ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Three members of the Navy wrestling team will vie for national titles at the 2025 NCAA Championship being held this week at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. The championship runs Thursday through Saturday with two sessions daily.

Representing Navy will be No. 5 Josh Koderhandt (141), No. 13 Danny Wask (174) and No. 29 Payton Thomas (197).

Championship Schedule

Thursday, March 20

Noon - Session 1 (Round of 32)
7 p.m. - Session 2 (Round of 16, Consolation First Round)

Friday, March 21

Noon - Session 3 (Quarterfinals, Consolation Second & Third Rounds)
8 p.m. - Session 4 (Semifinals, Consolation Fourth & Fifth Rounds)

Saturday, March 22

11 a.m. - Session 5 (Consolation Semifinals and 3rd-5th-7th Place Matches)
7 p.m. - Session 6 (Championship Finals)

STREAMING INFO

• ESPNU will televise the early sessions and ESPN will provide coverage of the evening sessions on all three days.

• ESPN+ will carry individual mat feeds throughout the entire championship, allowing fans to choose which wrestlers and / or schools to follow at any time. Eight mats will be used for the first round, second round and quarterfinals. The competition is reduced to six mats for the semifinals, three for the medal rounds and one for the finals.

• Fans can find links to all broadcast streams HERE.

Other Links for the Championship

• View free live results and updated brackets on Trackwrestling HERE.

• Tournament central with ticket, venue and city information can be found HERE.

Championship Format

• A 33-man tournament will be conducted in 10 weight classes (125, 133, 141, 149, 157, 165, 174, 184, 197 and heavyweight) to crown individual national champions. The top-eight finishers in the double elimination format will be honored as All-Americans.

• Wrestlers also accumulate points for their institution with every win as they advance through the

  bracket to decide the team national champion.

• Wrestlers will compete in seven-minute contests and have to go undefeated over five matches in three days to earn the title of national champion during the final session on Saturday evening.

Navy Team Notes

• The Mids posted a 6-4 record and won four of their five duals against Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) opponents this season, highlighted by an upset victory over the eventual EIWA Champion and 21st-ranked Lehigh, 21-15.

• Navy opened the 2024-25 campaign by facing three top-25 teams in its first four duals as the Mids competed against No. 25 Pittsburgh, No. 25 North Carolina and No. 11 Iowa State.

• After a tough slate to begin the season, the Mids went on a four-match winning-streak – with three of those wins being against EIWA teams – against American (24-21), No. 21 Lehigh (21-15), Harvard (32-9) and Bucknell (27-9).

• The regular season finished with a commanding 46-0 victory over Bloomsburg. The 46 team points are the most by the Mids since they defeated George Mason 44-0 on Feb. 5, 2021.

• Navy dominated the 141 and 174-pound weight class in duals as the Mids combined to win 19 of 20 bouts at those weights. The Mids posted a 10-0 record at 141 pounds with six bonus point victories. Navy won nine-straight matches at 174 pounds to end the year, with four of those wins resulting in bonus points.

• The postseason began at the EIWA Championship, hosted by Lehigh, where the Midshipmen tied with Army for third place out of 12 teams.  It was Navy's best finish since 2021 when they placed second.

• Josh Koderhandt (champion), Danny Wask (finalist) and Payton Thomas (fourth place) claimed automatic bids to nationals from their respective finishes at the league championship.

• Cary Kolat is making his fifth appearance at the national championship as Navy's head coach. He has now qualified 25 wrestlers to the tournament during his tenure in Annapolis and has sent at least three Mids to the event each year.

Navy Individual Notes

Josh Koderhandt (141)

• Koderhandt qualified for nationals for the fourth-consecutive year. Koderhandt is the eighth Navy wrestler to be a four-time NCAA qualifier.

• He enters the tournament as the fourth-seed in his weight class.

• Koderhandt will take on 29th-seeded Jayden Scott from North Carolina in the first round. The two wrestlers met in the Navy-North Carolina dual back in November when Koderhandt defeated Scott, 7-2.

• Koderhandt owns a 10-3 record against 11 NCAA qualifiers this year. His only losses came to top-seeded Brock Hardy (Nebraska) twice and third-seeded Jesse Mendez (Ohio State).

