BEST OF THE UNRANKED: 125 lbs

 

The NCAA Division I championships are approximately two months away.  Still a lot of wrestling to be conducted between now and then, but with all that can change between now and then, one thing is likely to stay the same. 

There are only 33 slots per weight class & there are more than 33 wrestlers per weight class who are eligible to get them.  

If the NCAA DI championship were today, I can think of 10 wrestlers at 125 lbs who would finish between 34th & 43rd.  Meaning that there is talent at 125 lbs, that if they want to call themselves a 2026 NCAA DI qualifier, they're going to have to steal a spot. 

Who are those 10?  

Here you go....

Tyler Chappell
Pittsburgh

What he has going against him:  The sophomore Panther is in a conference that is most likely going to allot the top 5 to the NCAA DI championships.  4 of these 5 I can't see Chappell getting past.  Eddie Ventresca & Vincent Robinson, both NCAA DI title contenders are certainly out of the question.  I think Nico Provo & Kysen Terukina are going to be awfully hard to knock off as well. 

What he has going for him:  He's already shown that he can win some big matches. Has 6-5 victories over both Desi Pleasant & Koda Holeman.  Within the ACC, his best shot at qualification would be if he can knock off Keyveon Roller, in what will most likely be the 5th place match at the conference tournament.  He took Roller into sudden victory the last the two met.  If he wants to make a trip to nationals, he's gonna have to turn that close loss into a win. 

Tucker Owens
Air Force

What he has going against him:  Still a lot of season left to make things happen, but so far the Falcon doesn't have any high profile wins.  Six more duals before the BIG 12 championships, he cannot afford to lose any matches where he isn't supposed to lose or it is otherwise a toss-up.  As of right now he's in a BIG 12 bracket that should allot 8 & I see him being seeded *9 or *10. 

What he has going for him:  He's made the dance before.  An NCAA DI qualifier in 2023, he gave Conrad Hendrickson one hell of a good match, before ultimately losing in sudden victory to the Sooner.  Hendrickson may very well be who he would have to go through in order to secure his second qualification. 

Bridger Ricks
Utah Valley

What he has going against him:  At the moment inconsistency & a losing record.  Both of those could be yesterday's news when we reevaluate him in about 6 weeks before the BIG 12 tournament.  Matter of fact both of those will have to be yesterday's news when we reevaluate him before the BIG 12's, if he wants to head to Cleveland, Ohio as a participant. 

What he has going for him:  He's a bright lights wrestler.  An NJCAA standout for Western Wyoming, the guy is going to bring his best efforts in Tulsa.  As said before, I see the BIG 12 having 8 allocations, and Ricks, like Owens is going to have to pull off some upsets to get them.  May have to go through Owens himself to even get to that point.  Owens owns a s.v. over Ricks.   Can Ricks pull it off?  An 11-8 s.v. over Nicolar Rivera says that yes, he can. 

Logan Brzozowski
Havard

What he has going against him: A losing record. 


What he has going for him: Probably wishful thinking here, but I'll give Logan Brzozowski a fighter's chance.  I say the Ivy League takes three at 125 lbs.  The Crimson isn't overcoming Marc-Anthony McGowan or Greg Diakomihalis.  I do not see that happening.  What will have to happen is that he'll have to find himself in the consolation semi-finals & he's going to have to overcome Davis Motyka.  The odds not in his favor, but not completely out of the question either.  He'll wrestle Motyka in a dual shortly before the Ivy's on Feb 1st.  We'll really know the probability after that meeting. 

Kael Lauridsen 
Nebraska

What he has going against him: The BIG 10 is freaking loaded this year.  I think the conference easily takes the top 10 finishers here & it'll be a chore for the Husker to finish among the 10 of the BIG 10. What has hurt Lauridsen the most this season, is that I don't think he was ready for the DI grind. He's a kid that is used to winning and I think the disappointment of loss has gotten to the freshman.  Winning is a habit, as the late Vince Lombardi would say, unfortunately so is losing.  

What he has going for him: The coaching staff at Nebraska has a great track record of getting in their guys' heads and we still have plenty of season for Manning & staff to get inside his.  Penn State already has their teeth & their claws sunk into the gold of both the BIG 10 & the NCAA DI, but silver, bronze & fourth are still a battle between Oklahoma State, Iowa, Iowa State & Nebraska.  Each team needs as much firepower as possible & Lauridsen is well aware of this.  Thus far this year, despite his downs, ups are an 8-5 win over Desi Pleasant & a 4-1 s.v. over Soldier Salute champion Mack Mauger. 

Richard Castro-Sandoval
Cal State Bakersfield

What he has going against him: The Road Runner is not at all having the season I thought he would be having.  He's lost a lot of matches this year & some of them have been rather ugly.  I thought he'd have a good feud with Koda Holeman, but Holeman tore him apart 11-3 when they met earlier this year. 

What he has going for him: The guy is unpredictable & absolutely nuts on the mat.  Especially when something like qualification is on the line.  No one thought he was going to qualify last year & he stuck Koda Holeman at the 2:20 mark last year to go.   He's gonna have to make the PAC-12 finals & I don't see him upsetting Max Renteria, so it'd have to be an upset over Holeman again.   It's a funny pressure when you think about it.  A huge pressure on RCS, knowing he has to upset Holeman & a huge pressure on Holeman, knowing that he can't get upset by RCS.  Not fun for them, but exciting and fun for us. 

What they have going against them: I see the EIWA only taking the finalist when allotments come out.  Furthermore, none of the four of these guys are taking out Sheldon Seymour.  What does that mean?  It means that not only does one of these four have to deal with the other three, but they also have to take out Desi Pleasant at some point too.   The EIWA will be the toughest conference to steal a spot. 

What they have going for them:  These four will be a tight, hard fought battle for the EIWA bronze medal at the EIWA championships & whoever among them is within that category is going to have to step it up a notch even further to challenge for the EIWA silver. Why?  cause in this case bronze isn't gonna cut it, you want a trip to Cleveland, it's going to have to be silver. 

J.J. Peace has both a 7-4 decision over Charlie Farmer & an 8-4 decision over Carson Wagner

Andrew Binni has a 9-4 decision over Farmer & a 9-1 major over Peace

Farmer, an NCAA DI qualifier last year, owns an 8-6 decision over Wagner. 


=== 

The thing that really rubs me the wrong way here is that I honestly believe, and for good reason, that any of the 10 wrestlers I mentioned could easily win the SOCON title this year.  The SOCON to be quite frank is extremely weak at 125 lbs.  Strong in some other weight classes, but extraordinarily weak here.  Which means that someone who really shouldn't be top 33 will be.  That's how it is though & a part of the problem that remains no matter how often we try and find the solution. 


Two months left of wrestling, but as of right now these are the 10 guys NCAA DI 125 lbs, who are going to have to steal a spot if they want into the NCAA DI championships.