Another year, another 80 Division I wrestlers earning one of the most important, distinguished honors in collegiate wrestling: an All-American finish.
Each season, the top eight finishers in each weight class stand on top of the podium at the end of the NCAA tournament with a trophy. These are the guys who achieved this feat in 2023, and here's how they did it.
125 pounds: Spencer Lee, Matt Ramos, Liam Cronin and Patrick Glory all earned their spot on the podium in the quarterfinals with wins over Anthony Noto, Killian Cardinale, Eddie Ventresca and Brandon Courtney respectively. Noto, Cardinale, Ventresca and Courtney all wrestled back to win their Blood Round bouts against Dean Peterson, Brett Ungar, Stevo Poulin and Eric Barnet, respectively. Barnett becomes the third former All-American in this bracket not to finish on the podium this year, joining Northwestern's Michael DeAugustino and Minnesota's Patrick McKee in this club.
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For Lee, the All-American honor marked his fourth podium finish, and his fifth total honor, including his 2020 NWCA All-American honor during the COVID season. Ramos and Cronin, on the other hand, took home All-American trophies for the first time in their careers. Glory became a place-winner for the third time after sixth- and second-place finishes in 2019 and 2022. He also earned NWCA All-American honors in 2020. Cardinale and Courtney earned All-American honors for the second and third time in their careers respectively, while Noto and Ventresca are first-time All-Americans.
Incredible season for sophomore !
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- Season record of 34-4
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- NCAA Tournament AA 4th Place finish |
Courtney finished third after defeating Anthony Noto in the consolation finals in sudden victory. Liam Cronin won the fifth place match by medical forfeit over Spencer Lee, while Eddie Ventresca and Killian Cardinale rounded out the podium in seventh and eighth.
133 pounds: Like Lee, Penn State's Roman Bravo-Young is a four-time placewinner and five time All-American, including the NWCA honor. Bravo-Young started his career as a freshman with an eighth-place finish before missing out on the tournament in 2020 due to COVID, leading to his NWCA distinction. He then won the tournament in 2021 and 2022.
Daton Fix had a similar, albeit slightly different path. He's taken second the last three years, finishing on the podium all three years, of course, and he punched his ticket to the podium this year with a quarterfinal win over Lucas Byrd 3-2.
Fix's semifinals opponent, Vito Arujau took fourth in 2019 before taking an Olympic redshirt in 2020 and 2021. He then ended up third in 2022, making this year his third year on the podium.
Arizona State's Michael McGee has seen great improvement and an upwards trajectory in performance since arriving in Tempe, though his career was far from traditional. McGee first qualified for the national tournament as a true freshman with Old Dominion and went 1-2. He then finished in the Round of 12 in 2019 before redshirting in 2020. McGee then transferred to ASU and finished on the podium, in sixth, in 2021 before taking fourth in 2022. This year marks his third time on the podium in five appearances at this event. McGee ended up fourth with a win over Daton Fix in the consolation finals.
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In the Blood Round, Ohio State freshman Jesse Mendez took out two-time All-American Lucas Byrd to finish on the podium for the first time himself. He then beat fellow All-American Sam Latona β the Hokie who earned his second All-American honor with a Blood Round win over senior Micky Phillippi β in the consolation quarterfinals.
ACC champion Kai Orine and Big Ten finalist Aaron Nagao became All-Americans for the first time in their careers with Blood Round wins over Kyle Biscoglia and Zach Redding respectively. Nagao then won his consolation quarterfinal over Orine later Friday evening to secure his top-6 finish. The Gopher young star ended up fifth while Mendez took sixth, Latona took seventh and Orine finished eighth.
141 pounds: No. 1 seed Real Woods became a two-time placewinner and three-time All-American after his quarterfinal win against Allan Hart of Missouri, and his semifinal opponent, All-American Brock Hardy, advanced to the podium after his quarterfinals win over Parker Filius of Purdue. Hardy, a redshirt freshman, is just beginning his career, but he's likely to be a power player for the Cornhuskers in the years to come.
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The second semifinal between Penn State's Beau Bartlett and Northern Colorado's Andrew Alirez was a battle between two first-time podium finishers. In 2021, Alirez lost in the Round of 12. Bartlett failed to qualify in 2021 as a true freshman and then missed the podium last year. But this year, for both guys, the path was different. Bartlett beat All-American Cole Matthews in his quarterfinal to become an All-American, while Alirez topped Lachlan McNeil, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.
For the first time in over 50 years, the University of Northern Colorado has an finalist, and his name is Andrew Alirez. x
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Joining Woods, Hardy, Bartlett and Alirez on the podium will be Parker Filius of Purdue (who built off of the momentum of his teammate Matt Ramos PINNING Spencer Lee!), Clay Carlson, Lachlan McNeil and Dylan D'Emilio. Carlson has been on the podium once before, but for McNeil of North Carolina, D'Emilio of Ohio State and Filius, this All-American honor marks their first time on the podium. For Filius, in particular, a senior, his Blood Round win over Casey Swiderski of Iowa State allows him to end his career as top-eight wrestler in the country. What a moment.
In the consolation medal rounds, it was Beau Bartlett of Penn State who prevailed, topping Lachlan McNeil of North Carolina for third. Clay Carlson took home fifth after an injury default win over Brock Hardy, who ended up fifth. Parker Filius and Dylan D'Emilio earned seventh- and eighth-place finishes, respectively.
149 pounds: At 149 pounds, the story all season has been Yianni Diakomihalis' chase for four titles, and he at least sealed his fourth All-American honor with his dicey semifinals win over Max Murin of Iowa. His semifinal opponent, freshman Shayne Van Ness from Penn State, earned his first All-American honor this season with his quarterfinal win over Graham Rooks of Indiana. Van Ness would go on to finish third. ;
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Both of the wrestlers in the second semifinals, Kyle Parco of Arizona State and Sammy Sasso of Ohio State, have been on this All-American podium before. Sasso started his varsity career in the 2019-20 season, the year of the cancelled tournament. He came back in 2021 and finished second before finishing fifth in 2022. His podium finish this year marks his third time on the podium, and he has the chance to come back one more time next year if he chooses. Parco, on the other hand, placed his first year at Fresno State, finishing sixth, and then added an eighth-place trophy last year with his new team, Arizona State. This year is his second time on the podium for the Sun Devils, but his third time as a placewinner overall, and he ended his tournament in fourth this season. Both Sasso and Parco beat All-Americans to advance to the semis, as Sasso beat Yahya Thomas and Parco beat Brock Mauller.
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Brock Mauller wrestled back to win his Blood Round bout against NC State's Jackson Arrington, who put together a tough string of matches after being pinned by Diakomihalis. He ended this tournament in seventh after losing losing to Virginia Tech's Caleb Henson in the consolation quarterfinals. Henson won his Blood Round match against Yahya Thomas to earn All-American honors for the first time in his career, and he finished fifth in this year's bracket.
Iowa's Max Murin was one of the biggest stories in this consolation, as he finally broke through the Blood Round and earned All-American honors in his final season as a Hawkeye, beating Michigan's Chance Lamer in his Round of 12 bout. Murin then strung together another win, topping Michael Blockhus in the consolation quarters after Blockhus beat Graham Rooks to earn his first All-American honor as a sixth-place finisher. Blockhus took home eighth.
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157 pounds: Penn State true freshman Levi Haines officially locked up his All-American honors with a quarterfinals win against Bryce Andonian, a Virginia Tech All-American who wrestled back to finish on the podium himself after a Blood Round win over Chase Saldate from Michigan State. Andonian ended up seventh.
Peyton Robb, Austin O'Connor and Josh Humphreys also won in the quarterfinals, with Robb becoming an All-American for the second time in his career and O'Connor finishing his career as a four-time placewinner and five-time All-American. Humphreys' quarterfinal win put him on the podium for the first time in his career, giving him his second total All-American honor after earning NWCA distinction in 2020, and he took home third this year.
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Will Lewan and Jared Franek, both of whom lost in the quarterfinals, each stormed back to win their Blood Round matches, along with Andonian. Lewan's Blood Round win gave him his second All-American honor while Franek became a placwinner for the first time in their careers. They finished eighth and fourth respectively on the podium. Ed Scott of NC State rounded out the placewinners with his Blood Round win over Daniel Cardenas of Stanford to become an All-American for the first time in his career, finishing in sixth.
165 pounds: NCAA champions David Carr and Keegan O'Toole punched their tickets to the semifinals with wins over NCAA champion Shane Griffith and All-American Carson Kharchla to cement their status as All-Americans once again. Griffith, for his part, battled back for fifth to become a three-time podium finisher and four-time All-American after wins over Julian Ramirez in the Blood Round, Michael Caliendo in the consolation quarterfinals and Dean Hamiti in the fifth-place match. Caliendo and Hamiti both became All-Americans after Blood Round wins over Caleb Fish and Austin Yant, respectively. The honor marks Hamiti's second All-American status at Wisconsin and Caliendo's first with North Dakota.
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NCAA finalist Quincy Monday also became an All-American once again for Princeton with his quarterfinal win over Caleb Fish. Monday ended up in third after his consolation finals win over Cameron Amine, the multiple-time Michigan All-American who secured his spot on the podium with a quarterfinal win over Hamiti.
Izzak Olejnik of Northern Illinois rounded out the placewinners in eighth, earning his first career All-American honor.
174 pounds: Much like 165 pounds, 174 pounds contained multiple former champs, with both two-time NCAA winner Carter Starocci and 2019 champion Mekhi Lewis punching their way to the semifinals and securing All-American honors with wins over Bailee O'Reilly and Nelson Brands, respectively. Lewis would go on to finish fourth.
Ohio State's Ethan Smith ended up beating O'Reilly in the Blood Round to become a two-time placewinner and three-time All-American for the Buckeyes. He finished the tournament in seventh after beating All-American Peyton Mocco in that final bout. Mocco earned All-American honors after his Blood Round win over Cade DeVos of South Dakota State.πππππ ππππ’π¨π§ππ₯ ππ‘ππ¦π©π’π¨π§π¬π‘π’π©π
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Cornell's Chris Foca and Mikey Labriola of Nebraska also became All-Americans this year after winning their quarterfinal bouts against Dustin Plott and Mocco, respectively. Plott would go on to be an All-American himself after beating Demetrius Romero in the Blood Round, though he would lose the fifth-place match to first-time All-American Nelson Brands of Iowa, earning his podium finish after avenging an earlier season loss to Edmond Ruth in the Blood Round.
184 pounds: The top four seeds at 184 pounds advanced to the semifinals: No. 1 Parker Keckeisen became an All-American for the third time in his career with a quarterfinal win over Isaiah Salazer, No. 2 Trent Hidlay beat familiar foe Hunter Bolen in the quarters, No. 3 Aaron Brooks topped No. 6 Kaleb Romero to become a three-time placewinner and No. 4 Trey Munoz earned his first top-eight finish with a quarters victory against Marcus Coleman. Munoz and Coleman would meet again in the consolation fifth-place match after Coleman won his Blood Round bout against Matt Finesilver. Coleman finished fifth after Munoz medically forfeited out of that last bout.
Romero, another athlete who dropped his bout in the quarterfinals, found a way to win in the Blood Round against Brian Bonino of Drexel. Romero ended his career as a third-place finisher and two-time placewinner with a consolation finals victory over Trent Hidlay, now a three-time placewinner for the Wolfpack.
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Will Feldkamp and Gavin Kane, both first time All-Americans rounded out the placers in seventh and eighth place.
197 pounds: The 197 pound semifinals nearly went chalk with one notable exception. South Dakota State's Tanner Sloan became an All-American for the first time in his career after his upset win over No. 2 Bernie Truax of Cal Poly. Truax, however, made a run on the backside, beating 2021 All-American Michael Beard in the Blood Round and then topping 2022 NCAA champion, and fellow 2023 All-American, Max Dean in the consolation quarterfinals. Dean, despite losing to Silas Allred of Nebraska in the quarterfinals became an All-American for the fourth time in his career with a Blood Round win over Maryland's Jaxon Smith. The Nittany Lion senior ended up seventh after beating fellow Blood Round surviver Jacob Cardenas of Cornell.
Cardenas lost his first bout in the second round to Sloan, but he rallied back and beat Luke Surber and then Zac Braunagel in the Blood Round to become an All-American. Jacob Warner of Iowa rounded out the Blood Round winners, as he surpassed Nebraska's Silas Allred in his Round of 12 bout to end up finishing fifth with a win over Ethan Laird.
Laird became an All-American after his quarterfinal win over Braunagel. No. 1 Nino Bonaccorsi and No. 3 Rocky Elam by way of quarterfinal wins. Elam would go on to finish third with a win over Truax in the consolation finals while Bonaccorsi punched his ticket to the national finals.
285 pounds: The lowest seeded heavyweight to earn All-American honors this year was No. 11 Trent Hillger, the three-time Wisconsin big man who beat Iowa State's Sam Schuyler to end up on the podium once again. Hillger ended his tournament in eighth place, following a medical forfeit to 2022 NCAA finalist, Cohlton Schultz from Arizona State. Schultz had to work his way to the podium through the Blood Round after dropping his quarterfinal bout to Iowa's Tony Cassioppi, but Schultz found a way, topping former All-American Tate Orndorff to finish on the podium again.
Cassioppi, Mason Parris and Greg Kerkvliet all became All-Americans for the third times in their careers with their quarterfinal wins, while Wyatt Hendrickson from Air Force earned his first All-American honor win his quarters win over Zach Elam. Missouri's Elam came back to take sixth after his Blood Round win over Colton McKiernan. Cassioppi finished fourth, falling to Hendrickson by pin in the consolation finals. Northwestern's Lucas Davison also earned a fifth-place finish by beating Elam in his consolation medal bout.
