149-Pound Pre-Season NCAA Wrestling Preview & Predictions

A preview with predictions for the 2024-25 season at 149-pound weight class in Division 1 college wrestling.

Sep 25, 2024 by JD Rader

149-Pound Pre-Season NCAA Wrestling Preview & Predictions

It’s almost time for the college wrestling season and we’re previewing every weight class before the season starts. In the below article, I preview 149-pounds by breaking down the names you need to know to help you get prepared for the college season.

Other NCAA weight class previews: 125 | 165

Departed

Austin Gomez, Michigan (done)
Tyler Kasak, Penn State (not confirmed, but likely redshirting or moving up)
Casey Swiderski, Iowa State (redshirting)
Quinn Kinner, Rider (done)
Graham Rooks, Indiana (done)
Cody Bond, App State (done)

Moving In

Anthony Echemendia, Iowa State (not official yet, but likely up from 141)
Lachlan McNeil, North Carolina (up from 141)

Coming Off Of Redshirt

Paniro Johnson, Iowa State (potentially, but might be going 157)
Kannon Webster, Illinois
Ty Whalen, Princeton

Coming Back Off Of Injury

Shayne Van Ness, Penn State

The Favorites

Caleb Henson, Virginia Tech
Shayne Van Ness, Penn State
Ridge Lovett, Nebraska

Caleb Henson is your defending 149 lb national champion. He became just the second ever Hokie to win it and the first ever D1 NCAA champion from Georgia. Henson beat Ty Watters, Ridge Lovett, and Austin Gomez en route to his title. With a final record of 30-2, he had the highest final win percentage of any NCAA qualifier from last season. His two losses came to Ridge Lovett at CKLV and Jackson Arrington at ACCs, both of which were extremely close and a little controversial.

Watch Ridge Lovett defeat Caleb Henson at CKLV below.

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Watch Caleb Henson defeat Ridge Lovett in the NCAA semifinals below.

Some might be surprised to see Lovett in the favorites category after he took sixth place at NCAAs last season. However, I take his two consolation losses at NCAAs with a grain of salt. He was not the same wrestler that he was in the regular season after he lost to Henson in the semis by one point. Lovett was the clear #1 seed going into NCAAs with wins over Henson, Gomez X2, Kasak X2, and only one loss to Kyle Parco.

The man with the most questions in this weight is Shayne Van Ness, and that is because he was sidelined in December with a leg injury that required surgery.

Van Ness took 3rd as a freshman in 2023 with wins over Henson and Parco, but he did have a rocky regular season dropping six matches. It looked like the SVN we saw at NCAAs wasn’t a fluke, but the new standard moving forward when he dominated Parco at the All-Star Classic last season just a couple of weeks before his injury. We still have yet to see the Nittany Lion against Lovett and the best version of Henson, however. Two of my most anticipated matches of the season regardless of weight! We also have yet to see him against Ty Watters, one of the top contenders at the weight. However, we will get to see that one early in the season at the All-Star Classic!

Watch Van Ness defeat Parco at the 2023 All-Star Classic below.

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The Contenders

Ty Watters, West Virginia
Anthony Echemendia/Paniro Johnson, Iowa State
Kyle Parco, Arizona State
Jackson Arrington, NC State
Ty Whalen, Princeton
Lachlan McNeil, North Carolina

This tier of six wrestlers are guys who aren't going to be Vegas favorites to win the title but have the ability to if they wrestle their best.

Ty Watters had a phenomenal true freshman season last year going 26-5 and taking 4th place. I expect another A+ season out of the Mountaineer and could see him pushing into the favorites category given he now has a full college year under his belt. However, Henson did have his number last season defeating him twice - once in the first tournament of the year and once at the last. We will have a good idea of where Watters is at in the pecking order when he takes on Van Ness at the All-Star Classic on November 16th.

Watch Henson’s win over Watters at the Southeast Open below.

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Watch highlights from Henson’s quarterfinal win over Watters at NCAAs below.

I’m not sure who is going to start for Iowa State at 149 lbs. I don’t think they even know yet. However, I know with two options like Anthony Echemendia or Paniro Johnson, they’re going to really good. Echemendia is coming off of 5th place NCAA finish at 141 lbs, but it sounds like he has put on some size and will likely be moving up. Johnson is coming off a redshirt, but started for the Cyclones in the 2022/23 season where he was a national qualifier. He remained active over the past year, making the U23 World Team. He will compete in Tirana, Albania October October 21-27 live on FloWrestling. Iowa State held their wrestle-offs around the same time as the U23 World Championships last year.

Ty Whalen is another very interesting name coming off redshirt. After an average true freshman year for Princeton two seasons ago at 157 and 165 lbs, he seems to be better suited at 149 lbs. During redshirt last season he looked great at Midlands winning the 149 lb title with wins over Ty Watters and Kyle Parco.

A 4X All-American, Kyle Parco has been a staple of this weight class for the past four years. However, this year will be different for the California native as he has transferred to the Universiyt of Iowa after four years at Arizona State. We don’t normally see a big jump from guys in terms of results this late in their career, even if they do transfer. However, with wins over two wins over Ridge Lovett last season, Parco is absolutely a title contender.

Watch the highlights from Parco’s 5th place victory over Ridge Lovett below.

Laclan McNeil will be a new face in this weight class. He’s coming up from 141 lbs where he’s All-Americaned the past two seasons. He should have a fun rivalry with conference opponent Jackson Arrington of NC State who has twice finished in the round of 12 at this weight. North Carolina and NC State normally have at least three opportunities to see each other before NCAAs (dual, CKLV, and conference tournament).

The ‘Big Potential’ Tier Guys

Chance Lamer, Cal Poly

Jaden Abas, Stanford

Kannon Webster, Illinois

Dylan D'Emilio, Ohio State

Colin Realbuto, Northern Iowa

Kaleb Larkin, Arizona State

This tier of guys haven’t proven themselves as title contenders yet, but show a lot of potential. Two names I really want to highlight are Kannon Webster and Kaleb Larkin. Both will be coming off of redshirt freshman seasons. Webster was the #13 overall recruit in the class of 2023 and went 16-1 only losing to Watters 4-2 last year and Larkin was extremely active on the freestyle scene picking up wins over Jesse Mendez, Matthew Kolodzik, Pat Lugo, Jackson Arrington, Daniel Cardenas, and more. I expect both of them to contend for AA honors this year, and Larkin may even be a title. contender