Takedown Report

The 2025 NCAA Championships Were Overflowing with Storylines

I waited a couple of days to write this article. I wanted to write it when I got home from Philadelphia and the 2025 NCAA Championships, but I needed some time for perspective. Personally, I’m not a fan of labeling the match or tournament or upset we saw last night as the “Greatest Ever.” Ever is a long time and frankly, even though I’ve covered 17 of the last 19 NCAA Tournaments, I’ve missed much more than I’ve ever seen when it comes to the history of college wrestling. 
What that means is that it’s not hyperbole when I say the 2025 NCAA Championships had the best and greatest number of storylines surrounding the tournament of any that I’ve been associated with. 
Some were blatant and obvious – others you had to pay attention to notice. Quite frankly, there were so many that you might have missed one or seven. 
Let’s go through some of the main ones we knew before the tournament. 

• Carter Starocci’s quest for five titles. He did it and became the first NCAA wrestler to achieve the feat and beat an undefeated returning champion in the process. 

• Could Penn State break their own scoring record – established a year ago – along with matching Minnesota’s highwater mark of 10 All-Americans? Yes and yes to both. Then Nittany Lions were also the first team since 1992 to put their entire lineup in the NCAA quarterfinals. 

• Can Iowa hold onto second place and what’s Jacori Teemer’s status? Teemer went 0-2 and Kyle Parco was injured in his second match and didn’t wrestle in the consolations. Aside from that, Iowa had an alright tournament – capped off by a win at 197 lbs from Stephen Buchanan. They finished fourth as a team. 

• Is Oklahoma State the next team ready to challenge Penn State? I suppose that depends on what you call “challenge,” but the Cowboys had a very good tournament, finishing third and crowning two champions in year one under David Taylor. … more at … https://intermatwrestle.com/articles.html/college/the-2025-ncaa-championships-were-overflowing-with-storylines-r100162/

April 5, 2025 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | ncaa, sports