AJ Ferrari continues to be the most entertaining personality in college wrestling. The controversial 23-year-old is constantly doing something that is just a little bit out of the ordinary and his latest antics during the NCAA Tournament was not the exception.
He randomly decided to perform a five-second headstand in the middle of his second round match.
Ferrari, a fifth-year redshirt sophomore, could technically continue his college wrestling career until the age of 25. Three of his first five years did not count toward his eligibility. It has been a whirlwind.
The 197-pound folkstyle wrestler burst onto the scene as a freshman at Oklahoma State in 2021. Ferrari delivered one of the most exhilarating interviews of all-time after he won the national championship.
A.J. Ferrari just gave the most pumped up interview of all-time after winning the NCAA championship at 197lbs ⚡️😂pic.twitter.com/n3Zye4RuCe
— BroBible (@BroBible) March 21, 2021
However, his undefeated 2022 season was then cut short at 10-0 when he crashed into an oncoming vehicle while trying to pass in a no-passing zone. Ferrari suffered from internal bleeding and fluid in the lungs, which prevented him from getting back onto the mat. The future of his career was initially uncertain but he made a full recovery.
Unfortunately, the problems did not stop there. AJ Ferrari was charged with sexual battery in August 2022 and left Oklahoma State shortly thereafter. His charges were eventually dropped, which allowed him to return to college wrestling as a free agent. Penn State had interest. Northern Colorado got in the mix. Iowa also gave him an opportunity but he punched one of his potential future teammates and flipped him the double birds during an early-season tournament so that didn’t work out.
In the end, Ferrari decided to wrestle as an independent because all of the schools that offered him did so with stipulations. They were prepared to kick him off the team if he made another mistake.
Ferrari took a redshirt in 2023 and an Olympic redshirt in 2024. He remained on the open market with three years of eligibility remaining until Cal State Bakersfield gave him another chance without any caveats.
Cal State Bakersfield was the one school that came to me and said, “No matter what happens, we’re gonna support you. You make a mistake, we’re gonna help make you into the best person. Because we know who you are as a person.” The stuff people make me out to be? BS. Just because I make one mistake doesn’t mean I’m a bad person.
People make mistakes as a young man… You don’t fully develop your mind until you’re 25. I feel like a lot of people judge me, and they don’t see that I’ve really grown.
— A.J. Ferrari
Grown or not, Ferrari joined the Roadrunners in 2025 and went undefeated at 17-0. The NCAA gave him a three-seed for the NCAA Tournament, which paired him with Virginia Tech super-senior Andy Smith during the second round.
Ferrari advanced to the quarterfinals with a 5-1 decision over the Hokies’ wrestler but the win was not the headline. He randomly decided to hit a five-second headstand in the middle of the match.
#3 AJ Ferrari (CSUB) advances to the Quarterfinals with a 5-1 decision over #19 Andy Smith (VT), hit a ~5 secong headstand en route to victory. pic.twitter.com/wutqBkBm0b
— Saturday Night Lights (@WrestlingSNL) March 21, 2025
Some people will make the argument that his headstand built leverage for the roll-through tilt. That may be true to some extent but we all know the real reason for the unusual technique. AJ Ferrari gets the people going. Like him or not, the controversial 23-year-old college wrestling star is a showman.