UConn wrestler earns All-American honors at NCWA nationals

UConn freshman Victor Petkov from Ridgefield earned All-American honors at the recent NCWA national championship meet. (Photo courtesy Alan Mashkovich, UConn Wrestling)

UConn freshman Victor Petkov from Ridgefield earned All-American honors at the 2025 National Collegiate Wrestling Association’s (NCWA) national championship tournament in Bossier City, Louisiana earlier this month.

Petkov went 5-2 in the tournament and helped the Huskies finish 16th overall and sixth in NCWA Division II.

Eleven wrestlers competed for the Huskies in the tournament with eight winning at least one match. Sophomore Marcus Cavallo (133) of Stratford, Jack Dean (149) from Fairfield Warde and freshman Hayden Lewandowski (125) of Terryville each won at least two matches for UConn.

Petkov won his first two matches with major decisions before falling to Landon Kissell of The Apprentice School in Newport News, Va., in the quarterfinals, 13-4.

Petkov earned victories of 12-3 and 11-4 in his next two consolation round bouts before getting a forfeit into the consolation final for third place.

Top seed Keith Brubach of Slippery Rock University beat Petkov, 19-4, to finish third.

Petkov is the first All-American wrestler for the UConn club program since 2023 when Greenwich’s Andrew Nanai (197) finished seventh. It’s the best individual finish by a UConn wrestler since Terryville’s George Andrews (184) took third in 2019.

UConn’s club wrestling team has been in existence since 2007. UConn dropped their varsity wrestling program following the 1981 season.

The NCWA was founded in 1997 to provide collegiate athletes with an opportunity to compete in wrestling at a regional and national level. The NCWA helps develop programs under the school’s athletic departments, student services department and sport club departments.

The NCWA has been holding national championship meets since 1998.

