Brackets Revealed for NCAA Championships; Romney Seeded No. 4 at 133
3/12/2025 7:30:00 PM | Wrestling
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Highlighted by Zeth Romney receiving the No. 4 seed at 133 pounds, the four Cal Poly wrestlers slated to compete in the NCAA Championships next week in Philadelphia found out who they will face in their opening round matches during a selection show on NCAA.com Wednesday night.
The full 33-man brackets for all 10 weight classes at the NCAA Championships were released, and Romney, Koda Holeman (125 pounds), Chance Lamer (149 pounds) and Trevor Tinker (285 pounds) all discovered their paths to glory. Redshirt freshman Daschle Lamer will be making the trip to Philadelphia as well as the first alternate at 184 pounds, and will only wrestle if someone in the tournament either gets injured or doesn’t make weight prior to it beginning. The NCAA Championships take place Thursday, March 20, through Saturday, March 22, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Romney led the way for the Mustangs like he has all season long. The Simi Valley, Calif. native secured the fourth seed at 133 pounds and will wrestle No. 29 Tyler Ferrara from Cornell in his opening match.
The No. 4 seed comes as no surprise for Romney, whose had an impressive redshirt sophomore campaign. Romney earned an automatic berth to NCAAs for the second straight year by placing second in his weight class at the Pac-12 Championships. He started the season 11-1 and became the first Mustang in 15 years to capture a championship at 133 pounds at the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in December, defeating four nationally ranked opponents en route to the title. Romney boasts a 14-4 record on the year with two of his losses coming against Little Rock’s Nasir Bailey, who he fell to in overtime in the Pac-12 title match. Bailey, a two-time Pac-12 champion, is seeded No. 3 and was an All-American last year.
Chance received the No. 14 seed at 149 pounds and will square off against No. 19 Andrew Clark from Cornell in his first-round match next Thursday. Chance punched his ticket to NCAAs for the third straight year by capturing third in his weight class at the Pac-12s Championships. The Corvallis, Oregon native is 14-2 on the season and has advanced to the Round of 12 at NCAAs the last two years, finishing one victory short of All-American honors each year.
A week ago at Oregon State, Tinker tore through his opponents at the conference championships to become the second wrestler in program history and first since 1993 to win a Pac-12 title at heavyweight. He earned the No. 15 seed at heavyweight and will open the NCAA Championships against No. 18 seed Lance Runyon from Northern Iowa, who he lost to in his second match at the Cliff Keen Invitational earlier this season. Tinker enters NCAAs on a 12-match winning streak and is 22-5 on the season. Making his third straight NCAA appearance, this is the first year Tinker has secured an automatic berth to nationals, earning at-large bids each of the last two seasons.
Holeman learned on Tuesday that he had secured an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships after coming up short in a true-second place match at Pac-12s last week. The redshirt sophomore enters his first NCAA Tournament as the No. 28 seed at 125 pounds and will wrestle No. 5 seed Richard Figueroa from Arizona State in his opening match. Figueroa is the defending national champion at 125 pounds.
First-round matches at the NCAA Championships start at 9 a.m. PDT next Thursday, March 20, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The entirety of the event will be streamed live on ESPN, ESPNU and ESPN+.
NCAA First Round Matches
125 pounds: No. 28 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly) 20-11 vs. No. 5 Richard Figueroa (Arizona State) 16-2
133 pounds: No. 4 Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) 14-4 vs. No. 29 Tyler Ferrara (Cornell) 12-5
149 pounds: No. 14 Chance Lamer (Cal Poly) 14-2 vs. No. 19 Andrew Clark (Rutgers) 22-13
285 pounds: No. 15 Trevor Tinker (Cal Poly) 22-5 vs. No. 18 Lance Runyon (Northern Iowa) 18-7
184-pound First Alternate: Daschle Lamer (Cal Poly) 13-9
