It’s almost time for the college wrestling season and we’re kicking off our pre-season weight class previews with last year’s most chaotic weight - 125 pounds. Last year, this weight class was incredibly unpredictable with huge upsets from the beginning of the year and several new number 1’s throughout the season. Check out the below article for a full preview and prediction for 125 pounds!

2024 NCAA All-Americans

1. Richard Figueroa, Arizona State
2. Drake Ayala, Iowa
3. Anthony Noto, Lock Haven
4. Eric Barnett, Wisconsin
5. Luke Stanich, Lehigh
6. Caleb Smith, Nebraska
7. Jore Volk, Wyoming
8. Tanner Jordan, SD State

2024 Round Of 12 Finishers

• Matt Ramos, Purdue
• Braeden Davis, Penn State
• Stevo Poulin, Northern Colorado
• Troy Spratley, OK State

Check out the 2024-25 NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Rankings Here

The Last 10 125 Pound NCAA Champions

2024 - Richard Figueroa, Arizona State

2023 - Pat Glory, Princeton

2022 - Nick Suriano, Michigan

2021 - Spencer Lee, Iowa

2019 - Spencer Lee, Iowa

2018 - Spencer Lee, Iowa

2017 - Darian Cruz, Lehigh

2016 - Nico Megaludis, Penn State

2015 - Nathan Thomasello, Ohio State

2014- Jesse Delgado, Illinois

Wrestlers Ranked #1 At 125 Pounds Last Year

• Matt Ramos, Purdue
• Anthony Noto, Lock Haven
• Jakob Camacho, NC State
• Nico Provo, Stanford
• Drake Ayala, Iowa
• Luke Stanich, Lehigh
• Braeden Davis, Penn State
• Richard Figueroa, Arizona State

125 pounds was unlike any other weight last season with 8 different wrestlers ranked in the #1 spot from the beginning to the end of the year. It’s worth noting that 3 of those wrestlers likely won’t be in the field at 125 this year - Drake Ayala, Luke Stanich, and Braeden Davis are either moving up in weight or redshirting. Even with those wrestlers not there, 125 will still be ultra-competitive and has the potential to be just as chaotic this year as last. 

The Favorite

• Richard Figueroa, Arizona State

Richard Figueroa is the returning NCAA champion and should be considered the favorite to win again in 2025 because of the run he went on at the 2024 NCAA Tournament. In consecutive matches, Figueroa took out Ethan Berginc (13-2), Patrick McKee (16-5), Braeden Davis (3-2), Anthony Noto (4-3), and Drake Ayala (7-2) on his way to his NCAA title. 

Despite Figueroa’s incredible NCAA tournament, he had some rocky moments during the regular season suffering losses to Nico Provo (13-8 in overtime), Maximo Renteria (9-5), Troy Spratley (13-5), and Jore Volk (6-4). Because of those losses, Figueroa was only the 8 seed at the NCAA Tournament before making his incredible run to gold. Those losses also point to how close the field was to Figueroa last year and how Figueroa will have to wrestle his best again at the 2025 NCAA Tournament to repeat as NCAA champion.

The Contenders

• Anthony Noto, Lock Haven
• Jore Volk, Wyoming
• Caleb Smith, Nebraska
• Matt Ramos, Purdue
• Tanner Jordan, SD State

In a wildly competitive and chaotic weight class, the above five wrestlers proved to be the most consistent last year and are the main contenders to knock Figueroa off his 125-pound throne. First up is Lock Haven’s Anthony Noto who placed 3rd last year at NCAA’s following up his 4th place finish in 2023. Beyond his finishes at NCAAs, Noto recorded notable victories over Eric Barnett, Caleb Smith, Matt Ramos, and Jakob Camacho last year. However, Noto suffered head-scratching losses last year to Joey Fischer (who didn’t qualify for NCAAs) and Diego Sotelo (went 2-2 at NCAAs). Even though those losses are surprising for a contender, Noto has consistently shown he wrestles his best at the NCAA Tournament and should be right in the mix to win 125 pounds this year.

