Who can stop Gable Steveson? That is the question lingering in the minds of collegiate wrestling fans as the NCAA Championships announced its brackets. Following disappointing stints in the NFL and WWE, Steveson returned to the mats for Minnesota wrestling after nearly three years. If anybody thought he had missed a beat, they were proven wrong instantly. Steveson racked up two consecutive wins, helping the Gophers earn back-to-back shutout wins since 1997-98. But Golden Gabe was just getting started. He ran through the regular season competition with a perfect 10-0 record. Then at the Big Ten Championships, he made history by winning his fourth Big Ten Title. But he is not done. On Tuesday, he shared a few snaps of his winning moment along with the caption, “My greatest performances still awaits.. 😉.” The NCAA competition has been warned.

As expected,

Gable Steveson. is the number 1 seed for the 2025 NCAA Championships, scheduled to take place March 20-22 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. This would hardly come as a surprise, given his performances this season. But there could be a surprise lying in wait when he faces the winner of the first-round match between No. 32 Stephan Monchery of Appalachian State and No. 33 Hayden Filipovich of Purdue.

Steveson is a seeded entry and would watch the two wrestlers battle it out for the chance to face him. Now when it comes to Filipovich, Steveson has some history with him. The Olympic gold medalist already faced him earlier this year and the Gopher swiftly defeated Filipovich in an 18-3 TF. But Monchery is the wild card in this situation, someone who is unknown to Steveson.

A high school state champion with an undefeated 42-0 senior year, Monchery won the national wrestling title at 285 pounds in the National High School Coaches Association National Championships at the Virginia Beach Sports Center last year. As a true freshman heavyweight from Middletown, he has established himself as a formidable competitor in collegiate wrestling, contributing significantly to App State’s success this season.

Monchery began his first collegiate season with a 6-6 record but has since gone 13-3 since mid-December, with two of those losses coming against ranked ACC opponents. He has improved to 19-9, with eight pins and four major decisions to his name.

As the No. 2 seed at the SoCon Championship, he dominated with a perfect 3-0 record. In a thrilling heavyweight final on Saturday, he secured App State’s dramatic team title with a clutch 6-5 victory over The Citadel’s Jonathan Chesser. He built an early 4-0 lead with a second-period takedown but found himself trailing 5-4 late in the match—until a stunning reversal with just 14 seconds remaining sealed the win. So while Monchery may not be talked about in the same breath as some of the other competitors at the NCAA championships, he is more than capable of holding his own against Steveson, if he gets past Filipovich.

Given Steveson’s unfamiliarity with Monchery, it has all the makings of a possible upset. But it is Gable Steveson we are talking about.

After all, just a week ago, Gable defeated arguably the second-best heavyweight in Greg Kerkvliet, becoming the first heavyweight in Big Ten history to win four titles and the 19th wrestler to accomplish the feat overall. He has a 14-0 record overall and a 9-0 record against the field and is touted as one of the favorites for the NCAA title.

Apart from Kerkvliet, the 24-year-old has wins over  Seth Nevills and Nick Feldman. Not only this, but he made quick work of other opponents such as Ben Kueter and Dirk Morley while he also pinned Yaraslau Slavikouski and Josh Heindselman.

With this, he will be high on confidence, but for Gophers, Steveson isn’t the only catch to vouch for at the NCAA Championships.

Minnesota is more than just Gable Steveson

While Gable Steveson often steals the spotlight, Minnesota’s wrestling team showed at the 2025 Big Ten Championships that it’s not a one-man operation. Vance Vombaur (141 pounds) finished second, upsetting No. 1 Beau Bartlett 5-3 in the semifinals and earning key team points, though he lost to Brock Hardy in the final. In addition to this, the second place was shared by Max Enelly at 184 lbs.

The redshirt freshman did pretty well but ultimately fell to the eventual champ, Carter Starocci, in a sudden victory. On his way to victory, he had defeated Iowa’s Gabe Arnold. These performances underline the Gophers’ strength beyond Steveson. Minnesota’s depth is further evidenced by other key contributors who bolstered the team’s fourth-place finish at the 2025 Big Ten Championships, held March 8-9 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Isaiah Salazar (197 pounds) placed fourth, while Tommy Askey (165 pounds) and Andrew Sparks (174 pounds) each secured seventh, contributing to the team’s effort. The Gophers’ regular season boasted a 13-3 overall dual record and a 6-2 Big Ten mark, with seven wrestlers placing in the top eight at the Championships and nine qualifying for the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia.

These efforts—yielding 87.5 points from non-Steveson wrestlers compared to his 21—demonstrate that Minnesota’s roster is a collective force, not just a platform for Steveson’s brilliance. With Vombaur, McEnelly, Salazar, and others driving results, the Gophers are poised to make noise at nationals, proving their identity extends well beyond their heavyweight superstar.

With a strong dual record and nine NCAA qualifiers, the Gophers racked up significant points without relying solely on Steveson, proving they’re a well-rounded squad ready for the NCAA Championships in Philadelphia.