University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, March 21
Philadelphia, PA
11:00 AM
University of Minnesota
at
NCAA Championships - Sessions III
Players Mentioned
157 lbs.
/ Wrestling
125 lbs.
/ Wrestling
184 lbs.
/ Wrestling
184 lbs.
/ Wrestling
174 lbs.
/ Wrestling
285 lbs.
/ Wrestling
141 lbs.
/ Wrestling
133 lbs.
/ Wrestling
174 lbs.
/ Wrestling
Photo by: Brad Rempel
McEnelly, Steveson March into Semifinals
3/21/2025 4:18:00 PM | Wrestling
PHILADELPHIA – Minnesota's Max McEnelly and Gable Steveson are both into the semifinals, and Vance VomBaur and Tommy Askey are bound for the Blood Round, as Session III of the 2025 NCAA Championships concluded Friday afternoon in Philadelphia.
McEnelly and Steveson each claimed All-America honors for their performances. While the honor is the first for McEnelly, a redshirt freshman, Steveson becomes the first in Gophers' history to become a five-time All-American.
VomBaur and Askey can join them if they can prevail Friday night. It was last year in the Blood Round where VomBaur won his match to become an All-American for the first time, while Askey reached the session but did not record a win.
Session IV gets underway Friday night at 7 p.m. CT. ESPN2 will have the television coverage, while ESPN+ will have mat-specific streams.
In the team standings, Minnesota is in seventh place with 35.5 points, just 1.5 points back of Ohio State (37.0) for sixth and 2.0 behind Northern Iowa (37.5) for fifth. Penn State leads the team race with 90.5 points, followed by Nebraska (65.5) and Oklahoma State (63.0).
McEnelly punched his ticket to the 184-pound semifinals by taking down the No. 6 seed from Cornell, Chris Foca, who entered the match with a 21-1 record. McEnelly scored first but a short-time takedown at the end of the first period put Foca ahead 4-3. Foca escaped to move ahead 5-3 but a quick takedown from McEnelly put him on top 6-5, while another escape sent the match to the third period even at 6-6. McEnelly started on bottom in the final period and escaped before a takedown with 45 seconds left sealed the victory.
In the semifinals, McEnelly will take on No. 2 Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa, a five-time All-American and the defending national champion at the weight.
Steveson's semifinal matchup was a rematch from the 2022 heavyweight national title bout with Arizona State's Cohlton Schultz. The top seed, Steveson dispatched the ninth-seeded Schultz by tech fall, 20-5, at the 6:23 mark. Steveson had two takedowns in each period en route to move to 17-0 on the year and 102-2 in his career. In his eight wins over top-10 opponents this year, Steveson has two pins, two tech falls, two major decisions and one win by disqualification.
Steveson's semifinal matchup will come against No. 4 Owen Trephan of Lehigh.
In another quarterfinals match at 141 pounds, No. 6 Vance VomBaur was defeated by No. 3 Jesse Mendez of Ohio State in a 17-5 major decision. With the loss, VomBaur moves to the Blood Round Friday night against Rutgers' No. 15 Joseph Olivieri. The two met earlier this season in MInneapolis with VomBaur winning in a 12-5 decision.
Askey won both of his matches at 157 pounds in Session III to earn his spot in the Blood Round. The No. 9 seed, Askey opened with a tiebreaker win over No. 10 Ethen Miller of Maryland. The match was tied 1-1 and Askey won thanks to a 30-second advantage in riding time. In the third round of consolations, Askey was paired up against No. 16 Cody Chittum of Iowa State. Askey got a first-period takedown and took a 3-2 lead into the third period. Askey escaped to lead 4-2 and gave one point back on stalling, but held off Chittum for the win.
In the Blood Round, Askey will match up with No. 11 Matty Bianchi of Little Rock.
Four Gophers saw their championship runs come to an end Friday in Session III.
In his opening match, No. 19 Cooper Flynn outlasted No. 13 Marc-Anthony McGowan of Princeton, 2-1, at 125 pounds. Both registered escapes but a strong ride in the third period gave Flynn the point for riding time. In his next match, Flynn led 3-1 going into the third period but lost to No. 22 Trever Anderson of Northern Iowa, 4-3.
At 133, No. 22 Tyler Wells recorded an upset with an overtime win over No. 5 Dominick Serrano of Northern Colorado in the second round consolation bracket. Both got escapes to send the match to overtime and right off the whistle in the extra session Wells took down Serrano for the win. Wells' next match was a 1-0 loss to No. 13 Tyler Knox of Stanford as a second-period escape was the difference.
At 165 pounds, Andrew Sparks was defeated by No. 25 Nick Hamilton of Virginia in the second round of the consolations, 4-2, while No. 28 Clayton Whiting fell in his 174-pound match with No. 6 Brevin Cassaella of Binghamton, 8-0.
Minnesota Results through Session III
125 Pounds
First Round: #14 Spence Moore (North Carolina) dec. #19 Cooper Flynn, 2-0
Consolation - R1: #19 Cooper Flynn fall #33 Caleb Weiand (Michigan State), 2:48
Consolation - R2: #19 Cooper Flynn dec. #13 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton), 2-1
Consolation - R3: #22 Trevor Anderson (Northern Iowa) dec. #19 Cooper Flynn, 4-3
133 Pounds
First Round: #11 Evan Frost (Iowa State) dec. #22 Tyler Wells, 2-0
Consolation - R1: #22 Tyler Wells dec. #27 Ethan Berginc (Army), 5-1
Consolation - R2: #22 Tyler Wells dec. #5 Dominick Serrano (Northern Colorado), 4-1 SV1
Consolation - R3: #13 Tyler Knox (Stanford) dec. #22 Tyler Wells, 1-0
141 Pounds
First Round: #6 Vance VomBaur dec. #27 Greyson Clark (Purdue), 2-0
Round of 16: #6 Vance VomBaur dec. #11 Dylan Cedeno (Virginia), 4-0
Quarterfinals: #3 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) MD #6 Vance VomBaur, 17-5
157 Pounds
First Round: #9 Tommy Askey dec. #24 Dylan Evans (Pitt), 7-2
Round of 16: #8 Joey Blaze (Purdue) dec. #9 Tommy Askey, 2-2 TB2
Consolation - R2: #9 Tommy Askey dec. #10 Ethen Miller (Maryland), 1-1 TB2
Consolation - R3: #9 Tommy Askey dec. #16 Cody Chittum (Iowa State), 4-3
165 Pounds
First Round: #10 Andrew Sparks dec. #23 Thomas Snipes (The Citadel), 4-2
Round of 16: #7 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) MD #10 Andrew Sparks, 14-4
Consolation - R2: #25 Nick Hamilton (Virginia) dec. #10 Andrew Sparks, 4-2
174 Pounds
First Round: #5 Simon Ruiz (Cornell) TF #28 Clayton Whiting, 17-2 (7:00)
Consolation - R1: #28 Clayton Whiting dec. #12 Myles Takats (Bucknell), 11-9
Consolation - R2: #6 Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) MD #28 Clayton Whiting, 8-0
184 Pounds
First Round: #3 Max McEnelly TF #30 Colin Fegley (Lock Haven), 19-4 (3:52)
Round of 16: #3 Max McEnelly MD #14 DJ Parker (Oklahoma), 11-3
Quarterfinals: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #6 Chris Foca (Cornell), 10-7
197 Pounds
First Round: #23 Seth Shumate (Ohio State) fall #10 Isaiah Salazar, 4:12
Consolation - R1: #7 Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa) dec. #10 Isaiah Salazar, 4-1 SV1
Heavyweight
First Round: #1 Gable Steveson fall #33 Hayden Filipovich (Purdue), 1:25
Round of 16: #1 Gable Steveson DQ #16 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers)
Quarterfinals: #1 Gable Steveson TF #9 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State), 20-5 (6:23)
McEnelly and Steveson each claimed All-America honors for their performances. While the honor is the first for McEnelly, a redshirt freshman, Steveson becomes the first in Gophers' history to become a five-time All-American.
VomBaur and Askey can join them if they can prevail Friday night. It was last year in the Blood Round where VomBaur won his match to become an All-American for the first time, while Askey reached the session but did not record a win.
Session IV gets underway Friday night at 7 p.m. CT. ESPN2 will have the television coverage, while ESPN+ will have mat-specific streams.
In the team standings, Minnesota is in seventh place with 35.5 points, just 1.5 points back of Ohio State (37.0) for sixth and 2.0 behind Northern Iowa (37.5) for fifth. Penn State leads the team race with 90.5 points, followed by Nebraska (65.5) and Oklahoma State (63.0).
McEnelly punched his ticket to the 184-pound semifinals by taking down the No. 6 seed from Cornell, Chris Foca, who entered the match with a 21-1 record. McEnelly scored first but a short-time takedown at the end of the first period put Foca ahead 4-3. Foca escaped to move ahead 5-3 but a quick takedown from McEnelly put him on top 6-5, while another escape sent the match to the third period even at 6-6. McEnelly started on bottom in the final period and escaped before a takedown with 45 seconds left sealed the victory.
In the semifinals, McEnelly will take on No. 2 Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa, a five-time All-American and the defending national champion at the weight.
Steveson's semifinal matchup was a rematch from the 2022 heavyweight national title bout with Arizona State's Cohlton Schultz. The top seed, Steveson dispatched the ninth-seeded Schultz by tech fall, 20-5, at the 6:23 mark. Steveson had two takedowns in each period en route to move to 17-0 on the year and 102-2 in his career. In his eight wins over top-10 opponents this year, Steveson has two pins, two tech falls, two major decisions and one win by disqualification.
Steveson's semifinal matchup will come against No. 4 Owen Trephan of Lehigh.
In another quarterfinals match at 141 pounds, No. 6 Vance VomBaur was defeated by No. 3 Jesse Mendez of Ohio State in a 17-5 major decision. With the loss, VomBaur moves to the Blood Round Friday night against Rutgers' No. 15 Joseph Olivieri. The two met earlier this season in MInneapolis with VomBaur winning in a 12-5 decision.
