Takedown Report

Amateur Wrestling Reports

All-American Trephan, Lehigh a perfect fit

PSU secures team title
By Tom Housenick The Morning Call
PHILADELPHIA — Owen Trephan has a fun month of May coming up.
The Lehigh 285-pounder is in the wedding party of North Carolina State’s Isaac Trumble, who beat Trephan 4-3 in Trephan’s final college match in Saturday’s consolation semifinals at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at the Wells Fargo Center.
Trephan finished fifth after receiving a forfeit from Penn State’s injured Greg Kerkvliet. Trumble took fourth after losing 5-3 to Arizona State’s Cohlton Schultz in the third-place match. Trephan and Trumble were teammates at North Carolina State for 4 1/2 years before Trephan transferred for this semester to Lehigh. “How that match went was a typical match in the [North Carolina State] room,” Trephan said. “I’ll get a takedown, and he’ll ride. “It’s disappointing, but that’s how it’s been. It will be something later down the line to look back at. We’re best friends. Losing sucks, but he and I are boys. He’s a great competitor. For both of us to reach our goals, me leaving and reaching my goal and him accomplishing his back at N.C. State is awesome.”
After Trumble’s wedding, Trephan is headed to Fort Benning, Ga., as a second lieutenant in the United States Army for officer training courses in infantry.
The Summerville, S.C. native and Blair Academy (N.J.) product has no regrets about his brief experience at Lehigh. “I’m happy with Lehigh taking me in and giving me this opportunity,” Trephan said. “It’s been fun. Coming to Lehigh was awesome. The training situation, the support, it was exactly what I needed.” Lehigh coach Pat Santoro agreed that it was a positive situation for both sides. “Things happen for a reason,” Santoro said. “He fits perfectly with our team. He’ll have memories for a lifetime just because of teammates, new friends he made. It was an awesome experience.” … more at … https://enewspaper.mcall.com/infinity/article_share.aspx?guid=e4e6516d-87bb-4415-b996-ce7bce65dae1

March 29, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment

UNI wrestling: Keckeisen finishes career as NCAA runner-up

Keckeisen concludes historic career as the third-winningest wrestler in Panther history. UNI places ninth as a team.
PHILADELPHIA — Parker Keckeisen’s historic Panther wrestling career came to its conclusion on Saturday night as the five-time All-American fell just short in his NCAA title repeat bid in a 4-3 loss to top-seeded Carter Starocci of Penn State at Wells Fargo Center on the final night of the national championships. Keckeisen, a five-time Big 12 champion and only five-time Division I All-American in program history, finishes the season with a 28-1 record and with the highest career winning percentage in program history (.956). He also became the first Northern Iowa wrestler to appear in three consecutive NCAA championship bouts since Bill Koll (1946-48). 
The Panthers as a team finished the 2025 NCAA Championships with a ninth place performance in the team standings, the program’s highest Division I tournament finish since placing fifth in 1962.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Keckeisen went on the attack early in a scoreless first period, but was unable to takedown his opponent. Starocci opened the second stanza with a quick escape as both hand fought … more at … https://unipanthers.com/news/2025/3/22/wrestling-uni-wrestling-keckeisen-comes-up-short-in-ncaa-championship-tilt

March 29, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Cornell Wrestling Earns Three Fifth Place Finishes at the 2025 NCAA Championships

PHILIDELPHIA, Pa. – Cornell wrestling ends the 2025 NCAA Championships with three fifth place finishes and three All-American in Meyer Shapiro, Simon Ruiz and Chris Foca.
SESSION FIVE ACTION
With only three wrestlers remaining, Cornell charged into the consolation semifinals with determination and earned three fifth place finishes.
No. 6 Chris Foca went a round with No. 4 Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State and was held without score till the third period. Plott earned a reversal at the end of the second period to take a 2-0 lead. Foca threw in an escape early in the third but could not put up another point falling 2-1. The senior was able to move on to win one last bout in the Big Red singlet as he took fifth over No. 8 Jaxson Smith of Maryland. Foca wrestled with nothing to lose and racked up two takedowns and an escape in his 7-4 victory over Smith. The New Jersey wrestler ended his senior career 18-2 and 95-20 all time for the Big Red.
No.2 Meyer Shapiro met the 157 first place seed Tyler Kasak of Penn State first thing. The top seeds made a match out of it as they pursued the third-place match. Kasak earned the first points of the match with a takedown in the first period. Shapiro was in control of the second period scramble ultimately letting Kasak escape and add another point the board. The sophomore would add an escape of his own and be rewarded with a penalty point falling 4-2 to the number one seed and moving on to the fifth-place match. Shapiro added one more bonus bout to his records earning a 11-0 major decision win over No. Vinny Zerban of Northern Colorado. With a takedown in each period as well as an escape and riding time the two-time All-American walks away from the championship in fifth place.
Freshman No. 5 Simon Ruiz held No. 2 Levi Haines scoreless through the first two periods … more at … https://cornellbigred.com/news/2025/3/22/cornell-wrestling-earns-three-fifth-place-finishes-at-the-2025-ncaa-championships.aspx

