Sam Latona, Will Miller, Rafael Hipolito Jr. represent Shelby County at NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships

Published 4:27 pm Friday, March 28, 2025

By Andrew Simonson

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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PHILADELPHIA – In a rare feat, three wrestlers at the 2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships represented Shelby County as they competed against some of the best collegiate wrestlers in the country.

Virginia Tech’s Sam Latona and Rafael Hipolito Jr. and Appalachian State’s Will Miller each took the mat at the Wells Fargo Center, home of the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers, on March 20 and 21 to compete for national championships in their respective weight classes.

Latona, a Thompson graduate and two-time Fargo national champion, who was recovering from hand surgery just one week before nationals, faced off against Bucknell’s Dylan Chappell in the first round of the 141-pound division and lost in a 7-4 decision.

He then matched up with Illinois’ Danny Pucino in the wrestlebacks and fell again in a 12-8 decision to end his season with a 23-11 record.

Latona ends his career as a Hokie as a five-time NCAA qualifier, a two-time All-American in 2021 and 2023 and a four-time ACC finalist, including a 2021 ACC championship. He reached the ACC finals in 2025, where he lost to Virginia’s Dylan Cendeno but received a qualifier into nationals as the No. 12 seed.

Hipolito, a former state champion at Pelham High School, also represented Virginia Tech and walked away with a victory in the 157-pound division.

The redshirt freshman entered nationals as the No. 4 seed and the ACC champion and defeated Harvard’s James Harrington by a 10-3 decision in the first round on Thursday, March 20.

Later that day, he faced off against Northwestern’s Trevor Chumbley and wrestled all the way to tie breakers. However, Chumbley earned the first tiebreaker and secured the upset victory 2-1.

From there, Hipolito faced the No. 19-seeded Cobe Siebrecht in the wrestlebacks on Friday morning and lost to the San Diego State wrestler by a third-period fall at the 4:47-mark of the match.

Hipolito finished the year with a 19-7 record while earning his first conference championship and trip to the national championship.

Miller, a native of Helena and three-time state champion at Thompson, entered the national championship as the No. 13 seed in the 165-pound division. Facing off against Army’s Gunner Filipowicz, the App State senior secured a pinfall at the 4:59-mark to advance into the second round.

However, he would lose there to Utah Valley’s Gunner Filipowicz by an 11-1 major decision on Thursday night to drop into the wrestlebacks.

Miller then ended his season with a 9-1 major-decision loss to Iowa State’s Aiden Riggins on Friday morning.

Miller finished the year with a 22-6 record and as the 2024-25 SoCon Wrestler of the Year after entering the conference tournament as the No. 7-ranked wrestler in his class. He made his third SoCon finals of his career and third NCAA national championship.

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