisconsin’s No. 11 Nicolar Rivera in the Blood Round with a score of 7-3, marking his first time as an All-American for the Nittany Lions. He then triumphed over No. 10 Stevo Poulin from Northern Colorado in the initial placement match. Following that, Lilledahl navigated through the consolation bracket to secure a third-place finish.
On the other hand, Poulin had to overcome Rutger’s No. 12 Dean Peterson, who had previously caused a major upset against No. 5 Richard Figueroa from Arizona State earlier in the tournament, winning 6-4 in a thrilling Blood Round match to claim his podium spot. He concluded his junior season in eighth place.
Alongside Lilledahl and Poulin on the podium from the Blood Round were two-time All-Americans No. 2 Matt Ramos from Purdue and No. 9 Caleb Smith from Nebraska. Ramos achieved victory in his Round of 12 match against No. 22 Trevor Anderson from Northern Iowa with a score of 8-2, having lost in this round the previous year. Smith, on the other hand, defeated Big 12 champion Jett Strickenberger 12-9 in sudden victory. Ramos then went on to beat Smith, advancing to the consolation semifinals on Saturday morning. Smith ultimately finished in eighth place while Ramos secured fourth.
Lehigh’s No. 8 Sheldon Seymour and NC State’s No. 4 Vince Robinson also became first-time All-Americans at 125 pounds, achieving quarterfinal victories over No. 1 Lilledahl and No. 12 Peterson with scores of 3-2 (TB-1) and 4-2, respectively. Robinson then defeated Seymour in the semifinals, earning his first trip to the national finals, while Seymour ended up in sixth place.
In the lower section of the championship bracket, No. 7 Troy Spratley achieved his first All-American status and a finals bid by defeating No. 2 Ramos 5-2 and No. 3 Eddie Ventresca, a two-time All-American from Virginia Tech, with a score of 6-4. Ventresca secured his second All-American title by overcoming No. 6 Strickenberger in the quarterfinals in sudden victory, finishing with a score of 4-1. Ventresca concluded the tournament in fifth place.
133 pounds: Following in the footsteps of his teammate Lilledahl, Penn State’s No. 8 Braeden Davis, who faced defeat in this round last year, avenged his loss in the Blood Round by defeating No. 11 All-American Evan Frost from Iowa State with a score of 4-2, marking his first time finishing on the podium in his career. He then went on to beat first-time All-American No. 17 Jacob Van Dee (7th) — who had previously defeated No. 21 Angelo Rinin from Indiana in the Blood Round to achieve All-American status for the first time — from Nebraska in the subsequent round of the consolation bracket. Ultimately, Davis secured a fifth-place finish, while Van Dee took seventh.
Stanford’s No. 13 Tyler Knox and Virginia Tech’s No. 6 Connor McGonagle completed the list of All-Americans emerging from the Blood Round, with Knox triumphing over No. 7 Nic Bouzakis with a score of 5-0 to claim his first top-eight finish, and McGonagle defeating 2024 All-American No. 10 Dylan Shawver from Rutgers 5-1 to earn his first national accolade. Later, McGonagle overcame Knox in the consolation round to solidify his top six finish. He concluded the tournament in sixth place, while Knox finished in eighth.
Zan Fugitt from Wisconsin became a significant highlight on the championship side of the bracket when the No. 14-seeded Badger defeated No. 6 McGonagle in the quarterfinals, achieving his first top-eight finish. However, he lost his semifinal match 6-1 to Iowa’s No. 2 Drake Ayala, who secured his second All-American honor after defeating No. 7 Bouzakis. Fugitt wrapped up his tournament in fourth place.
Ayala’s victory over Fugitt in the semifinals, along with No. 1 Lucas Bryd’s win against No. 4 first-time All-American Zeth Romney from Cal Poly with a score of 2-0, set the stage for a rematch of the Big Ten finals on Saturday night. Meanwhile, Romney achieved his top-eight finish after defeating No. 21 Rini in the quarterfinals with a score of 8-2. Romney concluded his tournament in third place.
