The 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships concluded this past Saturday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The field was comprised of 330 competitors. When the dust settled, 80 wrestlers became All-Americans and 10 NCAA champions were crowned. Penn State claimed its 10th national team title over the past 12 seasons. So where did the 2023 NCAA Division I national qualifiers, NCAA All-Americans, NCAA finalists and NCAA champions come from?
Let's look at the data.
NCAA Division I national qualifiers
Pennsylvania led the way with 46 NCAA Division I national qualifiers, which is nearly 14% of the tournament field. The Keystone State has at last two NCAA qualifiers in all 10 weight classes, including eight NCAA qualifiers at both 149 pounds and 197 pounds. Illinois sat comfortably in second with 33 NCAA qualifiers, including five at three different weight classes (157, 165 and 197). New Jersey and Ohio tied for third with 23 NCAA qualifiers each. New Jersey qualified four wrestlers at 125 pounds, 133 pounds and 174 pounds. Ohio qualified four wrestlers at 141 pounds, 157 pounds and 174 pounds. New York came in fifth with 19 NCAA qualifiers, followed by California with 18 and Michigan with 16. Iowa (15), Oklahoma (13), Minnesota (12) and Missouri (12) round out the top 10. Three NCAA qualifiers came from outside the United States. Those wrestlers hail from Trinidad (Cuba), Toronto (Canada) and
Rechitsa (Belarus).
NCAA Division I national qualifiers by home state (states with more than 10):
Pennsylvania 46
Illinois 33
New Jersey 23
Ohio 23
New York 19
California 18
Michigan 16
Iowa 15
Oklahoma 13
Minnesota 12
Missouri 12
NCAA Division I All-Americans
Eighty wrestlers across 10 weight classes earned All-America honors at the 2023 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. All-Americans came from 26 different states and one province in Canada. Pennsylvania, the state with the most NCAA qualifiers, also produced the most All-Americans with 11, which accounted for 13.75% of the total All-Americans. Pennsylvania was the lone state with double-digit All-Americans. Illinois was second in the All- American count with eight. New Jersey was third with six All-Americans, followed by California with six. Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio had four. Arizona, Indiana, Minnesota,
New York and Wisconsin each had three. Colorado, Georgia and Oklahoma each had two. Ten states had one All-American. Those states include Alabama, Kansas, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. In addition, a wrestler from Toronto, Canada earned All-America honors.
All-Americans by home state:
Pennsylvania 11
Illinois 8
New Jersey 7
California 6
Iowa 4
Michigan 4
Missouri 4
Ohio 4
Arizona 3
Indiana 3
Minnesota 3
New York 3
Wisconsin 3
Colorado 2
Georgia 2
Oklahoma 2
Alabama 1
Kansas 1
Maryland 1
Montana 1
New Mexico 1
North Carolina 1
North Dakota 1
Toronto (Canada) 1
Utah 1
Virginia 1
West Virginia 1
NCAA Division I finalists
Thirteen different states produced a national finalist. Pennsylvania produced 25% of the NCAA finalists with five. Three states produced two NCAA finalists: Illinois, New York and Wisconsin. The other NCAA finalists came from Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico and Ohio.
NCAA champions
New York and Pennsylvania each produced two NCAA champions and were the only states to crown more than one NCAA champion. The other states to produce NCAA champions were Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey and Wisconsin.
NCAA champions and their hometowns:
125: Patrick Glory of Princeton (Randolph, New Jersey)
Glory became Princeton's first NCAA champion in wrestling since 1951, beating Purdue's Matt
Ramos 4-1 in the finals. Ramos stunned three-time NCAA champion Spencer Lee of Iowa in the
semifinals.
133: Vito Arujau of Cornell (Syosset, New York)
Arujau turned in an amazing performance in Tulsa, beating world medalist Dayton Fix of
Oklahoma State in the semifinals before snapping the 56-match win streak of two-time NCAA
champion Roman Bravo-Young of Penn State in the finals.
141: Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado (Greeley, Colorado)
Alirez capped off an undefeated season by beating Iowa's Real Woods 6-4 in the finals. Woods
was seeded No. 1 and undefeated entering the match.
149: Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell (Rochester, New York)
Diakomihalis, a world silver medalist in freestyle, became just the fifth wrestler ever to win four
NCAA Division I titles, joining Pat Smith (Oklahoma State), Cael Sanderson (Iowa State), Kyle
Dake (Cornell) and Logan Stieber (Ohio State). Cornell is the only school with two four-time
NCAA champions.
157: Austin O'Connor of North Carolina (Lockport, Illinois)
O'Connor came through as the No. 1 seed to capture the title and win his second NCAA title. His
previous NCAA title came at 149 pounds in 2021. O'Connor becomes UNC's first five-time
NCAA All-American.
165: Keegan O'Toole of Missouri (Hartland, Wisconsin)
O'Toole repeated as NCAA champion, beating the top-seeded David Carr of Iowa State 8-2 in
the finals. Carr had won the previous two meetings this season, including in the Big 12 finals two
weeks earlier.
174: Carter Starocci of Penn State (Erie, Pennsylvania)
Starocci earned his third NCAA title by pinning Big Ten competitor Mikey Labriola of Nebraska
in the finals. It was a rematch of the Big Ten finals. The Penn State star finished the season
undefeated.
184: Aaron Brooks of Penn State (Hagerstown, Maryland)
Brooks, like his teammate Starocci, captured his third NCAA title. His victory came over UNI's
Parker Keckeisen.
197: Nino Bonaccorsi of Pitt (Bethel Park, Pennsylvania)
Bonaccorsi, who never won a state championship, became an undefeated NCAA champion for
Pitt with a 5-3 win over South Dakota State's Tanner Sloan.
285: Mason Parris of Michigan (Lawrenceburg, Indiana)
Parris was dominant all season. The Michigan big man capped off an undefeated season by
defeating Penn State's Greg Kerkvliet 5-1 in the finals. Parris concluded his season with a perfect
33-0 record and earned 21 bonus wins.