174-Pound Pre-Season NCAA Wrestling Preview & Predictions
174-Pound Pre-Season NCAA Wrestling Preview & Predictions
A preview with predictions for the 2024-25 season at 174-pound weight class in Division 1 college wrestling.
It’s almost time for the college wrestling season and we’re previewing every weight class before the season starts. In the below article, I preview 174-pounds by breaking down the names and dates you need to know to help you get prepared for the college season.
Other NCAA weight class previews: 125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 165 | 184 | 197 | 285
Departed
- Carter Starocci, Penn State (moving up)
- Shane Griffith, Michigan (done)
- Mekhi Lewis, Virginia Tech (done)
- Ben Pasiuk, Army (done)
- Edmond Ruth, Illinois (moving up)
Moving In
- Keegan O’Toole, Missouri (up from 165)
- Levi Haines, Penn State (up from 157)
- Dean Hamiti, Oklahoma State (up from 165)
- Lenny Pinto, Nebraska (down from 184)
- Clayton Whiting, Minnesota (down from 184)
Coming Off Of Redshirt
- Gabe Arnold, Iowa
- Nelson Brands, Iowa
- Simon Ruiz, Cornell
- Dan Braunagel, Illinois
- Matthew Singleton, NC State
- Lorenzo Norman, Stanford
Coming Back Off Of Injury
- Joshua Ogunsanya, North Carolina
- Carson Kharchla, Ohio State (the starter will likely be Rocco Welsh, but Welsh could redshirt)
Important Dates
- Nov 16 - Levi Haines vs Rocco Welsh
- Dec 6/7 - CKLV
- Dec 22 - Levi Haines vs Keegan O’Toole
- Jan 17 - Levi Haines vs Lenny Pinto
- Jan 25 - Rocco Welsh vs Gabe Arnold/Nelson Brands
- Jan 31 - Levi Haines vs Gabe Arnold/Nelson Brands
- Feb 2 - Keegan O’Toole vs Dean Hamiti
- Feb 7 - Lenny Pinto vs Gabe Arnold/Nelson Brands
- Feb 14 - Levi Haines vs Rocco Welsh
- Feb 23 - Dean Hamiti vs Gabe Arnold/Nelson Brands
The Favorites
- #1 Keegan O’Toole, Missouri
- #2 Levi Haines, Penn State
I can’t recall another time in recent history when two NCAA champions moved into the same weight class in the same year. Keegan O’Toole won the 165 lb title in 2022 and 2023 before being stopped by David Carr in the semifinals last season. Levi Haines took 2nd as a true freshman in 2022 before winning the 157 lb title last year. Now, they're both at 174!
We got a preview of this potential NCAA final at the 2024 Senior World Team Trials. If there were any questions about Haines’ ability to move up in weight and still use his horsepower, he put those to rest. The Nittany Lion won handily 6-0. Now, this was a consolation freestyle match, so while I think it’s a very relevant data point, I’m not 100% certain this would be replicated in an important in-season folkstyle match.
Watch Haines and O’Toole’s match from 2024 World Team Trials below.
The Contenders
- #3 Rocco Welsh, Ohio State
- #4 Cade DeVos, SDSU
- #5 Dean Hamiti, Oklahoma State
- #6 Lenny Pinto, Nebraska
- #7 Gabe Arnold/Nelson Brands, Iowa
2024 174 lb NCAA finalist Rocco Welsh is the highest-returning placer at this weight. He went 24-5 en route to making the finals last season as a true freshman before losing to Carter Starocci. With the experience of an NCAA tournament plus another year of college training under his belt, Welsh is going to be dangerous this season.
Hear from Rocco Welsh after avenging his regular season losses to Edmond Ruth in the NCAA semis below.
Cade DeVos is the quintessential South Dakota State wrestler - nothing incredibly flashy, but gritty and consistent improvement. The Iowa native went from a 14-11 national qualifier freshman season to 26-3 5th-place season last year. The Big 12 champion with only a loss to Shane Griffith, DeVos was the two seed headed into NCAAs last year.
