Top 10 moments for Arizona Athletics in 2025

As 2025 comes to end, we look back on the year and remember some of the best moments for Arizona Athletics.

Here are the top ten moments for from UA sports this past year:

1. Triathlon wins second straight National Championship 

In just its third year of existence, the Arizona triathlon team won its second consecutive national championship. 

After winning its first national championship in Florida last year, almost exactly a year later, the Wildcats repeated history in Tempe. Beating out another Big 12 program in TCU and rival ASU, Arizona earned 927 points.

Senior Kelly Wetteland was crowned the individual national champion, her first in her career. Finishing with a time of 1:02:09, she was the first of five top ten finishers for Arizona.

Margareta Vrablova finished with 1:02:19 for second place,  Ellison Wolfe finished seventh with 1:03:33, Mia Wentzy got eighth place with a time of 1:03:42, and Ruth Pardy rounded out the top ten at tenth place with a time of 1:03:42.

It’s the 24th national championship for Arizona athletics, and next year Wetteland will go for her second national championship. The program will attempt to go for the three-peat.

2. Football brings back Territorial Cup

Coming off of its fourth straight win against Baylor, Arizona football took the bus ride up to Tempe to take on ASU in its regular season finale. 

Behind a desert swarm-like performance by the defense, the Wildcats brought the Territorial Cup back to Tucson with a 23-7 win. Forcing five turnovers and limiting the Sun Devils to 214 total yards, Dalton Johnson led the way with an interception and forced fumble.

After a sloppy first half, Arizona dominated the second half. Cameron Baremore helped give Arizona the lead for the first time with a nine yard touchdown catch. That lead stayed with the Wildcats for the rest of the night. 

When it seemed like ASU was in position to retake the lead, Johnson’s forced fumble snatched that opportunity right out of the hands of the Sun Devils.

The Arizona offense then went on a six minute and 15 second drive that was capped by a one yard Kedrick Reescano touchdown run to put the game away. 

It was the fifth win in a row for the Wildcats and now they have an opportunity to be just the fifth team in Arizona history to win ten games in a season with a win in the Holiday Bowl against SMU.

3. Baseball goes to College World Series

Chip Hale and the Arizona baseball team earned the program’s 19th College World Series appearance after sweeping the Eugene regional and upsetting North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Following a fantastic performance in the Big Baseball Championship with upsets against West Virginia and TCU, the Wildcats earned a spot in the Eugene regional.

Beating Utah Valley and Cal Poly (twice), Arizona advanced to play North Carolina. The Tar Heels torched Arizona in a 18-2 routing. However, the Wildcats responded to force a game three with a 10-8 win.

Arizona trailed 3-1 entering the eighth inning with the lone run coming from Garen Caulfield who hit a solo home run in the second inning.

The comeback started with a leadoff single in the eighth inning from Andrew Cain. Some North Carolina errors and a bunt single from Easton Breyfogle brought in Cain to kick start the scoring.

After Brendan Summerhill was walked, Mason White was able to bring in two runs with a hit up the middle to give Arizona the lead.

Casey Hintz and Tony Pluta closed the doors on North Carolina to help give the Wildcats the 4-3 win to propel Arizona to the College World Series.

The appearance in the College World Series was a rough one. The Wildcats ended up losing to Coastal Carolina 7-4, then to Louisville 8-3.

While the trip to Omaha was short-lived, it is still a major accomplishment for Hale’s team. This season, Arizona will look to get back to Omaha and defend its Big 12 title.

4. Caleb Love hits half-court prayer to help beat Iowa State

In what might be considered the greatest shot in McKale Center history, Caleb Love’s halfcourt heave to send the Iowa State game into OT will always be remembered.

When the third ranked Cyclones came to Tucson, Tommy Lloyd’s squad had kept it close for most of the game. However, Iowa State was about to close out the game. 

That’s when the Caleb Love effect came into play. With 2.2 seconds to play, Love took a couple dribbles then drained a beyond half-court shot to send the game into overtime.

He had shot 1-10 on the night from three, then after his half-court miracle, Love hit two corner threes to help Arizona beat the Cyclones 86-75.

Scoring 22 points on the night, it will be his most memorable moment as an Arizona Wildcat.

5. Noah Fifita breaks Arizona career passing TD record

In the win against Kansas, Noah Fifita put his name into a three way tie for the all-time Arizona passing touchdown record with former Wildcats Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama.

One week later at Cincinnati, Fifita broke that record with a 15 yard touchdown pass to Gio Richardson to help secure a 30-24 upset win against the 25th-ranked Bearcats.

He finished the game going 23 of 31 for 294 yards and his lone record breaking touchdown pass. 

Fifita finished the regular season with 2,963 passing yards and 26 passing touchdowns. It is one of the greatest statistical performances by an Arizona quarterback. 

Since coming in for an injured Jayden de Laura in 2023, Fifita has not let the reins of the offense go. He is now a known name around the city of Tucson, and when it is all said and done he may be the greatest player in Arizona football history.

