College wrestling’s most compelling weight class this season might be 184 pounds. 

Penn State’s Carter Starocci is bidding for an unprecedented fifth Division I NCAA title after winning four championships at 174 pounds. Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen is chasing his second straight national title after a dominant run through the 184-pound bracket last season in Kansas City. 

Oklahoma State’s Dustin Plott returns after making a finals appearance in March. Fellow All-Americans Trey Munoz, Bennett Berge and T.J. Stewart are also back after claiming podium spots in Kansas City. 

Additionally, there’s a host of high-caliber move-ins — both from 174 and 197 — set to join the mix at 184 and they could turn this into one of college wrestling’s deepest brackets next March in Philadelphia. 

The Favorites 

Starocci takes a 78-4 career record into his fifth season in the Penn State lineup. Cast aside the two matches he dropped by injury default at the Big Ten Championships last March and he hasn’t lost a match he’s been able to finish since the 2021 Big Ten finals. 

Despite the knee injury that knocked him out of the Big Ten Championships and forced him to adjust at the NCAA Championships, he still navigated his way to the top of the podium in Kansas City, finishing the tournament with three consecutive shutout victories. 

Now he makes the move up to 184 and into the weight class Keckeisen dominated last year. 

Keckeisen went 31-0 last season, becoming Northern Iowa’s first undefeated D1 champ since 1963. Moreover, he notched 28 bonus-point victories and scored bonus in his final 14 matches. He was the only wrestler ton bonus his way through the national tournament last March. 

It was the fourth straight year Keckeisen has placed third or better at the NCAA Championships. He takes a 105-5 career record into his final season with the Panthers. 

Starocci and Keckeisen are set to tangle Nov. 16 in State College at the NWCA All-Star Classic, which could be a preview of the national title bout in March. 

The Contenders 

Plott turned in the best year of his career last season when he reached the NCAA finals. He lost all three head-to-head battles with Keckeisen and went 31-1 against everyone else. His other loss was a 12-10 shootout with Nebraska’s Lenny Pinto in Las Vegas, but he avenged that defeat later in the tournament. 

Plott has made gradual improvement throughout his career with the Cowboys, going from a national qualifier in 2021 to two straight sixth-place finishes to the runner-up spot last season with his win percentage ticking up each season. Can new Oklahoma State coach David Taylor unlock another level to elevate Plott into another category?

Much like Plott, Munoz has been trending upward during his college career. He was an NCAA qualifier for Arizona State as a freshman, transferred to Oregon State and reached the round of 12 before placing sixth as a sophomore and third last season. He compiled a 51-7 record the past two seasons. 

Berge’s excellent freshman season ended with a fourth-place finish in Kansas City. He got upset in the opening-round of the national tournament and then reeled off six straight consolation wins before dropping a 9-7 decision against Munoz. His backside run began with an 11-0 major decision against Air Force’s Sam Wolf, who handed Berge a pair of losses at the Big 12 Championships. 

Stewart took over as Virginia Tech’s starter at 184 in January and took off after that. He won his final six matches of the regular season, won the ACC title and took a 10-match winning streak into the NCAA quarterfinals. Stewart was on the verge of reaching the semifinals, but Salazar rallied past him on a takedown with 12 ticks remaining. 

North Carolina State’s Dylan Fishback went 20-9 as a freshman and reached the bloodround in Kansas City. He wrestled Keckeisen to a closer margin than anyone last year when the eventual NCAA champ beat Fishback 5-2 in a December dual. 

Don’t lose track of Cornell’s Chris Foca or North Carolina’s Gavin Kane here. Both All-Americans fell short of the podium in Kansas City and they begin the year ranked outside the top 10 — Foca is 14th and Kane is 19th — but they’ve proven they’re plenty capable in the past. Foca placed third at the NCAA Championships in 2023 at 174 pounds and Kane placed eighth in 2023 at 184. 

Moving In 

Iowa has several 174-pound options with All-American Nelson Brands, Big Ten finalist Patrick Kennedy and decorated freshman Gabe Arnold each vying for the starting job. Somebody’s going to get squeezed out and will likely move up to 184. Brands and Arnold have both won big matches for the Hawkeyes at 184 and seem like more likely candidates to move up than Kennedy, who was Iowa’s starter two years ago at 165. Top freshman Angelo Ferrari is another option for the Hawkeyes at 184. 

Edmond Ruth is making the move up from 174, where he qualified for the national tournament twice, won a Big Ten title last season and reached the podium in Kansas City. His 26-4 junior season concluded with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships. 

Nebraska is shuffling its upperweight lineup with Lenny Pinto and Silas Allred both moving down a weight. Allred compiled a 51-15 record during the past two seasons at 197. He won a Big Ten title there in 2023. Now he’s cutting down to 184 to take the spot previously occupied by Pinto. 

Maryland’s Jaxon Smith is also moving down from 197, where he reached the NCAA round of 12 in 2023. 

Minnesota freshman Max McEnelly enters the mix at 184 after a 15-0 redshirt season that included a 23-6 technical fall win over 2024 bloodrounder Colton Hawks. McEnelly, who starts the season ranked 10th, also notched wins against NCAA qualifiers Aaron Ayzerov and Brian Soldano. 

Predictions 

Flowrestling's Jon Kozak's predictions on who will finish where on the 184-pound podium in March at the NCAA Championships:

1. Carter Starocci (Penn State)

2. Parker Keckeisen (Northern Iowa)

3. Dustin Plott (Oklahoma State)

4. Nelson Brands (Iowa)

5. T.J. Stewart (Virginia Tech)

6. Dylan Fishback (NC State)

7. Bennett Berge (South Dakota State)

8. Max McEnelly (Minnesota)