The NCAA Wrestling Awards for 2025 has been announced, and there’s one glaring theme: the unexpected snub of two wrestling powerhouses—David Taylor’s Cowboys and Cael Sanderson’s Penn State. Even after their excellent performances, in a shocking twist, they couldn’t manage to claim any major awards this season. But who exactly took the awards home, and why didn’t the Cowboys or Penn State receive the recognition they’ve earned?

The sting of being overlooked is felt even more when you consider the jaw-dropping performances of the athletes involved. With top-tier wrestlers like Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink and Oklahoma State’s David Taylor—both of whom had fantastic seasons—it seemed almost impossible that they wouldn’t take the top spots. But in this year’s competition, the awards went to athletes from other schools, leaving Penn State and Oklahoma State to question where it all went wrong.

Who took home the 2025 NCAA wrestling awards?

When it comes to the Most Dominant Wrestler award, the race was fierce, but it was not David Taylor’s Cowboys or Cael Sanderson’s Penn State that emerged victorious. In Division I, the honors for falls went to Lehigh’s Kelvin Griffin, who secured an impressive 15 falls in 45:31. In terms of tech falls, the award went to Purdue’s Matt Ramos, who led with 11 tech falls in 51:51.

While Penn State’s top performers, like Mesenbrink, delivered outstanding results, it wasn’t enough to push them over the line. In the fall category, Griffin’s 15 falls were an incredibly tough mark to beat, with other athletes like Rutgers’ Brian Soldano and Bellarmine’s Daulton Mayer also contributing to the mix. Mesenbrink’s achievement of 10 tech falls, while impressive, simply wasn’t enough to compete with Ramos’ 11, leaving the Nittany Lions’ remarkable season devoid of individual honors.

Meanwhile, in Division II and Division III, wrestlers from other colleges bagged the accolades, starting with Newman’s Caleb Wunsch leading the falls category in Division II and Castleton’s Alaq Dowd-Grant Division III with 18 falls, that too, in just 39:12. Still, they couldn’t crack the NCAA 2025 code. The official page of NCAA Wrestling has posted the ranks on their Instagram (@ncaawrestling), captioning it, “NCAA has released updating standings for the 2024 #NCAAWrestling Awards 🤼‍♂️ D1 Falls leader details through January 20, 2025.”

Penn State and Oklahoma State’s unbelievable performance

The season so far has been great for the Cowboys and Penn State. Even without the title, Penn State, with athletes like Mitchell Mesenbrink, put on a show in the 165-pound category. Mesenbrink’s 10 tech falls demonstrate not only his technical precision but also his dominance in his weight class. His ability to rack up those tech falls, even if it didn’t earn him the top spot, reflects just how powerful the Nittany Lions continue to be.

Talking about this major snatch of 2025, this won’t go to waste. This will furthermore fire up both Penn State and Cowboy’s drive and they’ll continue to push even harder in the coming seasons. Both Penn State and Oklahoma State are bound to return even stronger. The recognition may not have arrived this time, but with the talent these programs continue to develop, it’s only a matter of time before they claim the awards they’ve worked so hard for.

Being real, in the world of NCAA wrestling, there’s always a next season—and with the strength and determination shown by both Penn State and Oklahoma State, they will surely come for more, and they won’t stop. What do you think? Comment below, let us know!