PRINCETON, N.J. – Columbia will send five wrestlers to the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia later this month after an impressive showing at the inaugural Ivy League Tournament.
Lorenzo Frezza (141),
Richard Fedalen (157),
Cesar Alvan (165),
Jack McGill (174) and
Nick Fine (184) all qualified for the NCAA Championships based on their finishes at the Ivy League Tournament Sunday. The 2025 NCAA Championships begin on Thursday, March 20 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
"Our staff is super proud of the effort from the entire program," Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling Donny Pritzlaff said. "Although we feel like we left a little meat on the bone, punching five through with the hopes of a couple at large is a good showing. We will recover tomorrow and get right back to work on Tuesday. It's time to peak for the NCAA Championships."
Columbia performed well as a team Sunday with all 10 Lions securing a podium finish. Alvan (165), McGill (174) and
Vincent Mueller (285) all finished in second place in their weight divisions as a highlight of the day. Columbia finished in third place as a team with 114.5 total points. The Lions finished ahead of Princeton, Brown and Harvard in team scoring.
Sulayman Bah (125),
Connor Smith (133),
Kai Owen (149),
Joe Curtis (197) and Mueller (285) all finished on the podium despite not qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Smith turned in a sixth-place finish at 133. Bah, Frezza and Owen all finished fourth in their weights. Fedalen, Fine and Curtis battled back through consolation to post third place finishes in their divisions.
Following the conference tournaments, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in person to select the remaining 43 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 11, while brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 8 p.m. ET on March 12. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.
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