2025 NCWA national championships
At Bossier City, Louisiana
Team results – 1. Menlo College (Atherton, Calif.) 214½, 2. The Apprentice School (Newport News, Va.) 187½, 3. Tarleton State (Texas) 183½, 4. Liberty University 146½, 5. Life University (Marietta, Ga.) and Washington State 111½, 7. Univ. of Central Florida 97½, 8. Thomas More University (Crestview Hills, Kentucky) 95, 9. Utah Tech 92, 10. Ohio State Wrestling Club (WC) 67½. 11. Menlo College-NCWA 66½, 12. Iowa State and Slippery Rock University 53, 14. Vanguard University (Costa Mesa, CA) 49½, 15. Springfield (MA) Technical CC 46, 16. UConn 45, 17. University of Albany 42. 18. Wayne State College (Nebraska) 37½, 19. UNLV and Virginia Tech WC 37, 21. Maine Maritime Academy 36, 22. Michigan State WC 34½, 23. Ana G. Mendez (Puerto Rico) 34, 24. Maryland WC 33½, 25. Williamson college of the Trades (Media, PA) 32, 26. Texas A&M 31½, 27. Hillsdale (Michigan) College 30½, 28. Univ. of Idaho and RPI 30, 30. Rowan 28½, 31. Univ of Florida, West Chester, Lyon 27, 34. Northeastern University 26, 35. Clemson 25, 36. Carribbean and Kansas State 24, 38. Colorado State, Florida A&M and Colorado State 22, 40. Stony Brook 20, 41. South Carolina 19½, 42. LSU and Ottawa University Arizona 18½, 44. Fresno State 17½, 45. James Madison 16½, 46. Treasure Valley 16, 47. Grand Canyon 15½, 48. Akron, Florida State and Grand Valley State 14½, 51. Florida Gulf Coast 14, 52. Cincinnati, Monclair State and Western Washington 13½, 55. East Carolina and Sacramento State 13, 57. North Florida 12½, 58. Fontbonne 12, 59. California-Santa Barbara 11, 60. Temple and Xavier-Louisiana 10½, 62. Michigan WC 10, 63. Monmouth, Kennesaw State, Penn State WC 9½, 66. Toledo 9, 67. UMass 8½, 68. MIT and Rutgers 8, 70. Tennessee and Texas State 6, 72. British Columbia, Eastern Washington and Montana State 5½, 75. McNeese State, Pacific Lutheran 5, 77. Arizona WC 4 ½, 78. Rhode Island 3½, 70. Georgia and San Jose State 3, 81. North Texas 2½, 82. Houston-Downtown and Washington 2, 84. Sam Houston State 1
Individual results
Men
125 lbs
Final: Elijah Valencia (Menlo) dec. Trevor Wilcox (Thomas More), 4-1
3. Aiden Scheeringa (Liberty) pin Juan Cantu (Texas A&M), 1:57
5. Julian Sanchez (Menlo-NCWA) dec. Charlie Smiarowski (UCF), 13-2
7. Lucas Vannostrand (Apprentice) tech fall Dominic Ciolli (Ohio State), 17-1
133 lbs
Final: Bruno Alves (Apprentice) dec. Matthew Ellis (Thomas More), 7-2
3. Aidan Medina (Tarleton State) pin Jeremiah Steele (Menlo), 2:12
5. Blaise Verdino (Liberty) dec. Gaetano Tedesco (Florida A&M), 5-4
7. Giancarlo Plaza (Menlo-NCWA) dec. Benjamin Levy (Virginia Tech), 15-4
141 lbs
Final: Zachery Espalin (Tarleton State) tech fall Ryan Wilson (Washington State), 20-4
3. Fernando Barreto (Vanguard) tech fall Ivan Acosta (Menlo), 22-7
5. Ethan Vugman (Florida) pin Garrett Good (Liberty), 1:10
7. Kenneth Lambert (Clemson) dec. Jakob Brown (Apprentice), 7-4
149 lbs
Final: Noah Elliott (Menlo) dec. Thomas Mccane (UCF), 4-1
3. David Norris (Apprentice) dec. Josiah Johnson (Washington State), 2-0
5. Thomas Freking (Iowa State) dec. Zachary Casias (Tarleton State), 13-8
7. Camron Crump (Life) dec. Andrew Brevot (RPI), 3-1
157 lbs
Final: Matox Allen (Liberty) dec. Rafael Garcia (Ana G Mendez), 6-3 SV
3. Lane Snyder (Tarleton State) dec. Ezekiel Lara (Menlo), 6-4
5. Mitchell Helgert (Washington State) pin Sam Gallardo (UNLV), 3:57
7. Enrique Santana (Life) dec. Logan Eastman (Apprentice), 8-6
165 lbs
Final: Joseph Liescheski (Tarleton State) dec. Finn Shepard (Tarleton State), 6-4
3. Keith Brubach (Slippery Rock) tech fall Victor Petkov (UConn), 19-4
5. Landon Kissell (Apprentice) FOR Drake Bowers (Liberty)
7. Jorden Roberts (Life) FOR Seth Borba (Menlo)
174 lbs
Final: Ledger Petracek (Menlo) dec. Nurrideen Ahmad-statts (Williamson Trade), 8-1
3. Ethan Baker (Apprentice) dec. Matthew Riehle (Hillsdale), 4-2
5. Nikita Smatov (Menlo-NCWA) dec. Ronald Black (Liberty), 8-4
7. Matthew Henson (Apprentice) FOR Zachary Kaminski (Liberty)
184 lbs
Final: Graham Carson (Ohio State) pin Maximus Zamora (Menlo), 2:02
3. Josh Seaton (Apprentice) tech fall Ryan Fredette (Maine Maritime), 23-4
5. Connor Cooper (Life) dec. Gavin Blondeaux (Tarleton State), 11-7
7. Ibraheem Ahmed (Tarleton State) dec. Liam Schram (Thomas More), 6-4
197 lbs
Final: Paul Detwiler (Maryland) dec. Diego Morales (Menlo), 9-5
3. Cesar Ubico (Utah Tech) dec. David Darroch (Washington State), 16-2
5. David Mcelravy (Apprentice) dec. Gabriel Hayes (Liberty), 5-0
7. Ryan Krimpelbein (Life) FOR David Mercado (Florida State)
235 lbs
Final: Koby Kidd (Tarleton State) dec. Caleb Hartung (Apprentice), 8-4
3. Keelen Mitcham (Washington State) pin James Baldwin (LSU), 1:26
5. Dylan Jahrling (UNLV) pin Russell Fickett (UCF), 2:42
7. Devin Dudley (Life) FOR Seth Ellsmore (Liberty)
285 lbs
Final: Jonovan Smith (Caribbean) dec. Micah Vuki (Utah Tech), 6-3
3. Ted-Spencer Dacus (Life) dec. Nelson Toro (UCF), 4-2
5. Cole Steketee (Menlo) dec. William Abbott (Life), 4-1
7. Paul Ballard (Iowa State) pin Austin Tischer (Tarleton State), 0:59
Outstanding wrestler: Bruno Alves (Apprentice), 133
Coach of the year: Michah Amrozowicz (Apprentice)
2025 NWCA National Championships brackets and results (FloArena)

