By: Drew Wilson/Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications & Administration

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Senior Mason Barrett made his case for arguably becoming the best wrestler to come out of Averett University’s young program so far by battling back to place third at 125 pounds at the 2025 NCAA Division III National Championships, which finished up Saturday at the Amica Mutual Pavilion.

Barrett walked off the mat for the final time a winner, avenging two losses earlier in the season to Ferrum College’s Zach Beckner to claim third place in a double-overtime thriller.

“It was either take fourth or take third, and I wanted to take third,” said Barrett, who earned All-America accolades for the third consecutive year. “I kept pushing through until I got that win.”

Entering the national tournament, Beckner had gotten the best of Barrett this season. In fact, Barrett never scored a point against the almost 27-year-old Beckner, who was a 2017 NCAA national runner-up. Beckner won 6-0 during the regular season dual, and then won 8-0 over Barrett in the NCAA Region 4 final hosted at Averett to prevent Barrett from winning three consecutive region titles. For two guys from the same area who wrestled from the same club program, it seemed only fitting that they got a rematch on the national stage. Neither budged during the opening period, and each only scored one point from an escape after starting on bottom over the next two periods. After neither could score a point in sudden victory, the match went to the tiebreaker. Although Barrett gave up a point on a penalty in the final second of the first tiebreaker period, he made up for it with an escape early in the second tiebreaker period, and used the large margin of riding time he accumulated in the first tiebreaker period to seal the win in the tiebreaker scenario.

“We wanted to try not to give up big points like I did the last two matches against him,” Barrett said. “I got in two scrambles. That first match, I got in a scramble at the very end of the period, and in the second match I got caught at the end of the match. I felt if I didn’t give up any points at the end of the period, I’d be fine. I was trying to get the first takedown, but that didn’t go my way. So ultimately, I had to ride it out and be patient.”

The patience paid off. Barrett’s third-place finish is the best finish by a Cougars at the NCAA National Championships, only matching Sam Braswell‘s third-place finish at the 2021 NWCA National Championships that were held in lieu of the NCAA not hosting an NCAA Tournament during the second year of the pandemic.

For an Averett wrestling program that values progression, Barrett is the poster child. Over the last three seasons as he’s qualified for nationals, he’s improved his placement each year. He finished sixth as a sophomore, fifth as a junior and now third as a senior. And his progression was evident this year by battling back from a tough loss in the national semifinals to win the next two matches to finish strong and seal third place.

Barrett went 3-0 on the opening day Friday at the national tournament, earning him a spot in the 125 semifinals to start Saturday’s action. Barrett, making his second consecutive national semifinals appearance at 125 pounds, ran into two-time defending national champion Joziah Fry of host school Johnson & Wales University in this year’s semifinal matchup. Fry struck first, getting an early takedown. After Barrett got an escape, Fry earned another takedown late in the period to go up 6-1. Averett won two challenges on Fry takedowns to keep the margin at six, and Barrett secured an escape on bottom in Period 2 to get within 6-2. In the third period, Fry escaped and got another late takedown. Although Barrett escaped, he ran out of time as Fry earned the major decision win 11-3 to advance to his third consecutive national finals.

Fry will face North Central College’s Christian Guzman in a rematch of last year’s national championship at 125. Guzman edged Barrett 5-3 in last year’s semifinal, and Guzman returned to this year’s final with a 13-4 major decision over Beckner of Ferrum.

The semifinal loss to Fry put Barrett in the consolation semifinals, where he faced University of Southern Maine’s Jake Craig for a chance to get to the third-place match. Craig led 1-0 through the first two periods, but Barrett took over in the third. After starting on bottom, Barrett got a reversal and a four-point nearfall in the first 34 seconds, then added a takedown and four-point nearfall late on his way to a 14-2 major decision to send him to the third-place match against Beckner, which he won.

“The national tournament is a wave of emotions just in general, especially with him closing the gap against the two-time defending national champion, taking a tough loss there and having to wrestle back,” said Braswell, now an assistant coach for Averett. “The one thing he and I talked about was he has never been able to bounce back in the consolation semis and he was able to do that earlier today by wrestling his tail off. And then he won his third-place match against somebody who he’s lost to twice this year. That just goes to show how much he’s grown up through the program and also just within a couple of weeks. That’s a testament to him and all the hard work he puts in. I’m proud of him. It’s a strong argument that he might be the best wrestler ever at Averett now.”

Averett head coach Blake Roulo, who has now produced 10 All-Americans (including the NWCA selections in 2020 and 2021 when no NCAA national tournament was held), said Braswell’s work with Barrett is a huge part of Barrett’s success at Averett.

“It’s an amazing career and he’s an amazing kid, seeing his growth and how he’s developed and matured over the years” Roulo said. “It’s been awesome to be a part of his progression. Braswell has a lot to do with his success.”

Barrett bouncing back after the semifinal loss to Fry and overcoming the history this season with Beckner showed that progression and growth.

“You may have some bumps in the road,” Roulo said. “Like he’s a two-time regional champ and this year he takes a loss there in the final. So how do you bounce back from that? Do you feel back and let it mess with your head? No. There isn’t a match here at nationals that I’m disappointed in. I thought he did amazing. … An amazing career. I’m really proud of him.”

And now, Roulo said let the debate begin.

“There’s now a real argument as to who is the best Averett 125-pounder of all-time,” Roulo said. “Is it Sam Braswell or is it Mason Barrett? … Those two are exceptional.”

To read the full release, including final results, please click HERE.