141 pounds: This weight class saw the emergence of three first-time All-Americans, with one advancing from the quarterfinals and two others securing tough victories in the Blood Round. Among them were Northern Iowa’s No. 5 Cael Happel, Iowa State’s No. 9 Jacob Frost, and Navy’s No. 4 Josh Koderhandt.
Happel, who has been on the verge of breaking into the top eight for the past two seasons, finally made it to the podium after his quarterfinal victory over No. 4 Koderhandt. Koderhandt then fell to the Blood Round but bounced back, defeating No. 7 Tagen Jamison of Oklahoma State 4-1 to achieve his first top-eight finish. He later pinned All-American No. 9 Frost to secure a Top 6 finish. Frost, however, remained on the podium after edging out No. 14 Sergio Lemley of Michigan 9-8 in his Blood Round match. Happel ultimately finished fifth, Koderhandt took sixth, and Frost ended up seventh.
On the upper side, Ohio State’s No. 3 Jesse Mendez became a three-time All-American by defeating No. 6 Vance Vombaur decisively with a score of 17-5, sending Vombaur to the consolation bracket where he later defeated No. 15 Joey Oliveri of Rutgers 5-3, securing his second podium appearance, this time in eighth place.
Penn State’s No. 2 Beau Bartlett also claimed his third All-American title with a quarterfinal victory over No. 10 CJ Composto (4th), who later won a Blood Round match against No. 21 Dylan Chappell of Bucknell, marking the second All-American honor of his career. Bartlett finished third overall, while Composto took fourth.
Big Ten champion No. 1 Brock Hardy completed the list of All-Americans in this weight class, achieving his second podium finish with a victory over No. 9 Frost in the quarterfinals and advancing to the NCAA finals for the first time in his career.
149 pounds: All four competitors from the championship side of the bracket at this weight class have added another All-American accolade to their achievements, spearheaded by No. 1 Caleb Henson, who triumphed over No. 8 Jordan Williams from Little Rock with a score of 8-5 in sudden victory, marking his third All-American title. Following him was No. 2 Ridge Lovett from Nebraska, who also secured his third All-American honor by defeating No. 7 Kannon Webster from Illinois in the quarterfinals with a dominating score of 12-0.
Penn State’s No. 3 Shayne Van Ness and Ohio State’s No. 13 Dylan D’Emilio each earned their second All-American recognition with quarterfinal victories against No. 6 Lachlan McNeil from North Carolina, winning 7-2, and No. 12 Ethan Stiles from Oregon State, winning 7-3, respectively. Van Ness ultimately claimed victory over D’Emilio for third place, resulting in a fourth-place finish for D’Emilio, concluding the Buckeye’s collegiate journey.
Meanwhile, McNeil and Stiles went on to win their Blood Round matches against No. 25 Malyke Hines from Lehigh and No. 9 Cross Wasilewski from Penn. They faced off for fifth place, with McNeil emerging victorious over sixth-place Stiles with a score of 8-4.
No. 11 Sammy Alvarez from Rider and No. 22 Gavin Drexler from North Dakota State also made their first appearance on the podium after winning their Blood Round matches against No. 8 Williams with a score of 5-0 and No. 7 Webster with a score of 4-0, finishing in seventh and eighth place, respectively.
157 pounds: The 157-pound category was the most exciting among the ten weight classes here in Philadelphia. Top seed Tyler Kasak from Penn State faced a setback against first-time All-American No. 8 Joey Blaze from Purdue in the quarterfinals but made a strong comeback to secure a victory in his Blood Round match against No. 14 Swisher with a score of 5-4, achieving his second All-American title and a third-place finish in his career.
No. 2 Meyer Shapiro from Cornell also made it to the podium for the second consecutive year, finishing in fifth place after advancing to the semifinals by defeating No. 7 Vinny Zerban from Northern Colorado. Zerban later triumphed in his Blood Round match against No. 5 Brandon Cannon from Ohio State, marking the first All-American accolade of his career, ultimately placing sixth behind Shapiro.
