NCAA Wrestling Championships 2025 Top Upsets:  Dean Peterson pins NCAA champion Richard Figueroa in 125 lbs 

Day 1 of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships witnessed a few nail-biting clashes. The 2025 NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling National Championships are scheduled to be held from March 20-22, at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennslyvania.

The afternoon session on Thursday featured the preliminary round, including Pigtails & Round of 32 in Session 1 and Round of 16 & Consolations in the evening session. A total of 330 athletes, from universities around the US, will be seen competing at the championships.

Major upsets at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships on Day 1

Richard Figueroa of Arizona State University against Koda Holeman of Cal Poly during the NCAA Men's Division 1 wrestling championships in Philadelphia, PA. (Photo via Getty Images)

#1. The No. 12 Dean Peterson of Rutgers University pinned No. 5 Richard Figueroa of Arizona State by fall over in 5:42 on Day 1 of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Peterson defeated last year's 125lbs pound champion, Figueroa, in the second round of Session II. After losing 3-0 in the first period, he fought back to make the score 4-4 by pinning Figueroa with a cradle. He will lock horns with NC State’s Vincent Robinson on Friday.

#2. No. 9 Jacob Frost of Iowa State won by decision over No. 8 Andrew Alirez of Northern Colorado 6-1. Alirez, who won the NCAA champion's title two years ago lost to Frost 6-1 in the second round in the 141-pound weight category. His championship quest ended as Frost avenged the defeat he faced to the former champion during the Big 12 Conference Championships earlier this month.

Frost will face the leading seed Brock Hardy of Nebraska in the quarterfinals of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships, which will be held on Friday, March 21 at 12 p.m. ET.

#3. Iowa State and No. 4 Paniro Johnson lost to No. 29 Jack Gioffre in a close match 5-2. Although Johnson controlled the faceoff throughout, Virginia's wrestler took the opportunity of a takedown in the tiebreaker to claim the victory.

#4. No. 20 Trevor Chumbley of Northwestern University defeated No. 4 Rafael Hipolito of Virginia Tech in a tiebreaker in Round 2 of the NCAA Wrestling Championships. Chumbley overpowered the three-time state champion with a significant win of 2-1.

#5. Fans were treated to another surprising upset on Day 1 of the NCAA Championships as No. 21 and Indiana University wrestler Angelo Rini defeated No. 5 and Northern Colorado's wrestler Dominick Serrano by a substantial lead and major victory of 15-7.

Day 2 of the 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships will feature the quarter-finals and wrestle-backs in the afternoon session followed by semi-finals and wrestle-backs in the evening.