NCAA wrestling championships 2026 bracket, schedule, participants, seeds

As much of the college sports world is consumed by the madness of March and the upcoming NCAA men’s basketball tournament, another winter sport will soon be determining its champions.

The seeding and brackets for the 2026 NCAA Division I wrestling championships were released on Wednesday, March 11, with wrestlers and teams across the country learning the route they’ll need to traverse to earn immortality in their sport.

REQUIRED READING: Big Ten wrestling championships Day 2 results, NCAA qualifiers: Penn State wins

Unsurprisingly, heavy favorite Penn State placed seven wrestlers as the No. 1 seed in their respective weight classes, including Luke Lilledahl (125 pounds); Shayne Van Ness (149); PJ Duke (157); Mitchell Mesenbrink (165); Levi Haines (174); Rocco Welsh (184) and Josh Barr (197).

The other No. 1 seeds are Jax Forrest of Oklahoma State (133 pounds); Jesse Mendoza of Ohio State (141 pounds); and Yonger Bastida of Iowa State (heavyweights).

The NCAA had previously announced 42 at-large selections for the championships on Tuesday, March 10. Those wrestlers will join the 288 athletes who had already qualified through their finishes in conference tournaments.

Who’s heading to Cleveland from March 19-21 for their shot at a national championship? Here’s a look at the participants and brackets for the 2026 men’s NCAA Wrestling Championships:

125 pounds

1. Luke Lilledahl, Penn State vs. No. 32 Caleb Uhlenhopp, Utah Valley/33 Sam Goin, Indiana
2. Eddie Vantresca, Virginia Tech vs. No. 31 Desmond Pleasant, Drexel
3. Nic Bouzakis, Ohio State vs. No. 30 Sulayman Bah, Colorado
4. Sheldon Seymour, Lehigh vs. No. 29 Tyler Chappell, Pittsburgh
5. Troy Spratley, Oklahoma State vs. No. 28 Andrew Binni, Navy
6. Jore Volk, Minnesota vs. No. 27 Brady Roark, San Diego State
7. Nico Provo, Stanford vs. No. 26 Cooper Flynn, Chattanooga
8. Dean Peterson, Iowa vs. Kael Lauridsen, Nebraska
9. Maximo Renteria, Oregon State vs. No. 24 Ayden Smith, Rutgers
10. Marc-Anthony McGowan, Princeton vs. No. 23 Nicolar Rivera, Wisconsin
11. Tyler Klinsky, Rider vs. No. 22 Davis Motyka, Penn
12. Vincent Robinson, NC State vs. No. 21 Conrad Hendriksen, Oklahoma
13. Stevo Poulin, Iowa State vs. No. 20 Diego Sotelo
14. Jacob Moran, Indiana vs. No. 19 Kysen Terukina, North Carolina
15. Koda Holeman, Cal Poly vs. 18. Spencer Moore, Illinois
16. Ezekiel Witt, North Dakota State vs. No. 17 Jett Strickenberger, West Virginia

133 pounds

1. Jax Forrest, Oklahoma State vs. 32 Andrew Austin, Oklahoma/33 Carter Schmidt, Central Michigan
2. Ben Davino, Ohio State vs. 31 Gable Strickland, Lock Haven
3. Marcus Blaze, Penn State vs. 30 Gabe Whisenhunt, Oregon State
4. Aaron Seidel, Virginia Tech vs. 29 Luke Willochell, Wyoming
5. Kyler Larkin, Arizona State vs. 28 Garrett Grice, Iowa State
6. Drake Ayala, Iowa vs. 27 Marcel Lopez, SIU Edwardsville
7. Lucas Byrd, Illinois vs. 26 Dylan Shawver, Rutgers
8. Markel Baker, Northern Illinois vs 25 Will Betancourt, Rider
9. Dominick Serrano, Northern Colorado vs. 24 Blake Boarman, Purdue
10. Maximillan Leete, American vs. 23 Braxton Brown, Maryland
11. Tyler Ferrara, Cornell vs. 22 Zach Redding, NC State
12. Evan Mougalian, Penn vs. 21 Sean Spidle, Northwestern
13. Jacob Van Dee, Nebraska vs. 20 Julian Farber, Northern Iowa
14. Ethan Berginc, Army vs. 19 Gage Walker, Missouri
15. Tyler Knox, Stanford vs. 18 Gunner Andrick, West Virginia
16. Zan Fugitt, Wisconsin vs. 17 T.K. Davis, Garnder-Webb