Highlights of Noto's win over Matt Ramos at last year's NCAA Tournament:

Wyoming’s Jore Volk punched through at the 2024 NCAA Tournament by finishing 7th place. Volk had several ranked wins last year including victories over Richard Figueroa, Tanner Jordan (2), Caleb Smith (2), Troy Spratley, and Nico Provo. However, like Noto (and every other guy in the weight class), Volk dropped a few matches to lower-ranked wrestlers in including Diego Sotelo, Noah Surtin, and Nico Provo. Volk made some big jumps forward from year 1 to year at Wyoming, and if he continues to improve at the same rate, we could see him climb a little higher on the podium in 2024. 

Jore Volk's win over Caleb Smith at the 2023 CKLV:

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Like Volk, Caleb Smith had a breakthrough year at 2024 NCAAs when he placed 6th at the NCAA Tournament with notable wins over Michael DeAugustino, Luke Stanich, Stevo Poulin, and Tanner Jordan. Along with those wins at NCAAs, Smith had significant wins during the regular season over Matt Ramos, Troy Spratley, Braeden Davis, and several other ranked guys. While Smith did lose 12 times last season, he was one of the few wrestlers in the weight class who only lost to All-Americans. Smith is capable of defeating anyone in the country on any day and should be a contender at the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Highlights of Caleb Smith's win over Luke Stanich at the 2024 NCAA Tournament:

After finishing runner-up at the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Matt Ramos fell just short of All-American honors at 2024 NCAAs when he lost in 4-0 in the round of 12 to Luke Stanich. Despite a disappointing end to the year, Ramos still had a solid regular season with victories over Caleb Smith, Patrick McKee, Eric Barnett, Drake Ayala, and several other highly-ranked wrestlers. Ramos is one of the most complete wrestlers in this weight class and will look to end his career as an NCAA Champion and become Purdue’s fourth-ever NCAA Champ and first since 1992. 

Matt Ramos' win over Tanner Jordan at the 2023 CKLV:

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Tanner Jordan is the final wrestler in the contender category and is coming off an 8th-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Jordan had an up-and-down season dropping matches to Kysen Terukina, Stevo Poulin, and Noah Surtin, and only took 5th place at the Big 12 Tournament. However, Jordan proved he’s a contender by his performance at the NCAA Tournament with his wins over Troy Spratley, Patrick McKee, and Brett Ungar.

Hear from Tanner Jordan after earning All-American honors:

The Next Tier

• Troy Spratley, OK State - #6
• Jackob Camacho, NC State #1 
• Cooper Flynn, Minnesota #5
• Dean Peterson, Rutgers - #4
• Nico Provo, Stanford - #1
• Kysen Terukina, Iowa State - #10
• Stevo Poulin, Northern Colorado #3

The above tier of wrestlers consists of guys who were all ranked in the top 10 at some point of the season last year. In fact, Camacho and Provo climbed up to #1 in the 125-pound rankings last year. All of the guys in this tier were All-American contenders last season and it won’t be a surprise if any of them reach the podium in 2025. Check out the below list to see where each of them peaked in the rankings and each wrestler’s best win of the 2023-24 season.

• Troy Spratley (peaked at #6) - Wins over Tanner Jordan, Richard Figueroa, Luke Stanich, Cooper Flynn, Kysen Terukina, Jakob Camacho
• Jackob Camacho (peaked at #1) - Wins over Matt Ramos, Kysen Terukina, Brett Ungar, Cooper Flynn
• Cooper Flynn (peaked at #5) - Wins over Nico Provo, Noah Surtin, Brett Ungar
• Dean Peterson - Wins over Eddie Ventresca, Patrick McKee, Matt Ramos, Michael DeAugustino
• Nico Provo (peaked #1) - Wins over Matt Ramos, Jore Volk, Kysen Terukina, Brett Ungar, Richard Figueroa 
• Kysen Terukina (peaked at #10) - Wins over Eric Barnett, Stevo Poulin, Tanner Jordan
• Stevo Poulin (peaked at #3) - Wins over Nico Provo, Tanner Jordan, Jore Volk, Noah Surtin

This group really highlights the depth of 125 and how close this group is to the returning All-Americans and title contenders. Any one of this group of seven has the potential to reach the podium and even win an NCAA title. This is unlike any other weight in the country in this respect and we should be prepared for another chaotic year at 125 pounds. 

