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 157 lb champion and who the top contenders are for this season.
2023 Champion: Austin O’Connor of North Carolina State captured his 2nd NCAA title last season after laying a beating on Levi Haines of Penn State in the finals. Austin was a 5X All-American and won titles at both 149 and 157, he had a career record of 131-13.
This Year’s Contenders: Levi Haines of Penn State. The way I see it Levi is the only real title contender. He has looked almost unstoppable this season. Levi is currently 18-0 and ranked #1 in the country. He is also the reigning Big 10 Champion.
Dark Horse Contenders: While I only saw 1 real contender for the NCAA title, there are a couple dark horse contenders to watch out for.
Vincent Zerban of Northern Colorado is a man on a mission, and currently 22-2 and ranked 13th in the country. In high school Vincent was an Illinois State Champion and a Missouri State Champion. He is also 1 of only two wrestlers in college to defeat Levi Haines. Don’t be surprised if Vincent makes a deep run come tournament time.
Meyer Shapiro of Cornell. Meyer came to Cornell as the number 1 recruit out of high school. He was also a cadet world champion in 2021. In college he has been equally impressive and has a 23-2 record on the season. Had it not been for a concussion earlier in the season, he may of been undefeated. Yianni is on record predicting that Meyer will become Cornell’s next 4X NCAA Champion.