No. 3 Antrell Taylor became a two-time All-American for Nebraska, winning in the quarterfinals and then securing his spot in the finals with a victory over Shapiro in the semifinals.
However, the standout story at 157 pounds was Northwestern’s No. 20 Trevor Chumbley, who achieved a fourth-place finish on the podium for the first time in his career. He impressively defeated No. 13 Jared Hill from Wyoming, No. 4 Rafael Hipolito from Virginia Tech, and then overcame No. 12 Caleb Fish from Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals. Fish would later finish eighth after a challenging Blood Round victory over his former Michigan State teammate No. 23 Chase Saldate, earning his first All-American honor for the Cowboys.
Additionally, No. 11 Matty Bianchi from Little Rock also claimed All-American honors for the first time, finishing in seventh place after defeating No. 9 Tommy Askey from Minnesota in the Blood Round.
165 pounds: the top four seeds all secured spots on the podium, with No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink from Penn State and No. 2 Michael Caliendo of Iowa achieving All-American status by advancing not only to the semifinals but also to the finals. They each triumphed over No. 8 Cameron Amine from Oklahoma State and No. 6 Beau Mantanona in the quarterfinals, respectively, and then defeated No. 12 Chris Minto from Nebraska and No. 2 Peyton Hall in the semifinals, respectively.
Minto and Hall earned their All-American accolades through their quarterfinal victories against No. 5 Julian Ramirez from Cornell and No. 7 Hunter Garvin from Stanford. Hall secured third place, while Minto finished fourth. Garvin made a comeback in the Blood Round, pulling off a thrilling 16-12 victory over No. 5 Julian Ramirez from Cornell to claim his second All-American honor. The Cardinal wrestler ultimately finished in sixth place.
Amine, who was defeated by Mesenbrink in the quarterfinals, also achieved his fourth All-American title with a win in the Blood Round against No. 11 Braeden Scoles from Illinois. However, he later lost to Utah Valley’s first-time All-American, No. 4 Terrell Barraclough, in the initial placement match of the consolation rounds. Barraclough secured his All-American recognition through his Blood Round victory over No. 25 Nick Hamilton from Virginia, finishing in fifth place, while Amine ended up in eighth.
Finally, No. 9 Cam Steed from Missouri completed the list of All-Americans, achieving his first top-eight finish at this weight class after defeating Mantanona in the Blood Round. He concluded his tournament in seventh place.
174 pounds: This year’s tournament at 174 pounds features a diverse All-American podium, showcasing seasoned competitors like five-time All-American No. 1 Keegan O’Toole from Missouri, alongside fresh faces such as first-time All-Americans No. 7 Danny Wask from Navy and No. 11 Patrick Kennedy from Iowa. Each of their journeys is worthy of acknowledgment.
Kennedy from Iowa and Wask from Navy triumphed over No. 15 Luca Augustine and No. 22 Nick Incontrera from Penn, respectively, in the Blood Round, ultimately finishing in fourth and eighth place.
On the other hand, O’Toole reclaimed his podium position with a tough quarterfinal victory against No. 16 Lorenzo Norman from Stanford, winning 10-8. He then defeated two-time All-American No. 13 Cade DeVos from South Dakota State in the semifinals, securing another chance to compete in the finals. DeVos, however, ensured his top-eight finish by overcoming No. 5 Simon Ruiz from Cornell, who had fought back in the Blood Round with a win over No. 8 Lenny Pinto from Nebraska in the quarterfinals. Ruiz then went on to defeat No. 14 Matty Singleton from NC State, a first-time All-American, in the initial round of the consolation placement matches. Singleton secured his podium position after defeating No. 24 2024 All-American Lennox Wolak from Virginia Tech just before facing Ruiz. DeVos ended up in sixth place, one position behind fifth-place Ruiz, while Singleton claimed seventh.
