ESPN presents the NCAA Div. I Championships from Philadelphia, March 20-22; 3 nights of primetime wrestling & 19 hours of live coverage
- Three straight nights of primetime wrestling on ESPN platforms; 19 hours of live coverage overall
- ESPN+ to present every match and every mat through the Medal Round on MatCast, plus simulcasts of all televised windows
- Lead ESPN commentating team to feature former UFC Heavyweight Champion and NCAA Wrestling All-American Daniel Cormier and two-time NCAA champion, six-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs
- ESPN’s original content series, Game On: Journey to the NCAA Championship, is streaming now on ESPN+ with wrestling episode. Television debut set for ESPN2 at 2 p.m. ET on March 19
The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships return to ESPN platforms with 19 hours of live action featuring all 640 matches from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia this weekend, March 20-22. Every mat and every single match will once again be covered from start to finish, including three nights of primetime wrestling action on ESPN (Thursday, Saturday) and ESPN2 (Friday). ESPN+ coverage will feature a live MatCast viewing option, as well as simulcasts of all televised windows.
ESPN has presented the NCAA Wrestling Championships since 1980, making it one of the company’s longest-running events.
ESPNU will televise the early sessions over three straight days, beginning with three-and-a-half hours of first-round action on Thursday, March 20, at noon. The Quarterfinal (Friday) and Medal Round (Saturday) will also air on ESPNU. The three nights of primetime sessions on ESPN and ESPN2 – including the Second Round (Thurs.) and Semifinals (Fri.) – will culminate Saturday, March 22, at 7 p.m. with the Championship matches in each weight class.
The MatCast option – with every mat and every match – will be streamed live through the Medal Round via ESPN+. The presentation will show multi-boxes of all the mats, so viewers never miss a single point. ESPN once again has a dedicated announce team to further bolster the MatCast coverage. Commentators
ESPN’s commentator team will once again feature former UFC Heavyweight Champion and NCAA Wrestling All-American Daniel Cormier and two-time NCAA champion, six-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs. UFC’s lead analyst, Cormier is a former NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State and a former UFC Heavyweight Champion. This is his third NCAA Wrestling Championships for ESPN after debuting in 2022. … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2025/march/18/espn-presents-the-ncaa-div-i-championships-from-philadelphia-march-20-22-3-nights-of-primetime-wrestling-19-hours-of-live-coverage
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS FOR A FIFTH TIME
Kearney, Neb. – The top-ranked Nebraska Kearney wrestling team scored 115.0 points to win the 2025 NCAA Division II National Championship Saturday night in Indianapolis.
The Lopers qualified all 10 starters for the two-day meet with eight ending up as All-Americans (top eight finish). UNK basically wrapped up the team trophy with a strong second session showing Friday night and then greatly padded its point total throughout Saturday’s third session.
UNK previously placed first in 2008 (108.50 points), 2012 (107.0), 2013 (108.0) and 2022 (127.0) with this being the program’s 23rd consecutive top eight finish. The 52-point margin of victory is the sixth best in the meet’s 53-year history with Augustana (63.0) second and St. Cloud State third (57.50).
Sixth-year team member Nick James (149 lbs.), redshirt senior Jacobi Deal (174 lbs.) and redshirt sophomore Zach Ourada (125 lbs.) each reached the finals and finished as National Runners Up. They are the 23rd, 24th and 25th Lopers to finish second at a D2 national meet with James now a two-time runner up. … more at … https://lopers.com/news/2025/3/15/wrestling-national-champions-for-a-fifth-time.aspx
McGeary Captures Third Consecutive NCAA National Championship
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – West Liberty’s Ty McGeary cemented his legacy Saturday night at the NCAA Division II National Wrestling Championships, claiming his third straight 184-pound national title with a dominant 20-4 tech fall victory over Keegan Gehlhausen of Chadron State.
McGeary becomes the first three-time national champion in West Liberty wrestling history.
He set the tone early, scoring a takedown at the 1:24 mark of the first period before securing four near-fall points to build a commanding 7-0 lead.
In the second period, McGeary allowed an escape point but responded with another takedown in the final seconds, extending his lead to 10-1.
The third period was all McGeary, as he escaped from the bottom position and added three more takedowns to seal the lopsided victory.
McGeary leaves West Liberty as the most decorated wrestler in program history. A four-time All-American, he is also the only four-time Mountain East Conference champion in school and conference history. … more at … https://hilltoppersports.com/news/2025/3/15/wrestling-mcgeary-captures-third-consecutive-ncaa-national-championship.aspx
Mr. Blue Sky Strikes Again: Derek Blubaugh Repeats as National Champion!
INDIANAPOLIS – Derek Blubaugh. National Champion. Again.
The reigning national champion at 197 repeated on the top stage Saturday night, defeating Fort Hays State’s Tereus Henry by a 5-1 decision. Blubaugh is now the first Greyhound to win multiple national titles, as well as earning four-time finalist distinction.
This year’s event is part of the 2025 NCAA Division II National Championships Festival, with competition taking place at Corteva Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
Blubaugh snagged three points in the first period from a takedown, upping his total in the final frame with an escape. At the conclusion of the bout, the redshirt-senior was awarded one more point thanks to his commanding riding time advantage.
With his shutout win in the semifinal, Blubaugh became the first athlete in the UIndy record book to reach the finals in his weight class four times. The Bloomington, Ind., native fended off a last-second reversal by Glenville State’s Nicholas Johnson, surviving with a 2-0 victory late Saturday morning.
