Northwestern Wrestler Named All-American After Stunning Upsets

Trevor Chumbley wrapped up his collegiate career as a Wildcat in style.

Northwestern wrestler Trevor Chumbley receives his trophy after placing fourth at the NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 22, 2025. | Photo: Northwestern Athletics

Graduate student wrestler Trevor Chumbley failed to place at the Big Ten Championships. Two weeks later, the fifth-year was honored as an All-American.

Northwestern's Chumbley needed an at-large bid to sneak into the NCAA Wrestling Championships and received the No. 20 seed in the 157-pound weight class. From there, Chumbley pulled off three consecutive upsets to advance to the semifinal match.

He first took down No. 13 Jared Hill (Wyoming) in a 2-0 decision, then defeated No. 4 Rafael Hipolito (Virginia Tech) in a tiebreaker to get to the quarterfinals. Chumbley wrestled his way to a 6-4 decision over No. 12 Caleb Fish (Oklahoma State), securing his first career All-American honor and at least a sixth-place finish.

Joining No. 20-ranked Chumbley among the four wrestlers in contention for the 157-pound national title were the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 8 seeds, making the Wildcat the lowest-seeded competitor to reach the semifinals. Wisconsin's No. 14-ranked Zan Fugitt at 133 pounds was the next-lowest and placed fourth in his weight class.

Chumbley fell to No. 8 Joey Blaze (Purdue), who eventually became the national runner-up, in a 4-2 decision and dropped to the consolation bracket. The fifth-year then pulled off his fourth and final upset of the NCAA Championships, defeating No. 7 Vinny Zerban (Northern Colorado) with a 5-3 decision.

Big Ten Champion Tyler Kasak got the best of Chumbley in the third-place match via an 8-0 major decision. Chumbley's fourth-place finish is the highest by a Northwestern wrestler since Ryan Deakin won the National Championship in 2022; he's also just the third 157-pound Wildcat ever to place fourth or higher at the meet.

The 2025 Championships marked Chumbley's third consecutive year at the national meet, following his wins in one match in 2024 and two matches in 2023.

Chumbley was one of four Wildcats to compete in this year's NCAA Championships. Northwestern 165-pounder Maxx Mayfield went 2-2 on the weekend, while 197-pounder Evan Bates was 1-2 and 149-pounder Sam Cartella finished winless.