Completing the podium at 174 pounds are No. 2 Levi Haines, who finished third, and NCAA finalist No. 3 Dean Hamiti, both of whom achieved their third All-American honor in their respective careers.
184 pounds: The spotlight at 184 pounds is on two five-time All-Americans, led by No. 1 Carter Starocci from Penn State and No. 2 Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa, both of whom have made it to the finals.
Starocci achieved his fifth podium finish by defeating No. 8 Jaxon Smith (6th) from Maryland in the quarterfinals. However, Smith later triumphed over DJ Parker from Oklahoma in the Blood Round, marking Maryland’s first All-American since 2019. He then overcame fellow All-American No. 12 Silas Allred from Nebraska — who had won his Blood Round match against No. 15 Dylan Fishback from NC State — to reach the consolation semifinals. Ultimately, Smith finished in sixth place, while Allred secured seventh.
On the other hand, Keckeisen defeated No. 10 Edmond Ruth in the quarterfinals, earning his fifth All-American title. He then faced Minnesota’s No. 3 Max McEnelly, a first-time All-American for Minnesota, in the semifinals, where he advanced to the championship finals after a thrilling sudden victory takedown. Prior to his match with Keckeisen, McEnelly had beaten No. 6 Chris Foca from Cornell in the quarterfinals, ensuring his top-eight finish. Foca, however, fought back in the Blood Round, defeating No. 23 Aidan Brenot from North Dakota State 2-0 to reclaim his All-American status. Foca ultimately finished in fifth place, while McEnelly took third.
Oklahoma State’s No. 4 Dustin Plott also secured his third All-American honor by defeating Nebraska’s Silas Allred in the quarterfinals, concluding his career with a fourth-place finish.
Finally, Indiana’s No. 22 DJ Washington completed the podium with an eighth-place finish, achieving All-American status for the first time in his career after winning in the Blood Round against No. 10 Ruth.
197 pounds: The 197-pound weight class was one of only three categories to go chalk in the quarterfinals, with No. 1 Jacob Cardenas from Michigan, No. 2 Stephen Buchanan of Iowa, No. 3 AJ Ferrari from CSU-Bakersfield, and No. 4 Josh Barr all securing All-American honors with victories in that round.
Cardenas triumphed over No. 24 Gabe Sollars from Indiana to achieve another podium finish, while Barr defeated two-time All-American No. 5 Michael Beard from Lehigh to earn his first accolade. Ferrari made a return to the podium after his victory against No. 6 Mac Stout, a sophomore from Panther, who bounced back with a Blood Round win over No. 7 Wyatt Voelker from Northern Iowa for his initial All-American honor. Buchanan joined this All-American group with his quarterfinal victory over No. 23 Seth Shumate from Ohio State. Barr and Buchanan progressed to the finals, while Ferrari secured third place against fourth-place Cardenas.
In the Blood Round, Little Rock’s No. 12 Stephen Little (6th) added to the Little Rock trophy collection with the second All-American honor of his career following a win over Shumate. No. 15 Joey Novak (5th) from Wyoming and No. 20 Camden McDanel (8th) also became first-time All-Americans after their Blood Round victories over No. 5 Beard and No. 24 Sollars, respectively.
285 pounds: The 285-pound weight class also maintained chalk in the quarterfinals and nearly continued that trend through the Blood Round. Arizona State’s No. 9 Cohlton Schultz, now a five-time All-American, was the only competitor seeded outside the Top 8 to finish on the podium after defeating No. 14 former All-American Gavin Hoffman from Lock Haven. He concluded his career in third place.
Aside from Schultz, the matches unfolded as anticipated, with No. 1 Gable Steveson securing his podium position after a quarterfinal win over Schultz and earning a spot in the finals after defeating All-American No. 4 Owen Trephan in the semifinals with a score of 13-5. Trephan made the podium for the first time in his career following his quarterfinal victory over No. 5 Ben Kueter from Iowa. Kueter then overcame No. 10 Dayton Pitzer from Pittsburgh in the Blood Round for his first All-American honor.
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