Blubaugh finishes his career with 128 wins … more at … https://athletics.uindy.edu/news/2025/3/15/wrestling-mr-blue-sky-strikes-again-derek-blubaugh-repeats-as-national-champion.aspx
As Hodge Trophy race takes shape, a reminder to fans of the award’s criteria, process
By Bryan Van Kley
With fans gearing up for another epic month of national championships, expect one of the closest races ever for the WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy. As usual, there has been a lot of discussion over the off-season and during the season on who should win the 2025 Hodge. This is a great chance to explain how the process works.
Wrestling’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy is awarded annually by the Dan Hodge Trophy Voting Committee to the most dominant wrestler. The committee, made up of all past Hodge winners, select national media, a retired college coach from each region, and a representative of each national wrestling organization will each vote based on four criteria: record, dominance/bonus-point percentage, quality of competition and sportsmanship. Taking them one at a time, here’s how the ASICS Race for the Hodge Trophy sets up going into the conference qualifiers.
It’s likely going to take an undefeated record and a bonus-point percentage of above 90% or near that to win the Hodge. Five guys are front-runners going into the NCAA qualifiers: Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink (22-0, 95.3% bonus-point percentage), Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole (16-0, 87.5%), Penn State’s Carter Starocci (21-0, 90.5%), UNI’s Parker Keckeisen (24-0, 87.5%) and Minnesota’s Gable Steveson (14-0, 92.9%).
One interesting and important variable in the Hodge voting process is that each committee member gets one vote and they’re reminded of the four criteria each year (with the exception of multiple-time Hodge winners, who get one vote for each year they won the award.) The committee members submit their votes to WIN. In addition to those, the winner of the Fan Vote gets five first-place votes. Then, similar to the Heisman, whoever has the most votes from that process wins; it’s pretty simple and the first-place votes are released in the article each year stating who won the Hodge.
In 2024, Aaron Brooks got 48 out of 59 first-place votes. From my perspective in casting my own ballot, I look at record first since the more times you wrestle, the more opportunities there are to get beat, and the more chances for opponents to keep the top guys from scoring bonus points, decreasing their final bonus-point percentage.
There are likely a couple guys from this group of five, probably Mesenbrink and the likely winner of the Starocci-Keckeisen NCAA finals bout, who will be 26 or 27-0 and have bonus points in potentially all or all but one or two of their matches. … more at … https://www.win-magazine.com/2025/03/06/as-hodge-trophy-race-takes-shape-a-reminder-to-fans-of-the-awards-criteria-process/
‘There’s Not Coincidences’: Taylor Leading His First Cowboy Team into the Building He Wrestled His First NCAA Championships
‘I think it’s gonna be an exciting tournament. It’s gonna be a great environment. Ready to go.’
STILLWATER — In 2011, David Taylor competed in his first NCAA Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia; next week, he’ll coach at the event for the first time — in the same arena.
The parallels are made a little more eerie by the fact that Taylor’s first opponent in that 2011 tournament was Oklahoma State’s Neil Erisman (now the head coach at Little Rock), who Taylor beat 13-2. “I think timing in life, there’s not coincidences,” Taylor said Thursday. “But at the same time, it rotates, and that’s where it’s hosted this year. Pennsylvania’s wrestling, it’s rich in tradition. I think it’s gonna be an exciting tournament. It’s gonna be a great environment. Ready to go.”
Taylor was undefeated in that redshirt freshman season at Penn State up until the NCAA final, where Arizona State’s Bubba Jenkins pinned him. In Taylor’s first round match with Erisman, a commentator described the young Taylor as “all offense.” Some things never change. Up to that final, Taylor had outscored his first four opponents 46-9. Flash forward to 2025, and he’s constantly stressing scoring as many points as possible.
Taylor was undefeated in that redshirt freshman season at Penn State up until the NCAA final, where Arizona State’s Bubba Jenkins pinned him. In Taylor’s first round match with Erisman, a commentator described the young Taylor as “all offense.” Some things never change. Up to that final, Taylor had outscored his first four opponents 46-9. Flash forward to 2025, and he’s constantly stressing scoring as many points as possible. “I remember just being excited to compete,” said Taylor thinking back to that 2011 tournament. “What was unique about my freshman year was I just was wrestling with my hair on fire. I was looking to score the entire time. I think in the tournament, I went out with the same mentality. It cost me a little bit in the finals, but that just is what it is. I think I was excited to complete. I think that’s what our guys are — they’re excited to go out and compete.”
In his first season leading a college wrestling program, Taylor has led the Cowboys to their first outright Big 12 tournament title since 2020. … more at … https://pistolsfiringblog.com/theres-not-coincidences-taylor-leading-his-first-cowboy-team-into-the-building-he-wrestled-his-first-ncaa-championships/
TDR blog
After 20 seasons of publicizing wrestling The TakeDown Report’s (TDR) focus has changed to the collecting of college coaching records from North America since 1903. We will continue to recognize and reward successful wrestlers in eastern North Carolina (east of Raleigh & Fayetteville), assist with schools in starting or re-starting a team and this blog. Join us on our FaceBook Page – “The TakeDown Report” for photos and news. Please send results, stories, links and news to pass along. E-mail us at takedownreport@gmail.com
Martin Fleming, Editor
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