141 pounds

1. Jesse Mendoza, Ohio State vs. No. 32 Matthew Martino, Princeton/No. 33 Aldo Hernandez, Appalachian State
2. Sergio Vega, Oklahoma State vs. No. 31 Billy DeKraker, Northwestern
3. Brock Hardy, Nebraska vs. No. 30 Dario Lemus, Maryland
4. Anthony Echemendia, Iowa State vs. No. 29 Jordan Titus, West Virginia
5. Luke Stanich, Lehigh vs. No. 28 Pierson Manville, Arizona State
6. Vince Cornella, Cornell vs. No. 27 Gable Porter, Virginia
7. Nasir Bailey, Iowa vs. No. 26 Braden Basile, Army
8. Vance VomBaur, Minnesota vs. No. 25 Tom Crook, Virginia Tech
9. Joey Oliveri, Rutgers vs. No. No. 24 Nash Singelton, Oregon State
10. Jack Consiglio, Stanford, vs. No. 23 Dylan Chappell, Bucknell
11. CJ Composto, Penn vs. No. 22 Lorenzo Frezza, Colorado
12. Luke Simcox, North Carolina vs. NO. 21 Tyler Wells, Oklahoma
13. Wyatt Henson, Lock Haven vs. No. 20 Julian Tagg, South Dakota State
14. Braeden Davis, Penn State vs. No. 19 Haiden Drury, Utah Valley
15. Elijah Griffin, Rider vs. No. 18 Carter Nogle, Air Force
16. Ryan Jack, NC State vs. No. 17 Caedyn Ricciardi, Navy

149 pounds

1. Shayne Van Ness, Penn State vs. No. 32 Clayton Jones, Michigan State/No. 33 Austin McBurney, Brown
2. Jaxon Joy, Cornell vs. No. 31 Ryan Michaels, Edinboro
3. Cross Wasilewski, Penn vs. No. 30 Dylan Layton, Rider
4. Collin Gaj, Virginia Tech vs. No. 29 Kaden Cassidy, George Mason
5. Koy Buesgens, NC State vs. No. 28 Kade Brown, Pitt
6. Caleb Tyus, SIU Edwardsville vs. No. 27 Andre Gonzales, Cal Poly
7. Ethan Stiles, Ohio State vs. No. 26 Anderson Heap, Davidson
8. Casey Swiderski, Oklahoma State vs. No. 25 Michael Gioffre, Illinois
9. David Evans, Utah Valley vs No. 24 Andrew Clark, Rutgers
10. Aden Valencia, Stanford vs. No. 23 Max Peterson, North Dakota State
11. Lachlan McNeil, Michigan vs. No. 22 Eligh Rivera, Princeton
12. Carter Young, Maryland vs. No. 21 Gabe Willochell, Wyoming
13. Joseph Zargo, Wisconsin vs. No. 20 Chance Lamer, Nebraska
14. Caleb Rathjen, Northern Iowa vs. No. 19 Brock Herman, UALR
15. Ryder Block, Iowa vs. No. 18 Eugene Harney, Morgan State
16. Jacob Frost vs. No. 17 Lucas Kapusta, Lock Haven

