Five Sooners Primed for NCAA Wrestling Championships

NORMAN — Oklahoma wrestling heads to Philadelphia for the 2025 NCAA Championship on March 20-22. Head coach Roger Kish brings five qualified wrestlers to the tournament in his second season with the Sooners after coaching at Big 12 affiliate North Dakota State from 2012-2023. Kish's team aims to improve on its 23rd-place finish at the 2024 Championship, the program's highest NCAA finish since it placed 13th in 2016.

The national tournament will be held at the Wells Fargo Center in downtown Philadelphia. Each match of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships will be broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN+. This is the 95th team championship for the sport and the first in Philadelphia since 2011.

HOW WE GOT HERE

Antonio Lorenzo (125), Mosha Schwartz (141), Willie McDougald (149), Gaven Sax (174) and DJ Parker (184) will all represent OU at the tournament.

Four wrestlers earned automatic bids by virtue of their finishes at the 2025 Big 12 Wrestling Championship. Lorenzo and Sax took fourth in their weight classes while Parker (fifth place) and Schwartz (seventh place) both secured berths with their finishes.

McDougald was one of 43 at-large selections for the tournament. The senior will make his third NCAA tournament appearance, heading to Philadelphia with a team-leading 20-6 record as the Big 12's fifth-place finisher at 149 pounds.

The five Sooner qualifiers match the most in the Kish era, with five making the trip to the national tournament last season. The wrestlers have combined for 14 NCAA Championship qualifications.

Schwartz leads the pack with four qualifications. Lorenzo and McDougald are making their third NCAA Championships appearance, while Sax and Parker are set for their second.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Thursday, March 20 (times in central)
Session 1: Pigtails & First Round - 11 a.m. (ESPNU)
Session 2: Second Round & Consolation First Round - 6:00 p.m. (ESPN)

Friday, March 21
Session 3: Quarterfinals & Consolation Second & Third Rounds - 11 a.m. (ESPNU)
Session 4: Semifinals & Consolation Fourth & Fifth Rounds - 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Saturday, March 22
Session 5: Consolation Semifinals & Placing Matches - 10 a.m. (ESPNU)
Session 6: Finals - 6 p.m. (ESPN)

SEEDINGS AND OPENING MATCHUPS

125: No. 21 Antonio Lorenzo vs. No. 12 Dean Peterson (Rutgers)
141: No. 19 Mosha Schwartz vs. No. 14 Sergio Lemley (Michigan)
149: No. 21 Willie McDougald vs. No. 12 Ethan Stiles (Oregon State)
174: No. 18 Gaven Sax vs. No. 15 Luca Augustine (Pittsburgh)
184: No. 14 DJ Parker vs. No. 19 Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming)

CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE

Since the inception of collegiate wrestling in 1928, Oklahoma has been one of the most dominant wrestling programs in the country. The Sooners have seven team national titles, 67 individual national champions and 278 All-Americans.

In addition to the Sooners' seven national championships, Oklahoma has finished as runner-up at NCAAs 12 times, third most in the country. The Sooners' 40 finishes inside the top four are the fourth-most nationally and OU has grabbed a top-10 spot at NCAAs 64 times (third most) out of 96 championships held.

The NCAA named Oklahoma the fourth-greatest wrestling dynasty in the country in the summer of 2020.

Oklahoma has collected 24 overall conference championships and 186 individual conference champions in school history. The team's most recent conference championship came in 2021, their first in 19 years.

OU assistant coach Teyon Ware was a four-time All American wrestler for the Sooners from 2003-2006.

For updates, follow @OU_Wrestling on Twitter, or like Oklahoma Wrestling on Facebook.