NCAA Wrestling Weekend That Was: Iowa’s Stephen Buchanan wins NCAA title

Stephen Buchanan’s move to Iowa for his final season proved to be mutually beneficial. Five Hawkeyes earned All-American honors, Oklahoma State heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson pulls off major upset, Penn State wins again and more in the NCAA Wrestling Weekend That Was.

STEPHEN BUCHANAN CLAIMS 197-POUND TITLE

Stephen Buchanan came to Iowa to win a national title.

Iowa needed him to be the champion they believed he could be.

Buchanan and Iowa reaped the rewards of a mutually-beneficial relationship.

Buchanan dropped to his knees and extended his arms in celebration and relief, while his family cheered with members of the Hawkeye program after he defeated Penn State’s Josh Barr, 5-2, for the 197-pound title of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Buchanan is Iowa’s first 1997 champion, which was established as a weight class in 1998.

Buchanan won his first crown after three previous All-American seasons, including two third-place finishes where his title hopes were dashed before the finals.

“And you finally get on a new team,” said Buchanan, who wrestled at Wyoming and Oklahoma previously. “And you're placed around people who will pour into you, who teach you the little things that make the biggest differences. And you get on that stage and you use the things that they taught you to win, it means the world.

“I mean, the work that I put in, just the amount of time that people put into me, it means the world.”

Iowa Coach Tom Brands the success is a product of how Buchanan conducted his daily business..

“Awesome. I love it. I can’t say enough,” Brands said. “He’s a grateful guy, so I think he has the right perspective about it. The way it was done is a tribute to a champion.”

Brands described the portal process as “funny” because staff couldn’t recruit him and there was no official visit. The addition had to be the right fit for both parties. Buchanan grew thanks to the intricacies that Brands and his staff helped him improve.

“He processes things very well,” Brands said. “He actually put things into motion, he sees the results and then makes adjustments on his own.

“Very intelligent guy, in addition to being salt-of-the-earth guy.”

Buchanan admitted he didn’t really have a passion for wrestling. It was an external pursuit, competing because he was good. He experienced a change in the Iowa room. The motivation was more internal and it impacted his ability to clear that last hurdle.

“At Iowa, I began to start loving the sport,” Buchanan said. “And that changes everything about it.”

Buchanan defeated Barr, 5-1, in the regular-season dual. He found himself down 2-0 in the second period. Buchanan connected on a crucial takedown and ride out to end the second. He added an escape and riding time, but the takedown was the difference.

“I definitely knew I needed to get something,” Buchanan said. “Off the snap, he kind of fell into it. I have been working on the re-attack. He felt his hands; I was able to get the angle and finish the shot.

“Just comes from the practice partners back at home, the coaches and people that poured into me, like I said.”

Iowa has had 56 wrestlers combine to 86 total national titles. Buchanan was joined in the finals by 133-pounder Drake Ayala and Michael Caliendo at 165. Both had rematches of the Big Ten finals.

Ayala faced Illinois’ top-seeded Lucas Byrd in the rubber match between the two. Ayala won by decision in the regular season and Byrd won the conference title with a pin. Byrd scored a penalty point for stalling and an escape in the tiebreaker-1 period for a 3-2 decision.

Ayala is now a two-time NCAA runner-up with one more year remaining.

Caliendo faced Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink for the championship. Mesenbrink improved to 6-0 against Caliendo, winning the latest meeting, 8-2. Caliendo, a three-time All-American, made his first finals appearance and improved last year’s third-place finish.

Brands said neither loss defines Ayala nor Caliendo. They will take a break but the process may take more weeks and months than hours and days.

“You won’t stop thinking about it,” Brands said. “It takes a long time to get over. Both of them were tore up. You have to move forward and the steps you need to move forward in a way that allows you to be healthy at the same time.”

IOWA PRODUCES 5 ALL-AMERICANS

Five Hawkeyes earning All-American status. In addition to the three finalists, Patrick Kennedy and Ben Kueter earned their first All-American honor. Kennedy entered the tournament as the No. 11 seed at 174 and placed fourth. Kueter, the No. 5 seed, placed eighth in his redshirt freshman season.

The positive thing for Iowa is four of those All-Americans return next season. They also have NCAA qualifiers Joey Cruz (125) and Gabe Arnold (184) back.

Iowa has 332 All-Americans, including at least one for the last 54 straight tournaments, beginning in 1972. Iowa has had at least four All-Americans in each of the last 17 seasons of Brands’ 18-year tenure.

The Hawkeyes placed fourth with 81 points, earning a team trophy.

They claimed their 15 th team trophy in the last 17 NCAA Championships.

HENDRICKSON PULLS OFF BIG UPSET

Oklahoma State heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson produced one of the biggest upsets in history of the NCAA Championships. Hendrickson, a two-time All-American and four-time national qualifier at Air Force, is an active-duty second lieutenant, who was able to transfer to Stillwater, Okla., for his final season.

Hendrickson faced Minnesota’s Gable Steveson, who is an Olympic champion, two-time NCAA champion, three-time placewinner and two-time Hodge Trophy winner. Many consider Steveson one of the best heavyweights ever.

Steveson led most of the match, getting a takedown in the first for a 3-0 lead and an escape that made it 4-2 in the third. Hendrickson remained in striking distance shooting a couple attacks late, continuing with a high-crotch and cutting across to put Steveson on his hip for the go-ahead takedown with 18 seconds left. Hendrickson was able to rideout Steveson for the win, igniting the crowd. He was mobbed by his coaches as he lied on his back and before he jumped off the elevated mat to hug his family.

It could bee the biggest NCAA finals upset since Washington’s Larry Owings topped Iowa State’s Dan Gable in the 142-pound final in 1970.

UNI POSTS BEST TEAM FINISH UNDER SCHWAB

UNI earned its best finish under 15-year head coach Doug Schwab. The Panthers placed ninth with 45 1/2 points. The past best under Schwab was a tie for 13th in 2019.

The performance is also the best finish since UNI transitioned back to D-I from D-II for the 1980-81 season. The Panthers placed 10th in 1982, 1983 and 1992.

PENN STATE CONTINUES DOMINANCE

Penn State won its fourth straight team title, scoring a record 177 points. The Nittany Lions surpassed their old record of 172 1/2 points set last season. Penn State also became the second team in history to finish with 10 All-Americans, joining Minnesota’s 2001 team.

The Nittany Lions had two titlists in Mesenbrink and 184-pounder Carter Starocci, who beat University of Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen, 4-3, to become the first five-time NCAA D-I champion.

Penn State has won 12 of the last 15 national titles with the first also being in Philadelphia in 2011. The Nittany Lions have 13 overall, winning four straight three separate times (2011-14, 2016-2019 and 2022-25).

“Just really happy for our team, proud of them,” Penn State Coach and former Iowa State four-time NCAA champion Cael Sanderson said. “They went out here and really competed hard this weekend against, obviously, great competition. All 10 guys gave a great effort. Super proud of them. Happy for them.”

ATTENDANCE FOR THE 2025 CHAMPIONSHIPS

The tournament sold 109,995 tickets for the three-day, six-session event. The total is the sixth-highest in NCAA history.

The largest crowd was for Saturday night’s championship bouts. The announced attendance was 18,826. The tournament drew more than 18,000 each session.

Next year’s championships return to Cleveland, which still holds the attendance records for the placing round (19,267) and finals (19,776) set in 2018.

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