157 pounds

1. PJ Duke, Penn State vs. No. 32 Jeb Prechtel, Bellarmine/No. 33 Yannis Charles, Morgan State
2. Antrell Taylor, Nebraska vs. No. 31 Garrett McShesney, Edinboro
3. Meyer Shapiro, Cornell vs. No. 30 Laird Root, North Carolina
4. Kaleb Larkin, Arizona State vs. No. 29 Bryce Lowery, Indiana
5. Landon Robideau, Oklahoma State vs. No. 28 Gavin Drexler, North Dakota State
6. Jude Swisher, Penn vs. No. 27 Dylan Evans, Pitt
7. Kannon Webster, Illinois vs. No. 26 Jonathan Ley
8. Brandon Cannon, Ohio State vs. No. 25 Mason Shrader, Central Michigan
9. Daniel Cardenas, Stanford vs. No. 24 Jaivon Jones, UALR
10. Logan Rozynzki, Lehigh, vs. No. 23 Kaleb Burgess, Buffalo
11. Ty Watters, West Virginia v. No. 22 Colton Washleski, Virginia
12. Vinney Zerban, Iowa State vs. No. 21 Charlie Millard, Minnesota
13. Derek Raike, Ohio vs. No. 20 Jimmy Harrington, Harvard
14. Ethen Miller, Virginia Tech vs. No. 19 Kai Owen, Colorado
15. Cameron Catrabone, Michigan vs. No. 18 DJ McGee
16. Cael Swensen, South Dakota State vs. NO. 17 Luke Mechler, Wisconsin

165 pounds

1. Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State vs. No. 32 Cody Walsh, Drexel/No. 33 Ryan Vigil, VMI
2. Joey Blaze, Purdue vs. No. 31 Jared Keslar, Pitt
3. Mikey Caliendo, Iowa vs. No. 30 Thomas Snipes, The Citadel
4. Nicco Ruiz, Arizona State vs. No. 28 Ryan Burgo, Edinboro
5. LaDarion Lockett, Oklahoma State vs. No. 28 Cody Goebel, Wisconsin
6. LJ Araujo, Nebraska vs. No. 27 EJ Parco, Stanford
7. Max Brignola, Lehigh vs. No. 26 Tyler Lillard, Indiana
8. Matty Bianchi, UALR vs. No. 25 Mac Church, Virginia Tech
9. Bryce Hepner, North Carolina vs No. 24 Sean Seefeldt, Penn
10. Will Denny, NC State vs. No. 23 Chris Earnest, Kent State
11. Ryder Downey, Northern Iowa vs. No. 22 Matthew Olguin, Oregon State
12. Cesar Alvan, Colorado vs. No. 21 Brock Woodcock, SIUE
13. Andrew Sparks, Minnesota vs. No. 20 Ty Whalen, Princeton
14. Andrew Barbosa, Rutgers vs. No. 19 Noah Mulvaney
15. Connor Euton, Iowa State vs. No. 18 Gunner Filipowicz, Army
16. Paddy Gallagher, Ohio State vs. No. 17 Braeden Scoles, Illinois

174 pounds

1. Levi Haines, Penn State vs. No. 32 Luke Condon, Wisconsin/No. 33 Grant O’Dell, Bellarmine
2. Simon Ruiz, Cornell vs. No. 31 Cael Valencia, Arizona State
3. Christopher Minto, Nebraska vs. No. 30 Riley Davis, Wyoming
4. Carson Kharchla, Ohio State vs. No. 29 Avery Bassett, Lock Haven
5. Patrick Kennedy, Iowa vs. No. 28 Holden Garcia, Princeton
6. Matty Singleton, North Carolina State vs. No. 27 Colin Carrigan, North Carolina
7. Cam Steed, Missouri vs. No. 26 Derek Gilcher, Indiana
8. Alex Facundo, Oklahoma State vs. No. Sergio Desiante, Virginia Tech
9. Beau Mantanona, Michigan vs. No. 24 Garrett Thompson, Ohio
10. Myles Takats, Bucknell vs. No. 23 Luca Augustine, Pitt
11. MJ Gaitan, Iowa State vs. No. 22 Brody Baumann, Purdue
12. Carter Schubert, Oklahoma vs. No. 21 Lenny Pinto, Rutgers
13. Carter Baer, Binghamton vs. No. No. 20 Daschle Lamer, Oregon State
14. Moses Espinoza-Owens, South Dakota State vs. No. 19 Logan Messer, George Mason
15. Denny Wask, Navy vs. No. 18 Colin Kelly, Illinois
16. Nick Fine, Colorado, vs. No. 17 Jared Simma, Northern Illinois