6. Women’s golf wins Arizona’s first Big 12 championship

Beginning the day in fifth place, Arizona women’s golf forced a three-way playoff against Oklahoma State and ASU. 

With a final score of 20 over par, the Wildcats beat out the Sun Devils by one shot to secure Arizona first ever Big 12 championship for any athletic program. 

Nena Wongnthanavimok tied for the runner-up position with an even par, while Charlotte Back finished in the top 10.

In her first year as head coach, Giovana Maymon has created momentum going into her second season.

7. Men’s tennis wins Big 12 championship

Clancy Shields and the men’s tennis team captured its first Big 12 championship, beating out UCF in a 4-1 match. 

Following wins against Texas Tech and Baylor, the Wildcats were looking for revenge from its earlier loss in the season to UCF in Tucson.

However, Arizona did not get off to the start it wanted to. It dropped the doubles point after close losses by its three pairs. Arizona now needed to rely on its singles matches to comeback and win.

Fortunately for the Wildcats, the veteran leadership showed up. First to finish was Jay Friend with 6-2, 6-4 wins. He was followed by Casper Christensen who had two 6-3 wins to give Arizona the lead.

Colton Smith also had two 6-3 wins to put the Wildcats in a spot to clinch the championship. Alexander Rozin was the Wildcat to officially win the championship for Arizona.

The Wildcats took that confidence from winning the Big 12 championship all the way to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament. Arizona was eventually eliminated by Virginia.

8. Volleyball makes it to the NCAA Tournament

Last season, Charita Stubbs and the volleyball team won the NIVC championship after falling short of the NCAA tournament. This season, the Wildcats earned their spot in the tournament.

Finishing the regular season at 16-13, Arizona got a spot in the Stanford regional.

In its first round matchup Arizona beat South Dakota State 3-1. The trip to the tournament was cut short after a 3-1 loss to Stanford.

The Cardinal dominated the first set, but the Wildcats responded with a second set win. Then the home crowd advantage took over to help Stanford win the next two sets.

Led by Jordan Wilson, who had 499 kills on the season, the tournament appearance is a huge step forward for Stubbs’ program. 

However, next season the Wildcats will be without Wilson, as well as starting setter Avery Scoggins who transferred to Vanderbilt.

Arizona does return sophomore star Carlie Cisneros, who was behind Wilson in kills with 347. This season also brought a new Taraflex court to McKale, just another sign that the volleyball program is going in the right direction.

9. Four Wildcats taken in NFL Draft 

In the 2024 NFL draft, Arizona had three Wildcats taken by three different NFL teams. Jordan Morgan, Jacob Cowing, and Tanner McLachlan all joined the league.

That mark was exceeded in this year’s draft when four more Arizona players were selected by NFL teams. 

Tetairoa McMillan was drafted to the Carolina Panthers, Jonah Savaiinaea was drafted to the Miami Dolphins, Tyler Loop was drafted to the Baltimore Ravens, and Jacory Croskey-Merritt was drafted to the Washington Commanders.

Savaiinaea and Crokey-Merritt have both been nice additions to their respective franchises. Loop is now one of the more talented and efficient kickers in the NFL, while McMillan is the favorite to win the NFL rookie of the year.

The four Wildcats taken were the most players taken from Arizona since 2008.

10. Softball’s postseason achievements

While it did not end in the way Arizona wanted to, getting to the Big 12 championship and hosting an NCAA regional is a huge accomplishment for Caitlin Lowe’s team.

In the Big 12 championship, the Wildcats beat UCF and Iowa State to earn a spot in the championship game against Texas Tech. 

Arizona did get shut out in a 4-0 loss, but getting to the championship helped to earn an opportunity to host an NCAA regional.

In the first game against Santa Clara, Sydney Stewart’s grand slam helped Arizona advance to play Ole Miss. The Rebels beat the Wildcats in the second game, forcing Arizona to play extra games.

A hard fought win against GCU set up a rematch against Ole Miss, where Arizona won in five innings. It all came down to a third game between the Rebels and Wildcats.

Ole Miss opened the first inning with four runs to take a 4-0 lead. Arizona responded with two runs but it was all Rebels the rest of the game. Stewart homered in the third but at that point Ole Miss had the game well in control.

Nevertheless, the postseason gave Lowe’s team an opportunity to learn and gain experience for hopefully future postseason success.

Honorable Mention: Men’s wheelchair basketball wins National Championship

While it may not be an official program for Arizona athletics, it is definitely worth noting that the men’s wheelchair basketball team did bring a championship to Tucson.

Beating UT Arlington 75-65 in the NWBA championship, senior Justyn Newman helped to bring the first championship home for the 50 year old program. He was named MVP following his 26 point championship performance. 

It was the third straight year that Arizona was in the championship game, but the third time was the charm. 

Next year’s championship will be hosted at McKale Center. The team will have a chance to defend its championship title on its home court in the spring.