Can Levi Haines obtain another national championship up two weight classes from where he won last year? Will Keegan O'Toole get back on top for the third time after being dethroned at last year's NCAAs? Can Dean Hamiti, or anyone else, spoil the party in Philadelphia? We'll learn the answers to those questions and more by the end of next Saturday!

NCAA Rankings: 174 Pounds

More NCAA weight class previews: 125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 184 | 197 | 285

Every article about the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships

Brackets

CP's take:

2025 Top Eight Seeds (Name, School, Season Record)

1) Keegan O'Toole, Missouri, 16-0

2) Levi Haines, Penn State, 20-1

3) Dean Hamiti, Oklahoma State, 22-1

4) Garrett Thompson, Ohio, 29-5

5) Simon Ruiz, Cornell, 21-5

6) Brevin Cassella, Binghamton, 25-4

7) Danny Wask, Navy, 20-6

8) Lenny Pinto, Nebraska, 22-5

2024 All-Americans

1st: Carter Starocci, Penn State

2nd: Rocco Welsh, Ohio State

3rd: Shane Griffith, Michigan

4th: Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech

5th: Cade DeVos, South Dakota State

6th: Lennox Wolak, Columbia

7th: Edmond Ruth, Illinois

8th: Ben Pasiuk, Army

Last 10 174lb NCAA Champs

2024: Carter Starocci, Penn State

2023: Carter Starocci, Penn State

2022: Carter Starocci, Penn State

2021: Carter Starocci, Penn State

2019: Zahid Valencia, Arizona State

2018: Zahid Valencia, Arizona State

2017: Mark Hall, Penn State

2016: Myles Martin, Ohio State

2015: Matt Brown, Penn State

2014: Chris Perry, Oklahoma State

The Favorites

*Rank/Seed

#1/#1 Keegan O'Toole, Missouri

#2/#2 Levi Haines, Penn State

#3/#3 Dean Hamiti, Oklahoma State

Keegan O'Toole's legacy is secure regardless of what happens in Philadelphia. O'Toole is a near lock for getting on the Mizzou wrestling Mt Rushmore, an honor for which the competition is mighty fierce. Keegan is already a four-time All-American and two-time champ whose lowest finish is third. He has one loss his freshman year to NCAA finalist Jake Wentzel and then only three losses (against two wins) to David Carr, who is also a four-time All-American and two-time national champ whose lowest finish is third. 

Keegan also has wins this season over the current #2 and #3 ranked wrestlers, Levi Haines and Dean Hamiti. Those bouts, it should be noted, were both sudden victory wins by O'Toole, but victories nonetheless. 

Highlights from O'Toole's win over Hamiti in the Big 12 finals:

Both Haines and Hamiti have but the one loss to KO'T this season. Haines, though, is coming off two consecutive NCAA finals appearances, though one might argue that Haines' record at 157, a weight at which he's the defending champ, is less relevant now that he's up at 174. I'm not saying discount or ignore them, I'm just pointing out what other might argue when splitting hairs about who should be the favorite at NCAAs!

Hamiti, a four-time national qualifier and two-time 6th place winner, doesn't have quite the resume as either O'Toole or Haines, and he is also up a weight class from where he earned All-American honors, however, the Wisconsin transfer has never looked better than he does now up at 174 and in an Oklahoma State singlet.  

The Contenders

#4/#4 Garrett Thompson, Ohio

#5/#9 Carson Kharchla, Ohio State

#6/#11 Patrick Kennedy, Iowa

#7/#10 Alex Cramer, Central Michigan

#8/#6 Brevin Cassella, Binghamton

#9/#8 Lenny Pinto, Nebraska

#10/#20 Dan Braunagel, Illinois

#11/#5 Simon Ruiz, Cornell

#12/#7 Danny Wask, Navy

#13/#12 Myles Takats, Bucknell

#14/#13 Cade DeVos, South Dakota State

#15/#14 Matthew Singleton, NC State

A very crowded weight requires a very large group of contenders. There's also a large discrepancy between the seeds and weights in a couple of places, most notably Danny Braunagel, who is a top 10 wrestler who received the #20 seed. 

Patrick Kennedy and Carson Kharchla also appear to have been punished for their tough schedules, as the two Big Ten rivals have been in the top 10 all year long but received seeds lower than their rankings. 

Garrett Thompson and Brevin Cassella represent two under-the-radar conferences in the MAC and EIWA respectively, but both are also seeded closer (or exactly, in Thompson's case) to where they are seeded. 

Simon Ruiz and Danny Wask also come from less heralded conferences (the Ivy League and another EIWA-man) but have benefited from impressive records to earn seeds higher than their rankings. 

Alex Cramer, Lenny Pinto, Myles Takats, Cade DeVos and Matthew Singleton are also included in the contenders. Takats, DeVos and Singleton are neither ranked nor seeded in the top 10 but I feel they are all legit All-American contenders, and in fact, Cade DeVos climbed the 2024 podium steps, placing 5th in Kansas City. 

Watch DeVos win his 5th-place bout and get revenge over Lennox Wolak: 

It will be interesting to see if the seeds or rankings end up being more accurate predictors of how this bracket shakes out. I would expect several of the lower-seeded Big Ten wrestlers to outperform their seeds but it would also be foolish to count out the wrestlers from less prestigious conferences. 

Sleepers & Landmines 

#25/#17 Sergio Desiante, Chattanooga

#27/#24 Lennox Wolak, Virginia Tech

#32/#30 Jackson Turley, Rutgers

Sergio Desiante became Chattanooga's first ever Southern Scuffle Champion in January, a pretty big deal for the host school.

Both Lennox Wolak and Jackson Turley have already proven their All-American bona fides by reaching the podium in 2024 and 2021 respectively. 

Predictions

1st: O'Toole, Mizzou

2nd: Haines, PSU

3rd: Hamiti, OKST

4th: Kennedy, Iowa

5th: Ruiz, Cornell

6th: Cassella, Binghamton

7th: Thompson, Ohio

8th: Wask, Navy

R12: Cramer, CMU

R12: Pinto, Nebraska

R12: DeVos, SDSU

R12: Kharchla, tOSU

I think O'Toole, who has missed time this year due to injury, is still good for another championship run, though both Haines and Hamiti have proven they are right there with him. 

I like Ruiz's draw and think he gets the mild upset over Thompson to make the semis. I like Kennedy's draw and think he can wrestle his best tournament to date and beat Cassella in the second round and Kharchla, Wask and Ruiz in the consolations to make the podium for the first time in his career. Two EIWA competitors and a MAC wrestler round out the podium for me. 

This is one of the more wide-open weights, and I can imagine any of the top three winning a title and any of the contenders placing.