Women
2025 NCWA national championships
At Bossier City, Louisiana
Team results – 1. Tarleton State (Texas) 126, 2. Utah Tech  University125½, 3. Ottawa University Arizona 125, 4. Washington State 122, 5. UNLV 110½, 6. Univ. of Central Florida 76½, 7. Western Washington 50, 8. Sacramento State 47½, 9. MIT 43, 10. Treasure Valley 35½, 11. Apprentice School-Newport News, Va. 33, 12. Lyon 29, 13. Liberty 28, 14. Florida A&M 24½, 15. Texas 22½, 16. Grand Valley State 20½, 17. Texas A&M 18, 18. Arizona, Colorado State, Grand Canyon 17, 21. Xavier-Louisiana 16½, 22. Texas State 16, 23. Pacific Lutheran 15½, 17. Springfield (MA) Technical CC 15, 25. Maryland 14½, 26. Florida State and Fontbonne 13, 28. Rhode Island 12, 29. Temple 9½, 30. Northeastern, Tennssee and RPI 8, 33. LSU and Rowan 7, 35. Clemson, East Carolina, Montana State 5½, 38. Kansas State and West Chester5, 40. Georgia 4½. 41. Eastern Washington, 42. Washington and Wayne State College 3, 44. Stonybrook and UCLA 2
Individual results
103 lbs
Final: Makayla Lopez (Ottawa – Arizona) dec. Jasmine Cortez (Texas State), 4-1
3. Lilia Davila ortiz (Western Washington) pin Kaylei Parish (Lyon), 4:16
5. Maddison Parker (Tarleton State) pin Kaelynn Seidl (UNLV), 1:58
110 lbs
Final: Rachel Corley (Tarleton State) pin Emma Graves (Tarleton State), 1:51
3. Krystal Corona (UNLV) dec. Liliana Voakes (Ottawa – Arizona), 8-6
5. Jerymar De jesus (Springfield Tech) pin Rubi Gonzalez (Lyon), 6:41
117 lbs
Final: Mia Shepard (UNLV) dec. Genesis Vazquez (Washington State), 3-2
3. Leah Ben-israel (UCF) dec. Kylie Wood (Tarleton State), 13-3
5. Angelina Walker (Ottawa – Arizona) pin Yalin Tan (Colorado State), 5:32
124 lbs
Final: Sabrina Cunha (Sacramento State) dec. Jada Yamada (Western Washington), 12-9, OT
3. Daniela Martinez (Tarleton State) dec. Reagan Fallon-small (Washington State), 12-3
5. Marisol Peña (Grand Canyon) FOR Madison Moody (Florida State)
131 lbs
Final: Paige Kalish (UCF) dec. Skylar Schaefer (Apprentice), 8-1
3. Mia Garza (Texas) dec. Maysa Brown (UNLV), 10-1
5. Mckinley Jovanovic (Maryland) tech fall Alexa Camacho (Utah Tech), 16-0
138 lbs
Final: Miyuki Pugrad (Sacramento State) dec. Viveca Pannell (MIT), 13-2
3. Lia Hornby (Washington State) pin Anja Hansen (Ottawa – Arizona), 2:30
5. Bella Hernandez (Utah Tech) pin Jasmine Gordon (Fontbonne), 4:33
145 lbs
Final: Veloria Pannell (MIT) dec. Katherine Stewart (UCF), 13-1
3. Ava Collins (Treasure Valley) pin Zariah Rodriguez (Tarleton State), 1:38
5. Mirina Enderlin (Arizona) dec. Ashley Lavarias (Utah Tech), 9-0
160 lbs
Final: Cassandra Freundlich (UNLV) dec. Maya Marroquin (Texas A&M), 9-8
3. Tayleigh Robertson (Utah Tech) pin Natalie Venable (Tarleton State), 4:09
5. Aniyea Dickerson (Florida A&M) pin Iyanla Thomas (Ottawa – Arizona), 1:11
180 lbs
Final: Katie Law (Utah Tech) pin Petra Bernsten (Washington State), 4:50
3. Lyla Tree (Ottawa – Arizona) pin Quetzali Zacarias (Ottawa – Arizona), 4:44
5. Faith Kiefer (Liberty) dec. Krysta Luce (Grand Valley State), 4-1 SV
207 lbs
Final: Renaeh Ureste (UNLV) pin Katrina Wangen (UCF), 6:58
3. Jocelyn Hepler (Utah Tech) pin Karina Delgado urbina (Pacific Lutheran), 1:40
5. Hannah Daniel (Xavier – Louisiana) pin Katherine Meza-perez (UCF), 2:30
240 lbs
Final: Erin Kremer (Washington State) pin O’dessa Laititi (Utah Tech), 1:29
3. Evelynn Coronado (Ottawa – Arizona) DEF Stephanie Romero (Treasure Valley)
Outstanding wrestler: Paige Kalish, Central Florida, 131
Coach of the year: Scott Sherman (Central Florida)
2025 NWCA National Championships brackets and results (FloArena)