Askey won both of his matches at 157 pounds in Session III to earn his spot in the Blood Round. The No. 9 seed, Askey opened with a tiebreaker win over No. 10 Ethen Miller of Maryland. The match was tied 1-1 and Askey won thanks to a 30-second advantage in riding time. In the third round of consolations, Askey was paired up against No. 16 Cody Chittum of Iowa State. Askey got a first-period takedown and took a 3-2 lead into the third period. Askey escaped to lead 4-2 and gave one point back on stalling, but held off Chittum for the win.
In the Blood Round, Askey will match up with No. 11 Matty Bianchi of Little Rock.
Four Gophers saw their championship runs come to an end Friday in Session III.
In his opening match, No. 19 Cooper Flynn outlasted No. 13 Marc-Anthony McGowan of Princeton, 2-1, at 125 pounds. Both registered escapes but a strong ride in the third period gave Flynn the point for riding time. In his next match, Flynn led 3-1 going into the third period but lost to No. 22 Trever Anderson of Northern Iowa, 4-3.
At 133, No. 22 Tyler Wells recorded an upset with an overtime win over No. 5 Dominick Serrano of Northern Colorado in the second round consolation bracket. Both got escapes to send the match to overtime and right off the whistle in the extra session Wells took down Serrano for the win. Wells' next match was a 1-0 loss to No. 13 Tyler Knox of Stanford as a second-period escape was the difference.
At 165 pounds, Andrew Sparks was defeated by No. 25 Nick Hamilton of Virginia in the second round of the consolations, 4-2, while No. 28 Clayton Whiting fell in his 174-pound match with No. 6 Brevin Cassaella of Binghamton, 8-0.
Minnesota Results through Session III
125 Pounds
First Round: #14 Spence Moore (North Carolina) dec. #19 Cooper Flynn, 2-0
Consolation - R1: #19 Cooper Flynn fall #33 Caleb Weiand (Michigan State), 2:48
Consolation - R2: #19 Cooper Flynn dec. #13 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton), 2-1
Consolation - R3: #22 Trevor Anderson (Northern Iowa) dec. #19 Cooper Flynn, 4-3
133 Pounds
First Round: #11 Evan Frost (Iowa State) dec. #22 Tyler Wells, 2-0
Consolation - R1: #22 Tyler Wells dec. #27 Ethan Berginc (Army), 5-1
Consolation - R2: #22 Tyler Wells dec. #5 Dominick Serrano (Northern Colorado), 4-1 SV1
Consolation - R3: #13 Tyler Knox (Stanford) dec. #22 Tyler Wells, 1-0
141 Pounds
First Round: #6 Vance VomBaur dec. #27 Greyson Clark (Purdue), 2-0
Round of 16: #6 Vance VomBaur dec. #11 Dylan Cedeno (Virginia), 4-0
Quarterfinals: #3 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) MD #6 Vance VomBaur, 17-5
157 Pounds
First Round: #9 Tommy Askey dec. #24 Dylan Evans (Pitt), 7-2
Round of 16: #8 Joey Blaze (Purdue) dec. #9 Tommy Askey, 2-2 TB2
Consolation - R2: #9 Tommy Askey dec. #10 Ethen Miller (Maryland), 1-1 TB2
Consolation - R3: #9 Tommy Askey dec. #16 Cody Chittum (Iowa State), 4-3
165 Pounds
First Round: #10 Andrew Sparks dec. #23 Thomas Snipes (The Citadel), 4-2
Round of 16: #7 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) MD #10 Andrew Sparks, 14-4
Consolation - R2: #25 Nick Hamilton (Virginia) dec. #10 Andrew Sparks, 4-2
174 Pounds
First Round: #5 Simon Ruiz (Cornell) TF #28 Clayton Whiting, 17-2 (7:00)
Consolation - R1: #28 Clayton Whiting dec. #12 Myles Takats (Bucknell), 11-9
Consolation - R2: #6 Brevin Cassella (Binghamton) MD #28 Clayton Whiting, 8-0
184 Pounds
First Round: #3 Max McEnelly TF #30 Colin Fegley (Lock Haven), 19-4 (3:52)
Round of 16: #3 Max McEnelly MD #14 DJ Parker (Oklahoma), 11-3
Quarterfinals: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #6 Chris Foca (Cornell), 10-7
197 Pounds
First Round: #23 Seth Shumate (Ohio State) fall #10 Isaiah Salazar, 4:12
Consolation - R1: #7 Wyatt Voelker (Northern Iowa) dec. #10 Isaiah Salazar, 4-1 SV1
Heavyweight
First Round: #1 Gable Steveson fall #33 Hayden Filipovich (Purdue), 1:25
Round of 16: #1 Gable Steveson DQ #16 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Rutgers)
Quarterfinals: #1 Gable Steveson TF #9 Cohlton Schultz (Arizona State), 20-5 (6:23)
Gopher Wrestling Tries Gymnastics
Thursday, May 29
Steveson Advances to NCAA Title Match
Friday, March 21
Gable Steveson: NCAA Quarterfinals
Friday, March 21
Gable Steveson: NCAA Pin
Thursday, March 20