There’s a quote J Robinson often recited during his days as the Minnesota wrestling coach. He said it came from legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant. 

The line: “I can take what other people do and make it work for me.” 

Which is what we’ve done with a project that begins today. NHL and Major League Baseball Quarter Century teams sparked discussion in recent weeks. So we figured it’s time to do the same with college wrestling. 

The Flowrestling team took a list of every NCAA champion from the last 25 years and whittled it down to four at each weight after tabulating the results of a staff vote. Our team was given one rule: Each voter could only rank a wrestler once.  

So our panelists could put Kyle Dake, for example, at one of the four weights in which he won national titles — 141, 149, 157 or 165. Consequently, he received votes at 149, 157 and 165. 

Another dilemma: How to weigh the accomplishments of those whose careers began in the 1990s and had abbreviated resumes during the last 25 years. 

Each of us looked at it differently, particularly with the 18 wrestlers who won titles at multiple weights. Some aimed to build the best possible lineup and used flexibility to assist that mission. Others built their ballot by putting wrestlers at the weights where their top achievements occurred. 

We’ll unveil the full team over the next three months, and you can have a say in the selection process. A social media fan vote component will be factored into our final selection.

Who was the best 125 pound wrestler of the last 25 years?

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) June 2, 2025

We begin with 125 pounds (listed in chronological order).

Stephen Abas (Fresno State) 

It’s fitting this series begins with the first wrestler to win an NCAA title during this quarter century. Abas finished his college career on a 95-match win streak that included a 35-0 junior season in 2001 and a 34-0 mark as a senior. 

It’s been hard enough to win two titles at college wrestling’s lightest weight class — only five wrestlers have accomplished that feat since the 125-pound weight class was introduced in 1999 — and Abas won three. He placed fourth as a freshman at 118 in 1998 and then captured his first title at 125 in 1999 before redshirting in 2000. 

Anthony Robles (Arizona State) 

Robles put himself on this list with one of the most dominant seasons the weight class has seen during the past 25 years. His 36-0 senior season in 2011 included 24 technical falls, five major decisions, a pair of pins and a 7-1 win in the NCAA finals against returning national champ Matt McDonough. 

Robles compiled a 122-23 record with 92 bonus-point victories for the Sun Devils, but 19 of his losses came in his first two seasons. He reached the NCAA blood round as a freshman in 2008, placed fourth as a sophomore and seventh as a junior before capturing the title as a senior. 

Matt McDonough (Iowa)

It might be hard to believe now, but there were legitimate questions whether McDonough would even crack Iowa’s lineup after his redshirt season. He went 22-8 competing unattached at 133, where the Hawkeyes' stockpile of talent included four eventual NCAA finalists. 

McDonough cut down to 125 as a freshman and lost just nine times during the next four seasons combined. He went 37-1 as a freshman in 2010 and won a national title at a loaded weight class that featuring two returning champs (Angel Escobedo and Troy Nickerson) and an eventual champ (Robles). 

McDonough placed second as a sophomore and returned to the top of the podium as a junior before his 22-5 senior season ended in the blood round. 

For his career, he went 122-9 with 83 bonus-point victories, including 11 at the NCAA Championships.  

Spencer Lee (Iowa)

There had never been a Hodge Trophy winner at college wrestling’s lightest weight class until Lee came along and accomplished the feat twice during his prolific career with the Hawkeyes. 

Lee won three NCAA titles, becoming the first three-time champ at 125 since Abas. He compiled a 98-6 career record, and 40 of those matches didn’t make it to the second period and a dozen ended in sub-minute pins. 

As a freshman in a stacked 2018 bracket that featured four eventual NCAA champs and two others who reached the finals, Lee blitzed through the field with two pins — including one in the semis against 2015 champ Nathan Tomasello — a pair of technical falls and a 5-1 win in the finals against eventual two-time national champ Nick Suriano. 

As a junior wrestling with ACL tears in both knees, Lee ran through the NCAA bracket, outscoring his opponents by a combined 59-8 count to win his third title. That championship came in the middle of a 58-match winning streak in which he outscored opponents 673-77.