Every March the best college wrestlers in the country, get together for the NCAA Wrestling Championships! This tournament is the culmination of a lifetime of hard work for these young men, and only one (in each weight class) can be crowned champion.

This year’s tournament takes place March 21-23th, in Kansas City, Missouri, at the T-Mobile Center.

In this article we will discuss last year’s 125 lb champion and who the top contenders are for this season.

2023 Champion: Pat Glory of Princeton. Pat capped off a perfect season in impressive fashion. In the finals he defeated Matt Ramos of Purdue by a score of 4-1. Pat finished the season 25-0.

This Year’s Contenders: In all honesty this weight class is wide open, and your guess is as good as mine as to who will walk away with the 125 lb title this year. The contender list is quite long, but my 3 main contenders are: Matt Ramos of Purdue, Drake Ayala of Iowa, and Eric Barnett of Wisconsin.

Matt Ramos: Matt was a 2019 Illinois State Champion of Lockport High School. He was also a 2018 Cadet World Champion, a 2022 US Open Champion, and last years NCAA Runner-Up. Most famously though, he is known as the man who pinned Spencer Lee at the 2023 NCAA Championships. Ramos started the year ranked number 1 in the nation, and has since suffered some strange defeats. Regardless of that he is still the top contender to walk away champion.

Drake Ayala: In High School Drake was a 3X state champion winning titles in 2019, 2020, and 2021. He had a high school record of 171-3. He was also a 3X Fargo Champion as well as a Super 32 Champion. Drake is currently 19-4 on the season, and has looked pretty solid thus far.

Eric Barnett: Eric was a 3X State Champion in High School, he was also a 2019 Fargo Champion, and a Who’s Number 1 winner, while compiling a 185-3 record. At Wisconsin he is a 2X All-American as well as a Midlands Champion.

Other Contenders: Richie Figueroa of Arizona State is 9-3 on the season and has shown flashes of brilliance. Jakob Camacho of North Carolina State who is 13-4 this year. Luke Stanich of Lehigh is 18-2 and ranked 6th in the country.


Dark Horse Contenders: Freshman Braeden Davis of Penn State, he is currently 20-2 on the year and just won his first Big 10 title. If anyone knows how to get his wrestlers ready for the postseason its PSU head coach Cael Sanderson. Don’t be surprised to see Braeden make a deep run at the tournament.