2026 NCAA Wrestling Championship Preview & Predictions – 125 Pounds
For the final a number of years, 125 lbs has turn out to be often called essentially the most chaotic weight in all of NCAA wrestling. This 12 months’s outcomes had been comparatively predictable, by 125 lbs requirements, however now we’ve got an NCAA bracket that appears poised to create all types of mayhem.
Six of final 12 months’s All-Americans are on this bracket, and 5 of them are on the highest facet. Four of these All-Americans, together with three of the 4 semifinalists and each finalists, are in the identical quarter. Between NCAA champ Vincent Robinson, runner-up Troy Spratley, sixth-place finisher Sheldon Seymour, and eighth-place finisher Stevo Poulin, just one can attain the semifinals.
There’s lots to interrupt down on the nation’s lightest weight. Here’s what it is advisable know.
2026 NCAA Division 1 Rankings – 125 lbs
Interactive Brackets on FloWrestling
2025 All-Americans
1st Place – Vincent Robinson, NC State
2nd Place – Troy Spratley, Oklahoma State
third Place – Luke Lilledahl, Penn State
4th Place – Matt Ramos, Purdue
fifth Place – Eddie Ventresca, Virginia Tech
sixth Place – Sheldon Seymour, Lehigh
seventh Place – Caleb Smith, Nebraska
eighth Place – Stevo Poulin, Northern Colorado
2026 Top 8 Seeds
1) Luke Lilledahl, Penn State
2) Eddie Ventresca, Virginia Tech
3) Nic Bouzakis, Ohio State
4) Sheldon Seymour, Lehigh
5) Troy Spratley, Oklahoma State
6) Jore Volk, Minnesota
7) Nico Provo, Stanford
8) Dean Peterson, Iowa
The Favorite
Luke Lilledahl, Penn State
After a third place end in his true freshman marketing campaign, Lilledahl has gone undefeated (aside from a loss to teammate Nate Desmond in November) and secured his second straight Big Ten title. He presently boasts a 61.9% bonus charge and has wins in his profession over the #2, #3, #4, #6, #7, and #8 seeds on this bracket. That resume earns him the excellence of being the clear favourite to carry house his first NCAA title in Cleveland.
Lilledahl hasn’t gone untested this season. Both Ohio State’s Nic Bouzakis and Minnesota’s Jore Volk have pressured additional time towards Lightning Luke, however Lilledahl secured match-successful takedowns in each contests.
Contenders
#2 Eddie Ventresca, Virginia Tech
#3 Sheldon Seymour, Lehigh
#4 Troy Spratley, Oklahoma State
#5 Nic Bouzakis, Ohio State
#6 Nico Provo, Stanford
#7 Vincent Robinson, NC State
#8 Jore Volk, Minnesota
Two-time All-American Eddie Ventresca took two losses to Minnesota’s Jore Volk on the National Duals Invitational however hasn’t misplaced since. He’s defeated each NCAA champ Vincent Robinson and ACC runner-up Nico Provo twice this season. He additionally took a sudden victory from Oklahoma State’s Troy Spratley in a twin final month and defeated Lehigh’s Sheldon Seymour at NCAAs final 12 months. Ventresca seems poised to succeed in the quarterfinals the place he could have to discover a third win over Provo. Potential semi-ultimate opponents for Ventresca embrace Volk, who has solved the Ventresca puzzle thus far, and #3 seed Bouzakis.
(*125*) Jore Volk scramble for the win over #2 seed Ventresca at National Duals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shorts
Stanford’s Provo earned his spot on the contender record by notching two victories this season towards NCAA champ Vincent Robinson. Should he attain the quarterfinals, he’ll have to discover a approach to get by Ventresca who has owned their collection this season.
Former 133-pounder Bouzakis wrestles with a degree of energy not often seen at 125 lbs. He put this 12 months’s discipline on discover early this season when he pinned Iowa’s Dean Peterson within the finals of the National Duals Invitational. His losses this 12 months have come towards teammate Brendan McCrone on the primary weekend of the season, to #1 seed Lilledahl in sudden victory, and by 8-1 choice towards Volk at Big Tens. He additionally owns a sudden victory over Volk from earlier this season.
