PHILADELPHIA – The 2025 NCAA Wrestling Championships kicked off on Thursday with a day full of drama and intrigue. Mixed into the heart of the excitement were three Roadrunner wrestlers, two of whom advanced to Day 2 of NCAAs with strong performances.

AJ Ferrari, the 3-seed in the 197 pound bracket, won both of his matches handily on the way to a Quarterfinals berth on Friday. Meanwhile, Bakersfield native Jake Andrews recovered from a first-round loss to win his second match and keep his hopes of All-American honors alive.

Ferrari opened the tournament with a convincing, 8-1 victory over West Virginia's Ian Bush. Bakersfield's standout wrestler went on to cruise to a win over #19 Andy Smith (Virginia Tech), 5-1.

Friday's quarterfinal matchup will see #3 Ferrari taking on #6 Mac Stout of Pitt in the morning session.

Ferrari is now 18-0 on the season and is in strong contention to become a repeat NCAA Champion, having won the 197-pound title as a true freshman in 2021 as a member of the Oklahoma State squad.

Andrews, a true senior from graduated from Frontier High School, went toe-to-toe with Rutgers' Yaraslau Slavikouski, but dropped a 4-2 decision. Andrews bounced back, taking a 4-2 victory over Hayden Filipovich (Purdue).

The victory sends Andrews to Day 2 where he will face off against a familiar foe: Trevor Tinker of Cal Poly. Friday morning's heavyweight matchup between the two Pac-12 foes will be the rubber match of the season. Andrews won 8-1 at the Roadrunner Open while Tinker won 8-0 in the Pac-12 Final. Andrews is 1-4 all-time vs. Tinker, but the Bakersfield native is having his best season by far with a 24-4 record as of today.

Bakersfield's 125-pound NCAA Qualifier, Richard Castro-Sandoval, bowed out of the tournament after going 0-2 on the day. The native of Santa Ynez, Calif. came in as the #31 seed and put up a strong battle against #2 Matt Ramos (Purdue) before falling 11-3. Castro-Sandoval's final match of his first NCAAs was a 7-2 decision, falling against Pac-12 foe Maximo Renteria (Oregon State) in a rematch of the Pac-12 Semifinals.

Friday morning's action will begin at 9 a.m. (PT) with all matches streaming live on ESPN+. Overall coverage will also be live on ESPNU.

~GoRunners.com~