On the biggest stage with a high-profile audience in its home city, Penn wrestling didn't disappoint.
Penn wrestling finished 16th out of 60 teams at this year’s NCAA Division I Championships, highlighted by senior CJ Composto’s All-American performance. The team finish was the highest in program history since 2006. Among the 18,000 fans packed into the Wells Fargo Center were UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier, 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump, and 1997 College and Wharton graduate Elon Musk.
Roger Reina’s final campaign as head coach saw him lead seven Quaker qualifiers against fierce competition, including three-time defending champion Penn State.
“It’s something special to be able to do it in Philly, nonetheless — a place that’s been home to me,” senior Nick Incontrera (174) said. “Yeah, it’s kind of like a storybook ending for me.”
Towards the end of championships, it seemed as though All-American honors weren’t in the cards for Penn wrestling — until senior CJ Composto (141) stepped onto the mat.
Starting off the tournament with a victory against Josh Edmund of the University of Missouri, Composto had the tough task of facing off against No. 7 seed Tagen Jamison of Oklahoma State, who was a favorite to win the 141 category. Early on, it looked like Jamison might cruise to victory, racking up a takedown and an escape before the third period. Down 4-0, Composto refused to back down.
In a stunning display of grit and technique, he earned three points off a near fall, narrowing the gap. As the Jumbotron zoomed in and the eyes of thousands of spectators turned to his mat, Composto surged, and the crowd erupted in ear-splitting cheers as he scored a final takedown to complete his third-period upset.
“That wasn’t no upset,” Incontrera said when asked about the match later. “If you know CJ, you know what he’s capable of. It was awesome.”
“I don’t know, it was kind of weird,” Composto said. “I felt like I almost lost that match because it was kind of a tricky takedown … I almost felt like I didn’t really get a takedown. So, I kind of walked off feeling like I lost — but then I looked at the score, and it was like, ‘Oh, I won.’”
After his win, Composto fell to Penn State’s No. 2 seed, Beau Bartlett, but he bounced back with three consecutive victories in the consolation bracket, advancing all the way to the consolation finals. There, he faced Bartlett once again and came up short — but still secured All-American honors with a fourth-place finish.
In the 125 bracket, sophomore Max Gallagher opened against Blake West of Northern Illinois University. With both wrestlers trading takedowns heading into a grueling third period, West narrowly snatched the win through riding time — handing Gallagher a 6-5 decision loss and sending him to the consolation bracket.
That evening, Gallagher bounced back with a 5-1 decision over Cornell wrestler Marcello Milani, thanks in large part to a crucial third-period takedown and dominant riding time. However, his All-American hopes came to an end as Gallagher suffered a loss to Jacob Moran of Indiana.
Senior Maximus Hale (184) also suffered a similarly tragic consolation loss against Rutgers’s Shane Cartagena-Walsh, despite Hale’s valiant last-period rally with a stellar takedown. With that, Hale concluded his collegiate wrestling career with a respectable 18-10 record in the 2024–25 season.
Senior Ryan Miller (133) secured an 8-4 decision victory against Jacob Van Dee of tournament runner-up Nebraska. Afterward, Miller had the tough task of contending with No. 1 seed Lucas Byrd of Illinois — who ended up sending Miller to the consolation brackets with a 9-0 major decision victory. While Byrd went on to become NCAA champion, Miller’s final collegiate match ended in a hard-fought 9-5 decision loss to Lock Haven’s Anthony Noto.
No. 22 seed Nick Incontrera had a tough start to the tournament — dropping a close decision to Iowa’s Patrick Kennedy and getting pushed into the consolation bracket. There, he faced Drexel’s Jasiah Queen in a gritty, near-deadlocked match.
“First period, he got in pretty deep,” Incontrera said post-match. “I’ve wrestled him in the past, so I kind of know what to expect. … Overall, my pressure kinda put me in a position to win.”
Incontrera went on to defeat Queen with a 3-0 decision, then followed up with a win over North Carolina’s Joshua Ogunsanya. Later, in a dominant performance, Incontrera put up a dominant upset 8-0 against No. 4 seed Garret Thompson of Ohio State. However, his run ended in a close 5-3 decision loss to Navy’s Danny Wask. Although Incontrera fell short of earning the elusive All-American honors, he delivered an impressive tournament performance and wrapped up his last season with a strong 25-8 record.
Freshman phenom Cross Wasilewski made a deep run in the 149-pound bracket, falling just short of the consolation’s quarterfinals with a narrow 4-2 decision loss to North Carolina’s Lachlan McNeil. At 157 pounds, sophomore Jude Swisher also impressed, reaching the fourth round of the consolation bracket before suffering an agonizingly close decision loss to Penn State’s No. 1 seed, Tyler Kasak — who was penalized twice for stalling throughout the third period.
“Penn’s performance so far — I think it’s actually been great. Probably the best,” Composto said. “In terms of results and even just preparation … a big difference that you guys won’t even see, that the fans won’t see, is that we have 40 other guys who’ve stayed locked in, stayed committed, stayed passionate. That’s really helped the seven of us competing stay focused. So it’s been a whole team effort — and it’s been really fun.”
Given the level of competition at this year’s NCAA Championships, Penn’s historic team finish and Composto’s All-American finish mark a strong showing for the Red and Blue.
With Reina stepping down and current associate head coach Matt Valenti set to take the reins, Penn wrestling appears poised to enter a new era. Only time will tell if it proves as successful — or even more so — than the Reina years.
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