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: Keegan O’Toole of Missouri has been utterly dominate throughout his college career. In the 2023 final he defeated 2021 NCAA Champion David Carr 8-2. This victory propelled him to his 2nd straight NCAA title.
This Year’s Contenders:
Keegan O’Toole of Missouri is back and in hot pursuit of his 3rd straight NCAA championship. He is currently 19-0 and ranked 1st in the country. Keegan has quality wins over NCAA Champions David Carr, and Shane Griffith. He has an impressive career record of 79-3, and is also a 3X Big 12 Champion.
David Carr of Iowa State. Carr was a 4X Ohio State Champion and an 1X Kentucky State Champion as an 8th grader, making him an extremely rare 5X state champion. He is also a 2019 Junior World Champion and sports an impressive 137-6 college record.
Mitchell Mesenbrink of Penn State. Mitchell was a 3X Wisconsin state champion. He is currently 22-0 and ranked 5th in the country. In 2023 he captured the U20 World Championship at 74 kg. Mitchell pushes a relentless pace and and is always looking to score. Although not as experienced at the college level, being a freshman, he is a force to be reckoned with and has all the potential to win it all.
Dark Horse Contenders:
Dean Hamiti of Wisconsin has really come into his own this year. He is 26-2 on the season and is extremely dangerous with his cradles.Had it not been for a brief lapse of judgement in the Big 10 finals he would likely be the number 2 seed, and Big 10 Champion. Look for him to make a deep run in March.