Provo finishes NCAA tournament with six-match winning streak and third place

Stanford’s Nico Provo (125) won his final six matches of the NCAA tournament to finish third. (Photo courtesy Sam Janicki /SJanickiPhoto.com)

Stanford’s Nico Provo saw his dream of a national championship disappear in the second round of the NCAA Division I wrestling championships in a 4-2 loss to eventual finalist Marc-Anthony McGowan of Princeton at 125 pounds on Friday night in Cleveland.

That seemed to light a spark inside the junior from Stratford, who wrestled at Greens Farms Academy in Westport.

Provo won six consecutive matches to finish third at 125 pounds, earning All-American honors for the first time. He went 7-1, winning the most matches in a single NCAA Division I tournament by a state wrestler. Danbury’s Kevin Jack went 5-1 when he finished third for North Carolina State in 2017.

In his final six matches in the consolation bracket, Provo had a combined 16 takedowns and gave up just 14 points – on 14 escapes. He never trailed in his final six bouts.

On Saturday, he beat Indiana’s Jacob Moran, 8-1 in the consolation finals and finished third with a 10-2 win over North Carolina State’s Vincent Robinson, who won the NCAA title at 125 a year ago.

“The goal is to be national champion and sometimes in life, you’re plan falls short. But you go out and get the next best thing,” he said in a post-tournament interview with USA Wrestling. “That is a good life lesson. It’s a big weight off my back for sure.”

Provo was one of four All-American wrestlers for Stanford, who finished sixth – the best finish in program history. Teammate Aden Valencia, a redshirt freshman, won a national title at 149 pounds with an overtime win over top seed Shanye Van Ness of Penn State.

Provo (20-6) beat Robinson for the third time this season. He beat Robinson in overtime on January 16 when Robinson was the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the country. He beat Robinson for a second time about two weeks ago in the ACC Tournament semifinals, 4-2.

“He’s a great competitor,” Provo said of Robinson. “Three times wrestling that guy? Tough. He’s a good competitor and makes me better. It was a lot of fun. I wish there was more matches though.”

He cracked a smile.

This was Provo’s third NCAA appearance. He qualified in 2023 and 2024. He missed the tournament last year, sitting out the season with a redshirt.

Provo won his opening match of the tournament on Thursday with an 8-2 win over Cooper Flynn of Chattanooga before losing to McGowan.

Then, he went on his six-match tear.

“I never felt better going into a tournament,” he said. “That’s the design of the program. And this year I just got immensely better week by week.”

In December, Provo lost back-to-back matches to North Dakota State’s Ezekiel Witt and Penn State’s Luke Lilledahl at the Journeyman duals in Pennsylvania to fall to 5-3 on the season.

He went to assistant coach Sean Gray. “What is it going to take,” Provo asked. “And he told me, ‘Make a promise to me right now that no matter what happens, whatever I say, you’ll do.’ And that was it.”

Provo won eight of his final 10 matches of the season, losing in the ACC championship match to Virginia Tech’s Eddie Ventresca.

What was Gray’s advice to Provo?

“Just believe in myself. Believe in my abilities and believe our coaches and in our system,” Provo said. “It’s nice to have good teammates who believe it with you. It makes it a lot easier.”

Practice also included most reps in positions that can be helpful in competitive matches.

“That’s the cool part about Division I wrestling. Everyone is worthy,” he said.

Provo finished with his third 20-win season. He was 20-11 in 2023 and 20-8 in 2024. He is one of six Connecticut wrestlers to earn All-American honors at the NCAA Division I tournament and the first since Danbury’s Ryan Jack finished seventh for North Carolina State in 2024. Provo’s third place is the best finish for a 125 pound wrestler in Stanford’s wrestling history.

Connecticut All-Americans