Bouzakis’ National Duals Invitational PIN over Dean Peterson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shorts
The different three contenders, Seymour, Spratley, and Robinson, are all in the identical quarter of the bracket. Robinson and Spratley will really meet in an NCAA finals rematch in spherical two (assuming they survive their first spherical bouts). That quarter additionally consists of All-American Stevo Poulin. Whoever reaches the semi from that group can be battle examined for a probable showdown with #1 Lilledahl.
Spratley vs Robinson | 2025 National Duals Invitational
Sleepers & Landmines
#16 Ezekiel Witt, North Dakota State
#17 Jett Strickenberger, West Virginia
#21 Nicolar Rivera, Wisconsin
Two of the sleepers on this bracket, Witt and Strickenberger, will meet within the first spherical of the match with a possible spherical two match towards Lilledahl on the road. Both can be huge underdogs in that bout, however they’re harmful sufficient that they can not be ignored on the entrance or again facet of this bracket.
Strickenberger is a senior and a 3x NCAA qualifier who reached the blood spherical final season. He has a number of wins in his profession towards NCAA finalist Troy Spratley and has defeated different All-Americans like Zan Fugitt and Stevo Poulin. He’s undoubtedly able to turning this bracket on his head.
The downside for Strickenberger not too long ago has been North Dakota State freshman Ezekiel Witt who defeated him twice at Big 12s. Witt’s highest ranked victory on the season was a 7-2 choice towards #6 Nico Provo on the Journeymen Collegiate Duals. He additionally made noise in that occasion by securing the primary takedown in a match towards #1 Luke Lilledahl. He finally fell in that bout 6-5.
Early Matches to (*125*)
R32 – #16 Ezekiel Witt vs #17 Jett Strickenberger
Witt received this match twice at Big 12s. He ended their third place bout with a fall adopted by an emotional celebration. Expect each guys to indicate up able to scrap on Thursday morning.
R16 – #4 Troy Spratley vs #7 Vincent Robinson
This is an NCAA finals rematch that may go down within the second spherical of the match. Not a lot else must be stated about this one. All eyes in Cleveland can be on this spherical of 16 contest on Thursday night.
R16 – #3 Sheldon Seymour vs #10 Stevo Poulin
We’ll have one other showdown between All-Americans within the second spherical at 125 lbs. Both wrestlers earned their first All-American honors final season. These two have wrestled twice of their careers. Seymour received 9-6 earlier this season on the Journeymen Collegiate Duals, and Stevo received 4-2 again in 2022 on the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open.
Sheldon Seymour vs Stevo Poulin on the Journeymen Collegiate Duals
Predictions
1st – Luke Lilledahl, Penn State
2nd – Eddie Ventresca, Virginia Tech
third – Nic Bouzakis, Ohio State
4th – Troy Spratley, Oklahoma State
fifth – Jore Volk, Minnesota
sixth – Sheldon Seymour, Lehigh
seventh – Vincent Robinson, NC State
eighth – Dean Peterson, Iowa
R12 – Nicolar Rivera, Wisconsin
R12 – Jacob Moran, Indiana
R12 – Nico Provo, Stanford
R12 – Jett Strickenberger, West Virginia
Lilledahl and Ventresca have set themselves up properly by way of seeds. They seem to have essentially the most navigable paths to the endings. In my bracket, I picked Bouzakis to win the rubber match towards Volk which can show silly. If Volk wins that quarterfinal, Ventresca can have a troublesome matchup on his fingers as he is 0-2 towards Volk this season.
The wildest comfort match in my bracket is NCAA champ Vincent Robinson vs All-American Stevo Poulin within the again facet spherical of 16. Other pre-bloodround matches for me embrace Witt vs Rivera, Klinsky vs Moran, and McGowan vs Strickenberger. These predictions are positive to get blown up.