March 29, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment

Byrd Wins National Title at 133 Pounds

Press Conference // Final Brackets
PHILADELPHIA – Lucas Byrd won his first national title at 133 pounds on Saturday (March 22) at the NCAA Championships in the Wells Fargo Center. He became the 21st Fighting Illini wrestler to win a national championship and earned the program’s 25th individual national title. He’s also the program’s first NCAA Champion since now assistant coach Isaiah Martinez in 2016 and the first ever in the weight class of 133 pounds.
“I couldn’t be happier for Lucas Byrd,” said head coach Mike Poeta. “If anybody deserved to be the NCAA Champion this year, it’s him. The amount of work and sacrifice he put into this was amazing. This was not easy; it was a long journey for him, but he wrestled fantastic this weekend. He wanted to be the national champion and he went and got it, he took it. I couldn’t be prouder of him. It was pretty cool seeing him after he won in the tunnel. He had his face in his hands thinking ‘I can’t believe I’m the NCAA Champion’ because it’s that big of a deal and it hits you differently. He did an amazing job and we’re excited to add him to the storied list of national champions that we have at Illinois.”
“I’ll say the same thing I did after I won the semifinals I just have to stay where my toes are at,” said Lucas Byrd. “Me and coach Jeremy Hunter have been striking on a different level; we can speak telepathically almost and anything he tells me I have to trust. In overtime they threw the brick, I looked at Jeremy and he said we’re good we have to go neutral. I step on the line, choose neutral and I look over and see my brother yelling ‘go down, go down’. I shook my head no because I trust my coaches and they put me in the right position.’
‘It has been one hell of a journey. It has been the most exciting journeys that I’ve ever been on. … more at … https://fightingillini.com/news/2025/3/22/wrestling-byrd-wins-national-title-at-133-pounds.aspx

March 29, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , | Leave a comment

Doug Schwab Named NCAA Division I Men’s National Coach of the Year

Manheim, PA – On Saturday, during the NWCA National Social held at the NCAA Division I Men’s Championships in Philadelphia, PA, the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) honored Doug Schwab, head coach of the University of Northern Iowa, as the NCAA Division I Men’s National Coach of the Year.
This prestigious award—presented by Defense Soap, the official hygiene partner of the NWCA—is selected by coaching peers and recognizes exceptional leadership, competitive excellence, and contributions to the campus community.
Coach Schwab guided UNI to an impressive 14-1 dual meet record and the NWCA National Duals title, hosted in the Panthers’ own UNI-Dome. He also led his team to a runner-up finish at the Big 12 Championships.
2025 National Finalists
In addition to Coach Schwab, the NWCA recognized seven other outstanding finalists for the NCAA Division I Men’s National Coach of the Year award:
ACC – Tony Robie, Virginia Tech
SoCon – Ryan LeBlanc, The Citadel … more at … https://nwcaonline.com/news/2025/3/22/national-wrestling-coaches-association-doug-schwab-named-ncaa-division-i-mens-national-coach-of-the-year.aspx

March 29, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

TDR Award News

Editor’s Notes ; The Plaques for individuals on the First and Second TDR Top 12 Teams and Honorable Mention have arrived and will be mailed or delivered to the schools. The head coach can notify us and direct the delivery to a different address if so desired. The Olivia Neal, Roy Heverly, Lee Carroll, Michael Stokes and the James Johnson Memorial Awards will be announced and updated here this week.
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March 31st; Plaques sent by mail to Currituck Co., Louisburg, Fike, Pasquotank Co., South Central, South Johnston, South Lenoir, and Swansboro.
April 1st; Plaques sent by mail to Cleveland, Corinth-Holders, Croatan, Hoggard, Laney, North Brunswick, Topsail, Wake Forest, West Carteret and West Craven.
April 2nd; Plaques sent by mail to Ayden-Grifton, Franklinton, Goldsboro, Havelock, J. F. Webb, Lejeune, New Bern, Northeastern, and Pamlico County.
April 3rd; Plaques delivered to North Pitt.
April 7th; Plaques sent to Dixon, First Flight. Rosewood and White Oak expect delivering by April 10th.
April 8th; Plaques sent to Heidi Trask, Jacksonville, Southwest Onslow, Wakefield and Washington.
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Anna Ockerman of Corinth-Holders and Sophia Marshall of Rosewood named Olivia Neal Award winners for outstanding wrestling.

Stephen Ribustello of Tarboro High named the Lee Carroll Award winner as outstanding underclassman wrestler.

Tobin McNair of Wakefield named the Roy Heverly winner as most outstanding wrestler in eastern North Carolina.

Ryan Mann of North East Carolina Prep named the Michael Stokes winner as outstanding senior wrestler.

Gerald “J.J.” Johnson of West Craven named the James Johnson Memorial winner as outstanding senior wrestler in eastern North Carolina.

March 29, 2025 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment