The 125-pound weight class has been the most chaotic weight in the country this year highlighted by 7 different wrestlers ranked #1 in a season filled with parity. With the chaos in the regular season, we can only expect unpredictable results at the 2024 NCAA Tournament set to go down March 21-23 in Kansas City, Missouri. Check out the below article for a full preview, with predictions for this incredible bracket at NCAAs.

Complete FloWrestling 125 pound rankings

2024 NCAA Wrestling Brackets

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125 lbs Bracket

2023 All-Americans

1. Patrick Glory, Princeton
2. Matt Ramos, Purdue
3. Brandon Courtney, Arizona State
4. Anthony Noto, Lock Haven
5. Liam Cronin, Nebraska
6. Spencer Lee, Iowa
7. Eddie Ventresca, Virginia Tech
8. Killian Cardinale, West Virginia

2024 Top 8 Seeds

1. Braeden Davis, Penn State
2. Luke Stanich, Lehigh
3. Drake Ayala, Iowa
4. Matt Ramos, Purdue
5. Jore Volk, Wyoming
6. Troy Spratley, Oklahoma State
7. Jakob Camacho, NC State
8. Richard Figueroa, Arizona State

The Favorites

• Braeden Davis, Penn State
• Luke Stanich, Lehigh
• Drake Ayala, Iowa
• Matt Ramos, Purdue

Because of the chaos at 125 this year, there really isn’t any TRUE favorite. However, the top 4 seeds have are likely the best bets to make the finals based on their mostly consistent results this year. True freshman Braeden Davis is coming off an impressive performance at Big 10s where he defeated three All-Americans Patrick McKee, Eric Barnett, and Michael DeAugustino to win the title. Davis will need to replicate that type of performance at NCAAs considering his path could include Dean Peterson in the second round (who Davis defeated in overtime earlier this year), Patrick McKee/Richard Figueroa in the quarters, and Matt Ramos in the semis. 

Braeden Davis' win over Tristan Lujan at the 2023 Black Knight Invite (potential first round match at NCAAs):

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Another true freshman who has put together an incredible season is Lehigh’s Luke Stanich. As the #2 seed in this bracket, Stanich didn’t receive any favors with his draw and will face the winner of Caleb Smith and Michael DeAugustino in the second round. If he makes it to the quarters he’s set up with a potential match against former #1 ranked Jakob Camacho or All-American Eric Barnett. Stanich has stingy defense, rides hard on top, and has notable wins this year over Barnett, Cooper Flynn, and Brett Ungar. It will be fascinating to see how he performs in his first NCAA Tournament.

Luke Stanich's win over Brett Ungar in the finals of the 2024 EIWA Tournament:

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Drake Ayala earned the #3 seed after taking third at Big Ten’s losing only to Michael DeAugustino but recording wins over Dean Peterson, Matt Ramos, Eric Barnett, and Brendan McCrone. Ayala has been as consistent as anyone at 125 with wins over Braeden Davis, Jore Volk, Troy Spratley, and several other highly-ranked guys while only losing matches to Michael DeAugustino, Matt Ramos, and Brandon Kaylor. Ayala is as complete a wrestler as they come in this bracket and has a great chance to make the finals.

Then there’s Matt Ramos. Many were picking Ramos as the favorite at the beginning of the season before he lost four matches in November and December to Marcus Blaze, Jakob Camacho, Caleb Smith, and Nico Provo. However, Ramos then went on to win 14 straight matches before finishing 4th at Big Ten’s while losing to Dean Peterson and Drake Ayala. While on that winning streak, Ramos defeated Caleb Smith, Patrick McKee, Eric Barnett, and Dean Peterson. On top of those wins, Ramos’ upset over Spencer Lee at last year’s NCAA Tournament proves he’s capable of wrestling his best when it matters most.

Matt Ramos' win over Spencer Lee in the semifinals of the 2023 NCAA Tournament:

The Contenders

• Everyone Seeded 5-21

With the results this year at 125 pounds, we shouldn’t be surprised if anyone seeded #5-#21 wins a title this year…that’s not hyperbole. To show just how much parity there’s been at 125 this year, check out these stats:

• There were 7 different wrestlers ranked #1 this year - #1 Braeden Davis, #2 Luke Stanich, #3 Drake Ayala, #4 Matt Ramos, #7 Jakob Camacho, #12 Anthony Noto, and #14 Nico Provo.
• There were 12 different wrestlers ranked in the top 3 - #1 Braeden Davis, #2 Luke Stanich, #3 Drake Ayala, #4 Matt Ramos, #7 Jakob Camacho, #8 Richard Figueroa, #10 Eric Barnett, #12 Anthony Noto, #13 Noah Surtin, and #14 Nico Provo, #15 Caleb Smith, and #20 Stevo Poulin
• There were 17 different wrestlers ranked in the top 5 
• There were 20 different wrestlers ranked in the top 8
• There are 6 past All-Americans in the weight but only 1 of the top 8 seeds is a past AA (#4 Matt Ramos). The rest of the All-Americans in the weight - #9 Patrick McKee, #12 Anthony Noto, #21 Brandon Kaylor, #10 Eric Barnett, #18 Michael DeAugustino.

The 20 different wrestlers ranked in the top 8 are all seeded in the top 20 except Brandon Kaylor - he’s the #21 seed. The #19 seed, Jett Strickenberger is the only wrestler we didn’t have ranked in the top 8 this year but has ranked wins over Brandon Kaylor, Stevo Poulin (two), and Kysen Terukina. However, Strickenberger’s mid-season losses to Tyler Klinsky and Ethan Spacht kept him from rising too high in the rankings this year. We could spend a lot of time detailing the parity of the top 20 in even more detail but it might take 10,000 words to show just how many wrestlers have traded wins and losses this year. However, the top 21 wrestlers have all put together strings of matches this year where they have wrestled like All-Americans. 

Sleepers & Landmines

• Everyone Seeded 22-33

Again, this isn’t an exaggeration - no one is safe at 125 pounds and we should expect big upsets in the first round. In case you haven’t been following the results at 125 pounds closely this year, I’ll give you some quick insight into the victories of some of the wrestlers seeded #22-#33. The #33 seed, Tristan Lujan lost in overtime against #18 seed Michael DeAugustino at Big 10s and Lujan defeated #29 seed Brendan McCrone twice this year. McCrone has wins over #7 Jakob Camacho and #15 Dean Peterson. Going deeper, the #32 seed Michael Joyce defeated #28 Diego Sotelo at EIWAs to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Sotelo lost in overtime against Matt Ramos and defeated Anthony Noto this year. We’ve never seen anything like the chaos at 125 pounds this year and I expect that chaos to continue at the NCAA Tournament. This is a weight class where literally anything can happen in the first round and I wouldn’t be surprised.

If you're looking for two wrestlers in this category to make a run, my money is on Kysen Terukina or Tanner Jordan. Terukina was ranked as high as 10th this year while Tanner Jordan peaked at 13th in the rankings. Terukina's best wins on the season came over Eric Barnett and Stevo Poulin. Jordan also had impressive wins over Patrick McKee, Troy Spratley, and Jore Volk. I'm not picking either to make the finals, but I wouldn't be shocked if Terukina or Jordan went on a "Cinderella" run in Kansas City to reach the podium.

125 Pound Predictions

Matt Ramos shocked the world when he pinned Spencer Lee last year and I'm predicting he finds more of that magic at the NCAA Tournament this year to win an NCAA title. Ramos will likely be tested by Stevo Poulin and Jore Volk/Anthony Noto on his way to the semifinals. However, if Ramos makes the semis, I like how he matches up against Braeden Davis, Patrick McKee, or Richard Figueroa. Making predictions at this weight feels a bit like picking names out of a hat but I'm rolling with Ramos to come out on top in Kansas City.

Full All-American predictions with round of 12 finishers:

1. Matt Ramos, Purdue
2. Drake Ayala, Iowa
3. Braeden Davis, Penn State
4. Jakob Camacho, NC State
5. Luke Stanich, Lehigh
6. Patrick McKee, Minnesota
7. Jore Volk, Wyoming
8. Michael DeAugustino, Michigan

Round of 12 finishers - Eric Barnett (Wisconsin), Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia), Anthony Noto (Lock Haven), Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State)