Buckeyes Send Four to Quarterfinals at NCAA Championships

Thursday, March 20

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Noon/7 p.m.

Ohio State

2025 NCAA Championships - Sessions 1/2

Photo by: Ohio State Athletics

Buckeyes Send Four to Quarterfinals at NCAA Championships

3/20/2025 10:55:00 PM | Wrestling

Photo Gallery

Seven remain in contention for Top 3 finishes

Brackets

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State will have four Buckeyes wrestling at the 2025 NCAA Quarterfinals Friday with three others in contention for third-place finishes when action resumes Friday at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Nic Bouzakis (133), Jesse Mendez (141), Dylan D'Emilio (149) and Seth Shumate (197) all went 2-0 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals.

Brendan McCrone (125), Brandon Cannon (157) and Nick Feldman (HWT) split their matches and will wrestle through the consolation bracket for a chance to finish as high as third in their respective brackets.

As a team, Ohio State is tied for fourth after the first day of competition with 18 points.

2025 NCAA WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
(all times Eastern and subject to change)
Day        Date           Time (ET)   Network
Session 3 - Championship QF Round   Friday   March 21   Noon             ESPNU/ESPN+
       + Consolations
Session 4 - Championship SF Round   Friday   March 21   8 p.m.             ESPN2/ESPN+
       + Blood Round
Session 5 - Medal Round                      Saturday   March 22   11 a.m         ESPNU/ESPN+
Session 6 - Championship Finals          Saturday   March 22   7 p.m.           ESPN/ESPN+

Session Il

No. 7 Nic Bouzakis (133) earned his second win of the day with a 9-4 win by decision over No. 23 Sean Spidle of Central Michigan to advance to the round of eight in the championship bracket.

No. 3 seed Jesse Mendez (141) faced No. 14 Sergio Lemley of Michigan in the second round of the day. Mendez knocked off the Wolverine for the second time this season with an 11-2 win by major decision. Mendez will wrestle in the round of eight on the championship side of the bracket Friday.

No. 13 Dylan D'Emilio (OSU) also advanced to the quarterfinals with an 8-5 win by decision over No. 29 Jack Gioffre of Virginia for his second win of the day. Earlier, D'Emilio earned career win No. 100 with a 5-1 win over No. 20 Koy Buesgens of N.C. State in the first round.

No. 5 Brandon Cannon (157) battled to overtime in his second-round match with No. 12 Caleb Fisk of Oklahoma State but fell 10-7. Cannon was awarded a reversal and then two-point nearfall in the third period for a 9-6 lead but had the nearfall points removed after review. Fisk then tied the match at 7-all to send it to overtime.

No. 23 Seth Shumate (197) continued his run to the quarterfinals with an 11-6 win by decision over No. 26 Brock Zurawaki of Rider. He scored the upset of the day for the Buckeyes in the first round with a pin against No. 10 Isaiah Salazar of Minnesota.

No. 12 Nick Feldman (HWT) dropped his second-round match to No. 5 Ben Kueter of Iowa by decision, 8-2. Feldman will battle for a chance for third in the consolation bracket.

No. 20 Brendan McCrone (125) remained alive in the consolation bracket with a 12-4 major decision win over No. 29 Joey Cruz of Iowa. McCrone defeated Cruz to qualify for the NCAA championships at the Big Ten tournament earlier this month.

In the consolation bracket, No. 26 Paddy Gallagher (165) took No. 23 Thomas Snipes of the Citadel to overtime after a 1-all tied in regulation. There was no score in the first overtime sending the bout to tiebreakers. Gallagher went up 2-1 with a quick escape. Snipes tied it at 2-all in TB-2 and won with credit for riding time.

No. 9 Carson Kharchla (174) also went to overtime in the consolation bracket with No. 8 Lenny Pinto of Nebraska after the match was tied at 7-all in regulation. Pinto then got the winning takedown with two back points in the extra period for a 12-7 win by decision.

No. 26 Ryder Rogotzke (184) dropped his consolation match to No. 23 Aiden Brenot of North Dakota State by decision, 13-7.

Session I
Seth Shumate highlighted the opening session of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships for the Buckeyes with an upset in the 197-pound bracket. As the No. 23 seed, Shumate earned a pin over No. 10 Isaiah Salazar of Minnesota in the second period (4:12).

Earlier, at 133, No. 7 Nic Bouzakis earned Ohio State's first win of the championships with a pin against No. 26 Kai Orine of North Carolina State at 2:12 of the opening period.

Ohio State also got wins from defending national champion Jesse Mendez at 141, graduate senior Dylan D'Emilio (149), redshirt freshman Brandon Cannon (157) and heavyweight Nick Feldman (HWT).

The Buckeyes were tied with Nebraska in the team standings in the No. 4 spot with 11. 5 points after Session I.