184 pounds

1. Rocco Welsh, Penn State vs. No. 32 Caleb Uhlenopp, Utah Valley/No. 33 Sam Goin, Indiana
2. Aeoden Sinclair, Missouri vs. No. 31 Mahonri Rushton, Northern Colorado
3. Max McEnelly, Minnesota vs. No. 30 Tyler Bienus, Bucknell
4. James Conway, F&M vs. No. 29 Nick Fox, Northern Illinois
5. Brock Mantanona, Michigan vs. No. 28 Abraham Wojcikiewicz, Stanford
6. Eddie Neitenbach, Wyoming vs. No. 27 Aidan Brenot, North Dakota State
7. Angelo Ferrari, Iowa vs. No. 26 Chase Kranitz, Pitt
8. Silas Allred, Nebraska vs. No. 25 Malachi DuVall, George Mason
9. Chris Moore, Illinois vs. No. 24 Joe Curtis, Colorado
10. Caleb Campos, American vs. No. 23 Caesar Garza, Cal Poly
11. Shane Cartagena-Walsh, Rutgers vs. No. 22 Zack Ryder, Oklahoma State
12. Dylan Fishback, Ohio State vs. No. 21 Tomas Brooker, Appalachian State
13. Isaac Dean, Iowa State vs. No. 20 Brian Soldano, Oklahoma
14. Jaden Bullock, Virginia Tech vs. No. 19 Jared McGill, Edinboro
15. Sal Perine, Ohio vs. No. 18 Jake Dailey, North Carolina
16. Rylan Rogers Lehigh, vs. No. 17 Ian Bush, West Virginia

197 pounds

1. Josh Barr, Penn State vs. No. 32 Blake Schaffer, Kent State/No. 33 Karson Tompkins, Air Force
2. Rocky Elam, Iowa State vs. No. 31 Kael Bennie, Utah Valley
3. Stephen Little, UALR vs. No. 30 Kade Rule, Chattanooga
4. Sonny Sasso, Virginia Tech vs. No. 29 Colton Hawks, Arizona State
5. Joey Novak, Wyoming vs. No. 28 Kael Wisler, Michigan State
6. Justin Rademacher, Oregon State vs. No. 27 Gabe Arnold, Iowa
7. Cody Merrill, Oklahoma State vs. No. 26Ben Vanadia, Purdue
8. DJ Parker, Oklahoma vs. No. 25 Evan Bates, Missouri
9. Angelo Posada, Stanford vs. No. 24 Brock Zurawski, Rider
10. Mac Stout, Pittsburgh vs. No. 23 Mikey Squires, Binghamton
11. Camden McDanel, Nebraska vs. No. 22 Devin Wasley, North Dakota State
12. Luke Geog, Ohio State vs. No. 21 Rune Lawrence, West Virginia
13. Bennett Berge, San Diego State No. 20 Wyatt Ingham, Wisconsin
14. Gabe Sollars, Indiana vs. No. Zayne Lehman, Ohio
15. Remy Cotton, Rutgers vs. No. 18 Andrew Reall, Brown
16. Branson John, Maryland vs. No. 17 Dillon Bechtold, Bucknell

