By: Brayden Marsh and Dahlia Man

125lbs:

The champion of this bracket was expected by many fans, however the other places were not predicted by many fans. In the semifinals, Luke Lilledahl of Penn State beat Troy Spratley from Oklahoma State by decision 8-3, and on the other side of the bracket, Marc-Anthony McGowan from Princeton University beat Jacob Moran from Indiana University. In the finals, Luke Lilledahl beat Marc-Anthony McGowan by decision 2-1.

Many fans had predicted Luke Lilledahl to win, but the other places were up for debate. Nico Provo from Stanford placed 3rd, Vincent Robinson from NC State placed 4th, Troy Spratley from Oklahoma State placed 5th, Jacob Moran from Indiana University placed 6th, Jore Volk from University of Minnesota placed 7th, and Tyler Klinsky of Rider University placed 8th.

133lbs:

133 was arguably the hardest bracket this year. Ben Davino of Ohio State beat Marcus Blaze of Penn State in a tiebreaker 3-2, and Jax Forrest of Oklahoma state beat Aaron Seidel of Virginia Tech by major decision 14-3. In the finals, Jax Forrest beat Ben Davino by decision 4-2.

The other places were Aaron Seidel of Virginia Tech at 3rd, Marcus Blaze of Penn State at 4th, Drake Ayala from the University of Iowa at 5th, Tyler Knox of Stanford University at 6th, Jacob Van Dee from University of Nebraska at 7th, and Lucas Byrd from the University of Illinois at 8th.

141lbs:

This bracket’s top 3 had been predicted by many fans, however the champion many chose had not prevailed. In the semifinals, Jesse Mendez of Ohio State beat Luke Stanich of Lehigh University during overtime 4-1. On the other side of the bracket, Sergio Vega of Oklahoma State beat Brock Hardy from the University of Nebraska by decision 5-3, which many fans had not predicted. In the finals, Sergio Vega had a surprising victory over Jesse Mendez in overtime 4-1, making Sergio Vega the champion.

Other places are Luke Stanich of Lehigh University at 3rd, Brock Hardy of the University of Nebraska at 4th, Carter Nogle of the Airforce Academy at 5th, Anthony Echemendia from Iowa State University at 6th, CJ Composto of the University of Pennsylvania at 7th, and Wyatt Henderson of Lock Haven University at 8th.

149lbs:

This weight went basically as expected. In the semis, Shayne Van Ness from Penn State beat Chance Lamer from University of Nebraska by tech 22-1, and Aden Valencia of Stanford University beat Lachlan McNeil from the University of Michigan by decision 9-5. In the finals, Aden Valencia beat Shayne Van Ness by decision 8-5.

Other places were Lachlan McNeil from University of Michigan at 3rd, Chance Lamer from the University of Nebraska at 4th, Collin Gaj of Virginia Tech at 5th, Ryder Block from the University of Iowa at 6th, Cross Wasilewski from the University of Pennsylvania at 7th, and Casey Swiderski of Oklahoma State at 8th.

157lbs:

This bracket did not go as expected for many fans this year. By the semifinals, there were 2 freshmen, PJ Duke from Penn State and Landon Robideau from Oklahoma State; a sophomore, Ty Watters from West Virginia University; and a junior, Antrell Taylor from the University of Nebraska. Antrell Taylor also happened to be last year’s champion. During the semi finals, Taylor and Watters have a very close match resulting in Taylor winning 4-2, and on the other hand Duke and Robideau also had a very close match, which resulted in Robideau winning in a tiebreaker. This win was very controversial to fans because of a takedown call to Duke that was later revoked after reviewing the footage. The finals were another very close match between Robideau and Taylor, with Robideau winning 4-2.

The other places were PJ Duke from Penn State at 3rd, Brandon Cannon from Ohio State at 4th, Kannon Webster from University of Illinois at 5th, Ty Watters from West Virginia University at 6th, Cameron Catrabone from the University of Michigan at 7th, and Meyer Shapiro from Cornell University at 8th.

165lbs:

These matches went as expected by fans. Michael Caliendo from University of Iowa won by fall against Thomas Snipes from California Institute of Technology, then won by tech fall against Noah Mulvaney from Bucknell University 20-5, he won by major decision against EJ Parco from Stanford University 14-3, and then went into overtime with Joey Blade from Purdue University, but won 8-5. On the other side of the bracket, Mitchell Mesenbrink from Penn State tech fell Cody Walsh of Drexel University 21-5, won by major decision against Paddy Gallagher from Ohio State 12-0, won by decision against Bryce Hepner of the University of North Carolina 6-0, and tech fell Cesar Alvan from Columbia College. In the finals, Mesenbrink tech fell Caliendo 20-4. This came with little surprise however, since Mesenbrink had already wrestled Caliendo 8 times, and went undefeated.

Other places were Cesar Alvan from Columbia College at 3rd, Nicco Ruiz from Arizona State University at 4th, Andrew Sparks from University of Minnesota at 5th, Joey Blaze of Purdue University at 6th, Bryce Hepner of University of North Carolina at 7th, and Paddy Gallagher from Ohio State at 8th.

174lbs:

This weight class was also predicted correctly by many fans. In the semis, Levi Haines of Penn State beat Patrick Kennedy from the University of Iowa by tech 18-3, and Christopher Minto from the University of Nebraska beat Cam Steed from the University of Missouri by decision 5-1. In the finals, Levi Haines beat Christopher Minto by decision 2-0.

Other places include Patrick Kennedy from the University of Iowa at 3rd, Carson Kharchla from Ohio State at 4th, Cam Steed from the University of Missouri at 5th, Dany Wask from the Naval Academy at 6th, Beau Mantanona from the University of Michigan at 7th, and MJ Gaitan from Iowa State at 8th.

184lbs:

Like many of the other brackets, these were very close matches. In the semifinals, Rocco Welsh of Penn State beat Brock Mantanona from the University of Michigan by decision 4-3, and Max McEnelly beat Angelo Ferrari from the University of Iowa in a tiebreaker 3-2. In the finals, Max McEnelly has a very close match with Rocco Welsh, but won by decision 4-3.

Other places are Aeoden Sinclair from the University of Missouri at 3rd, Caleb Campos of American University at 4th, Brock Mantanona from the University of Michigan at 5th, Angelo Ferrari from University of Iowa at 6th, Eddie Neitenbach from the University of Wyoming at 7th, and Zack Ryder of Oklahoma State at 8th.

197lbs:

These matches also went how people predicted them. In the semis, Josh Barr of Penn State beat Joey Novak from the University of Wyoming by major decision 14-3, and Cody Merrill of Oklahoma State beat Stephen Little of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in a tiebreaker 3-2. In the finals, Josh Barr beat Cody Merrill by decision 6-3.

Other places include Stephen Little from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock at 3rd, Joey Novak from the University of Wyoming at 4th, Angelo Posada from Stanford University at 5th, Camden McDanel of the University of Nebraska at 6th, Gabe Arnold from the University of Iowa at 7th, and Branson John from the University of Maryland at 8th.

285lbs

Up until the semifinals, everything went pretty much as expected, however fans were split on who would be the champion from here. Isaac Trumble from NC State won against Taye Ghadiali from University of Michigan by decision 4-1, and Yonger Bastida from Iowa State won by major decision over AJ Ferrari from University of Nebraska 15-7. In the finals, Isaac Trumble won by decision over Yonger Bastida by decision 5-0. This outcome was predicted by some fans, but others may have predicted AJ Ferrari or Yonger Bastida winning.

Other places were Taye Ghadiali from University of Michigan at 3rd, Konner Doucet from Oklahoma State at 4th, Ben Kueter from the University of Iowa at 5th, AJ Ferrari from the University of Nebraska at 6th, David Szuba from Arizona State University at 7th, and Christian Carroll of the University of Wyoming at 8th.