2025 Ohio State NCAA Qualifiers
Wt | InterMat Rk./2024 NCAA seed/Name (Yr.)/2024-25 Record/At NCAA Championships

125 | No. 18/20-seed - Brendan McCrone (R-So.)/23-10/2nd Appearance
   NCAA History (Rcd.: 2-3): 2024 (29-seed/1-2): 2025 (20-seed/1-1)
(13) Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton) def. (20) Brendan McCrone (OSU) | D, 4-3
(20) Brendan McCrone (OSU) def. (29) Joey Cruz (Iowa) | MD, 12-4
(20) Brendan McCrone (OSU) vs. (14) Spencer Moore (UNC)

133 | No. 7/7-seed - Nic Bouzakis (R-So.)/24-7/2nd Appearance
   NCAA History (Rcd.: 3-2): 2024 (16-seed/2-2): 2025 (7-seed/2-0)
(7) Nic Bouzakis (OSU) def. (26) Kai Orine (NCST) | Fall, 2:12
(7) Nic Bouzakis (OSU) def. (23) Sean Spidle (CMU) | D, 9-5
(7) Nic Bouzakis (OSU) vs. (2) Drake Ayala (Iowa)

141 | No. 3/3-seed - Jesse Mendez (Jr.)/27-3/3rd Appearance
   NCAA History (Rcd.: 12-3): 2023 (14-seed/5-3/6th), 2024 (1-seed/5-0/1st): 2025 (3-seed/2-0)
(3) Jesse Mendez (OSU) def. (30) Briar Priest (PITT) | TF, 21-5
(3) Jesse Mendez (OSU) def. (14) Sergio Lemley (MICH) | MD, 11-2
(3) Jesse Mendez (OSU) vs. (6) Vance VomBaur (MINN)

149 | No. 10/13-seed - Dylan D'Emilio (R-Sr.)/23-5/5th Appearance
   NCAA History (Rcd.: 12-9): 2021 (30-seed/2-2), 2022 (17-seed/1-2),
   2023 (17-seed/4-3/8th), 2024 (14-seed/3-2): 2025 (13-seed/2-0)
(13) Dylan D'Emilio (OSU) def. (20) Koy Buesgens (NCST) | D, 5-1 (NOTE: Career win No. 100)
(13) Dylan D'Emilio (OSU) def. (29) Jack Gioffre (UVA) | D, 8-5
(13) Dylan D'Emilio (OSU) vs. (12) Ethan Stiles (ORST)

157 | No. 3/5-seed - Brandon Cannon (R-Fr.)/22-4/1st Appearance
   NCAA History (Rcd.: 1-1): 2025 (5-seed/1-1)
(5) Brandon Cannon (OSU) def. (28) Christopher Hamblin (ORST) | D, 9-5
(12) Caleb Fisk (OKST) def. (5) Brandon Cannon (OSU) | D, 10-7 SV-1
(5) Brandon Cannon (OSU) vs. No. 22 Ed Scott (NCST)

165 | No. 11/26-seed - Paddy Gallagher (R-Jr.)/17-9/2nd Appearance
   NCAA History (Rcd.: 2-4); 2023 (28-seed/2-2), 2025 (26-seed/0-2)
(7) Hunter Garvin (STAN) def. (26) Paddy Gallagher (OSU) | D, 7-1
(23) Thomas Snipes (CIT) def. (26) Paddy Gallagher (OSU) | 2-2, TB-2 (RT)

174 | No. 6/9-seed - Carson Kharchla (Gr.)/14-5/3rd Appearance
   NCAA History (Rcd.: 6-7): 2022 (7-seed/4-3/7th), 2023 (10-seed/2-2), 2025 (9-seed/0-2)
(24) Lennox Wolak (VT) def. (9) Carson Kharchla (OSU) | D, 4-2
(8) Lenny Pinto (NEB) def. (9) Carson Kharchla (OSU) | D, 12-7 SV-1

184 | No. 19/26-seed - Ryder Rogotzke (So.)/10-11/2nd Appearance
   NCAA History (Rcd.: 1-4): 2024 (18-seed/1-2), 2025 (26-seed/0-2)
(7) Isaac Dean (Rider) def. (26) Ryder Rogotzke (OSU) | D, 7-3
(26) Ryder Rogotzke (OSU) v (23) Aiden Brenot (NDST)

197 | No. 20/23-seed - Seth Shumate (R-Sr.)/20-13/1st Appearance
   NCAA History (Rcd.: 2-0): 2025 (23-seed/2-0)
(23) Seth Shumate (OSU) def. (10) Isaiah Salazar (MINN) | Fall, 4:12
(23) Seth Shumate (OSU) def. (26) Brock Zurawaki (Rider) | D, 11-6
(23) Seth Shumate (OSU) vs. Stephen Buchanan (IOWA)

HWT | No. 9/12-seed - Nick Feldman (R-So.)/18-9/2nd Appearance
   NCAA History (Rcd.: 6-3): 2024 (5-2/9-seed/5th), 2025 (12-seed/1-1)
(12) Nick Feldman (OSU) def. (21) Jason Bullock (IND) | D, 4-2
(5) Ben Kueter (Iowa) def. (12) Nick Feldman (OSU) | D, 8-2
(12) Nick Feldman (OSU) vs. (11) Jimmy Mullen (VT)

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