285 pounds

1. Yonger Bastida, Iowa State vs. No. 32 Emmanuel Ulrich, American/No. 33 Mason Rebuck, Bloomsburg
2. Isaac Trumble, NC State vs. No. 31 Brenan Morgan, Virginia
3. Taye Ghadiali, Michigan vs. No. 30 Jack Forbes, Utah Valley
4. AJ Ferrari, Nebraska vs. No. 29 Luke Rasmussen, San Diego State
5. Nick Feldman, Ohio State vs. No. 28 Jarrett Stoner, Missouri
6. Nathan Taylor, Lehigh vs. No. 27 Hunter Catka, Rutgers
7. Konner Doucet, Oklahoma State vs. No. 26 Luke Luffman, Illinois
8. Ben Kueter, Iowa vs. No. 25 Alex Semenenko, Brown
9. Cole Mirasola, Penn State vs. No. 24 Connor Barket, Duke
10. David Szuba, Arizona State vs. No. 23 Stephan Monchery, Appalachian State
11. Devon Dawson, NIU vs. No. 22 Trevor Tinker, Cal Poly
12. Braxton Amos, Wisconsin vs. No. 21 Juan Mora, Oklahoma
13. Spencer Lanosga, Navy vs. No. 20 Dayton Pitzer
14. Koy Hopke, Minnesota vs. No. 19 Nate Schon, Drexel
15. No. 15 Brady Colbert, Army vs. No. 18 Christian Carroll
16. Jimmy Mullen, Virginia Tech vs. No. 17 Vincent Mueller, Colorado

• Dates: March 19-21
• Location: Rocket Arena (Cleveland)

The 2026 Division I men’s NCAA Wrestling Championships will take place from Thursday, March 19 through Saturday, March 21 from Rocket Arena in Cleveland. The seventh-, fifth-, third- and first-place medal matches will take place on March 21.

Here’s the list of wrestlers who will wrestle at the 2026 men’s Wrestling Championships with an at-large or alternate status.

125 pounds:

• Sulayman Bah, Columbia
• Desmond Pleasant, Drexel
• Mack Mauger, Missouri
• Brady Roark, South Dakota State
• Nicolar Rivera, Wisconsin
• Trever Anderson, Northern Iowa *

133 pounds:

• Braxton Brown, Maryland
• Dominick Serrano, Northern Colorado
• Dylan Shawver, Rutgers
• Marcel Lopez, SIU Edwardsville
• Luke Willochell, Wyoming
• Cale Seaton, South Dakota State *

141 pounds:

• Pierson Manville, Arizona State
• Braden Basile, Army West Point
• Billy DeKraker, Northwestern
• Matthew Martino, Princeton
• AJ Rallo, Bellarmine *

149 pounds:

• Kaden Cassidy, George Mason
• Chance Lamer, Nebraska
• Max Petersen, North Dakota State
• Eligh Rivera, Princeton
• Josh Edmond, Missouri *

157 pounds:

• Mason Shrader, Central Michigan
• Vinny Zerban, Iowa State
• Jonathan Ley, Navy
• Dylan Evans, Pitt
• Nick Stampoulos, Lock Haven *

165 pounds:

• Ryan Burgos, Edinboro
• Tyler Lillard, Indiana
• Matty Bianchi, Little Rock
• Jared Keslar, Pitt
• Thomas Snipes, The Citadel
• Dylan Elmore, Navy *

174 pounds:

• Avery Bassett, Lock Haven
• Jared Simma, Northern Iowa
• Luca Augustine, Pitt
• Holden Garcia, Princeton
• Brody Conley, West Virginia *

184 pounds:

• Tyler Bienus, Bucknell
• Sam Goin, Indiana
• Nick Fox, Northern Iowa
• Brian Soldano, Oklahoma
• Sam Gautreau, Lock Haven*

197 pounds:

• Evan Bates, Missouri
• Brock Zurawski, Rider
• Kael Bennie, Utah Valley
• Rune Lawrence, West Virginia
• Gavin Nelson, Minnesota*

Heavyweights:

• Emmanuel Ulrich, American
• Connor Barket, Duke
• Jack Forbes, Utah Valley
• Christian Carroll, Wyoming
• Bryan Caves, Central Michigan *

* Denotes alternate wrestler

What channel is NCAA Wrestling Championships selection show?

The NCAA Division I Men’s Wrestling Championships selection show will stream on NCAA.com.

NCAA Wrestling Championships selection show start time

• Date: Wednesday, March 11
• Time: 8 p.m. ET

The NCAA Wrestling Championships selection show is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET.