The 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championship isn’t too far away. Naturally, the country’s top stars are looking to get their warm-up ahead of the big rumble in March. Among the athletes, Wyoming’s Jore Volk has been a highly anticipated wrestler, whose skills on the mat have the fans on their toes. The Cowboys sophomore promised a stellar career ahead with a 27-8 overall record in the 2023-24 season. But Volk’s fans will need to wait before watching him in action.

The 2024 All-American NCAA wrestling star was instrumental in the Cowboys’ first two victories in the 2024-25 season. However, his absence from the Cliff Keen Invitational in December raised many eyebrows about what was going on. Now, Jore Volk has shared an update, and it doesn’t look good.

On January 7, 2024, Big 12 champ Jore Volk shared an update on X to reveal the current situation and his decision based on his condition. “Grateful and blessed,” reads the post’s caption before Volk elaborates on the scenario. With a heavy heart, he writes, “I am extremely saddened to announce that I will be taking a medical redshirt for the remainder of this season due to a season ending injury.”

However, Jore Volk also notes that getting back to his peak physical condition is at the top of his to-do list at the moment: “…it is my top priority to fully recover and put myself in a position to win a NCAA title,” he wrote further. Baschmania’s Justin Basch claims that Volk is likely to make his comeback on the mat next year.

The 2022 U20 World Championships gold medalist created a lot of ripples in the NCAA wrestling scene with his emphatic skills. His incredible victory over Penn State’s Big Ten champ Braeden Davis in the NCAA Bloodround last season was a clear statement of his prowess, and naturally, seeing him sit out this season would be a heartbreaking thing for the fans who were excited to see if Volk could bag his maiden national title this time around. While his absence at the Wells Fargo Center will be sorely felt in two months’ time, the Pokes wrestler won’t be the only athlete to miss this year’s NCAA Championship.

More NCAA wrestling stars to watch the action from the sideline

The Wyoming Cowboys are currently sitting on top of a 2-3 overall record. The squad lost all of its last three matches against Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Penn State, making it clear that going back to the drawing board is necessary to rectify the snags. While Volk started with two back-to-back victories, he lost the matches against both Oklahoma programs in November, highlighting how he was already struggling to maintain form. A 5th-place finisher at the 2023 Cliff Keen Invitational, he also missed the 2024 edition of the coveted tournament. But he isn’t the only star who has been bogged down with injuries in the 2024-25 NCAA season.

Iowa State’s 141-pounder Casey Swiderski suffered a knee injury during practice in November and was subsequently announced to be missing out on the remainder of the NCAA wrestling season. Michigan’s fifth-year senior Dylan Ragusin also encountered a knee injury at the 2024 Cliff Keen Invite. Head coach Sean Bormet later stated that the injury required surgery and Ragusin would need to recover from the same before getting back on the mat.

The Missouri Tigers are also having to scuttle to find ways to mitigate the fact that two of their key stars won’t be competing this season anymore. Furthermore, Iowa Hawkeyes’ 157lb star Jacori Teemer suffered a hamstring injury while competing against in-state rivals in November and is yet to make his comeback. While the squad believes that Teemer might still make a comeback ahead of the national championship, it remains to be seen when the moment arrives. Which of these NCAA wrestling stars are you going to miss the most? Tell us in a comment!