Dean Hamiti has been one of the most fun wrestlers to watch at 165 lbs for the past three years and I don’t expect this season at 174 lbs to be any different. The interesting thing about Hamiti is that while he has struggled to defeat the NCAA finalist tier of wrestlers, he almost always destroys everyone he is ranked ahead of. He is a guy I think will benefit tremendously from the tutelage of David Taylor. A 2X All-American while at Wisconsin the past three seasons, Hamiti has a career record of 81 - 14. Surprisingly, the only time he met Keegan O’Toole was at the 2022 All-Star Classic where it was all O’Toole 7-1. Can a new head coach and weight class change that outcome?
Watch Dean Hamiti and Keegan O’Toole’s 2022 All-Star Classic match below.
Lenny Pinto is a big question mark for me this year. He was a strong, powerful, and full-sized 184-pounder, but is being squeezed down to 174 with Silas Alred coming down to 184 so that Camden McDanel can get in the lineup for the Huskers at 197. If he can keep his horsepower and stamina, he’s going to be problems. He had wins last season over Dustin Plott, Bernie Truax, and Bennett Berge. When he’s at his best, Pinto is a bad man.
The Iowa 174 lb situation is a tough one, but a good problem to have if you’re a Hawkeye. It sounds like both Gabe Arnold and Nelson Brands are planning to start the season at 174 lbs and try and win the spot. Brands finished 5th place at this weight in 2023 but was sidelined last year while serving a suspension for violating the NCAA’s gambling policy. Gabe Arnold came in for a handful of duals as a true freshman and did exceptional beating All-Americans Travis Whitlake, Lennox Wolak, and Wil Feldkamp while only losing to Dustin Plott 5-1. Patrick Kennedy was the starter at the end of the year and finished 18-8 losing in the bloodround at NCAAs to Mekhi Lewis. I believe Kennedy will also be throwing his hat in the ring at 174. You can watch him compete for a U23 World title this week live on Flo!
The ‘Keep An Eye On Him’ Tier Guys
- #8 Lennox Wolak, Virginia Tech
- #12 Simon Ruiz, Cornell
- Matthew Singleton, NC State
- #14 Clayton Whiting, Minnesota
Lennox Wolak will have a new home in Blacksburg, Virginia this season after All-Americaning in his final season last year at Columbia. Wolak is a guy with a judo background who can go feet-to-back on just about anyone.
Listen to Wolak talk about his judo background below.
You might be less familiar with the other three names on this list. Simon Ruiz was the #27 overall recruit coming out of high school in 2023. While in redshirt last season he went 14-1 with 12 bonus point victories. One of his decision wins came over Wolak. His only loss was to Rocco Welsh in overtime 4-1.
Watch Ruiz beat Wolak at the 2023 Calrion Open below.
Matthew Singleton and Clayton Whiting are both one year older than Ruiz. Singleton was the #10 recruit in the class of 2022 and Whiting the #32. Singleton was thrown into the lineup as a true freshman at NC State at 165 lbs two years ago and he struggled going 10-7 and failing to qualify for the national championship. However, I believe 165 was too low and 174 is the right weight for him. This is a guy who beat Welsh in the Super 32 finals.
Whiting, on the other hand, struggled to find the starting lineup come post-season time while he was at Missouri. Despite beating Colton Hawks in competition, the Missouri staff opted to sit Whiting behind Hawks as Hawks had better wins. Now Whiting is at Minnesota and down to a weight class where he will be in the starting lineup.
Predictions
- Keegan O’Toole, Missouri
- Levi Haines, Penn State
- Dean Hamiti, Oklahoma State
- Rocco Welsh, Ohio State
- Gabe Arnold/Nelson Brands, Iowa
- Cade DeVos, SDSU
- Lenny Pinto, Nebraska
- Simon Ruiz, Cornell