• He holds a 4-6 record at the NCAA Championship. He won three of his five matches last year when he was one victory away from earning All-American status.

• Koderhandt became the 28th Navy wrestler to become a two-time EIWA champion as he won the 141-pound title for the second year in a row.  He is the first to do so since Cody Trybus in 2020 and '21.

• He won his first two matches at the championship by decision with a combined score of 16-7. He then pinned 24th-ranked Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) in the opening stanza of the finals.

• Koderhandt has placed in the top three in all of his appearances at the EIWA tournament (second - 2022; third - 2023; first - 2024; first - 2025).

• He recorded his 100th career victory at the conference championship when he defeated Hofstra's Justin Hoyle in the quarterfinals, 5-2. Koderhandt now sits at 102 career wins, which is tied with Luke Rebertus (2009-12) for 14th in program history. 

• The team captain has won 12-consecutive matches dating back to the regular season.

• The senior from Belleville, Ill., led the team in wins by fall (six).

• He led all Mids this year with 23 overall wins and nine dual victories. Koderhandt was second on the team with five victories against ranked opponents. 

Danny Wask (174)

• Wask will be making his second-straight NCAA Championship appearance as the seventh-seed at 174 pounds.

• He posted a 2-2 record as a freshman at the 2024 national championship.

• Wask will face 26th-seeded Brody Baumann from Purdue in the first round on Thursday afternoon. It will be the second meeting between the wrestlers.  The two originally met at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational where Wask walked away with a 9-5 victory. 

• Wask boasts a 9-5 record against 12 national qualifiers this season.

• He placed second at the EIWA Championship as he earned victories over Aidan Zarrella (17-2) from Sacred Heart and 33rd-ranked Dalton Harkins (4-1) from Army. He lost in the finals to 12th-ranked Brevin Cassella from Binghamton in a double-tiebreaker match, 4-1.

• The Wantage, N.J., native was second on the team with 20 victories during his sophomore campaign.

• He tied for the most decision (14) and tech fall (4) victories on the team this season. Wask also led the team with nine victories over ranked opponents this year.

• The sophomore has placed in every tournament he has competed in this season (Navy Classic - first; Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational - sixth; Soldier Salute - second; EIWA Championship - second).

• He has won eight of his last 10 matches dating back to the Soldier Salute in December.

Payton Thomas (197)

• The freshman from Moore, Okla., will wrestle in his first NCAA Championship as the 28 seed.  He opens the event by facing a familiar foe in fifth-seeded Michael Beard out of Lehigh.

• It will be the third meeting between Thomas and Beard this season. Beard has won the two matches by a decision (3-2) and a pin.

• Thomas earned his spot in the national tournament after he posted a 3-2 record at the EIWA Championship to place fourth and secure the final automatic bid.

• He enters the week with a 2-8 record against ranked opponents. A medical forfeit awarded Thomas the victory over 26th-ranked Camden McDanel (Nebraska), and he defeated 28th-ranked Wolfgang Frable (Army) in the EIWA quarterfinals.

• He has placed in two of his three tournament appearances (Navy Classic - third; EIWA Championship - fourth).

• Thomas owns a 3-7 record against seven NCAA qualifiers this year.

NAVY'S NCAA HISTORY

• The Mids are making their 76th NCAA Championship appearance.

• At least one Navy wrestler has participated in the event in each of the last 28 years it has been held (1997-present; the 2020 championship was canceled).

• The program's best showing as a team in national championship action was a fourth-place finish in 1954.

• Navy wrestlers have won three individual national titles. Pete Blair won the 191-pound title in 1954 and '55 and Dan Muthler earned the 142-pound crown in 1973.

• In addition to winning three individual titles, 65 All-America citations have been awarded to Midshipmen over the years. David Key earned All-America honors last season. He posted the second-largest seed-to-place difference (17) amongst the field of 330 wrestlers. He was one of only four wrestlers seeded 20th or higher to place in the top eight in their respective weight class.

• Since 2000, the Mids have placed 12 wrestlers in the top eight of their respective weight class, while Air Force and Army have each only placed six.