Troy Spratley's win over Richard Figueroa:

Camacho's win over Matt Ramos:

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Provo's win over Jore Volk at the 2023 CLKV:

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Stevo Poulin's win over Nico Provo at the 2024 Southern Scuffle:

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Sleepers & Landmines

• Luke Lilledahl,  Penn State
• Greg Diakomihalis, Cornell
• Maximo Renteria, Oregon State
• Vinny Kilkeary, Ohio State

The list of sleepers and landmines at 125 pounds could be much longer. Literally every ranked 125-pound wrestler should be considered an All-American contender. However, for the sake of time, I chose to only include 4 wrestlers to highlight in this pre-season preview.

Luke Lilledahl is entering is true freshman year at Penn State and though it’s not official yet, Lilledahl will likely start for the Nittany Lions this year. Lilledahl is coming off a U20 World title and also had notable freestyle wins over NCAA runner-up Brandon Courtney, All-American Liam Cronin, All-American Jore Volk, Daniel DeShazer, Jax Forrest, Vinny Kilkeary, and several other top guys. Lilledahl is as ready to go as any true freshman and is an immediate title contender for the Nittany Lions.

Lilledahl's win over Vinny Kilkeary at the 2024 US Open:

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Greg Diakomihalis is slated to start this year for Cornell after being stuck behind Brett Ungar for the last 3 years. Ungar is now up at 133 pounds and Diakomihalis had solid results last year suggesting he could be an All-American contender this season. Diakomihals went 16-3 last year with notable victories over Kysen Terukina, Vinny Kilkeary, and Diego Stoelo. 

Diakomihalis' win over All-American Eddie Ventresca at the 2022 Southern Scuffle:

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Oregon State’s Maximo Renteria is another wrestler to watch out for this year at 125. Last year Renteria only wrestled 6 matches but went 6-0 and defeated eventual national champion Richard Figueroa, 9-5. While that result is the best of Renteria’s career, it suggests he’s got potential and could surprise some people this year.

Ohio State’s Vinny Kilkeary is the final wrestler I chose to include in this category. Kilkeary redshirted last year and accumulated a 20-8 record with wins over national qualifiers Tristan Lujan and Ethan Berginc. However, Kilkeary’s most notable result was actually a controversial loss he suffered against Braeden Davis. In that match, Kilkeary almost had the match winning takedown as time expired. Kilkeary was the #34 overall recruit in the class of 2023 but will have to take out last year’s starter Brendan McCrone start this year for the Buckeyes. 

Kilkeary's match against Braeden Davis:

Who Wins The 2025 NCAA Tournament?

Like last season, predicting the 125 pound champ next year is almost impossible. On one hand, Richard Figueroa was clearly the best wrestler at the NCAA Tournament so he would be the safe pick to start the season. However, his losses to Provo, Renteria, Spratley, and Volk show just how close the rest of the field is. 

So who’s my pick to win 125 this year? I’m going with Penn State freshman Luke Lilledahl. Lilledahl has won just about everything leading up to his college career and enters State College with huge expectations. I’m predicting he’ll jump levels throughout his freshman season because of his new training partners and full-time exposure to the Penn State room. I know it’s early, and I know we haven’t seen him on the college mats yet, but Luke Lilledahl is my pick to stand on top of the podium next March at 125 pounds.

Full NCAA Predictions:

1. Luke Lilledahl, Penn State
2. Troy Spratley, Oklahoma State
3. Richard Figueroa, Arizona State
4. Matt Ramos, Purdue
5. Anthony Noto, Lock Haven
6. Jakob Camacho, NC State
7. Jore Volk, Wyoming
8. Stevo Poulin, Northern Colorado