NCAA wrestling championships 2026 selection show: Bracket, schedule, participants

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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 will be 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

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:

NCAA wrestling tournament bracket 2026

This section will be updated as brackets are unveiled.

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 Mendez, Ohio State
  2. Sergio Vega, Oklahoma State
  3. Brock Hardy, Nebraska
  4. Anthony Echemendia, Iowa State
  5. Luke Stanich, Lehigh
  6. Vince Cornella, Cornell
  7. Nasir Bailey, Iowa
  8. Vance VomBaur, Minnesota

149 pounds

  1. Shayne Van Ness, Penn State
  2. Jaxon Joy, Cornell
  3. Cross Wasilewski, Penn
  4. Collin Gaj, Virginia Tech
  5. Koy Buesgens, NC State
  6. Caleb Tyus, SIU Edwardsville
  7. Ethan Stiles, Ohio State
  8. Casey Swiderski, Oklahoma State

157 pounds

  1. PJ Duke, Penn State
  2. Antrell Taylor, Nebraska
  3. Meyer Shapiro, Cornell
  4. Kaleb Larkin, Arizona State
  5. Landon Robideau, Oklahoma State
  6. Jude Swisher, Penn
  7. Kannon Webster, Illinois
  8. Brandon Cannon, Ohio State

165 pounds

  1. Mitchell Mesenbrink, Penn State
  2. Joey Blaze, Purdue
  3. Mikey Caliendo, Iowa
  4. Nicco Ruiz, Arizona State
  5. LaDarion Lockett, Oklahoma State
  6. LJ Araujo, Nebraska
  7. Max Brignola, Lehigh
  8. Matty Bianchi, UALR

174 pounds

  1. Levi Haines, Penn State
  2. Simon Ruiz, Cornell
  3. Christopher Minto, Nebraska
  4. Carson Kharchla, Ohio State
  5. Patrick Kennedy, Iowa
  6. Matty Singleton, North Carolina State
  7. Cam Steed, Missouri
  8. Alex Facundo, Oklahoma State

184 pounds

  1. Rocco Welsh, Penn State
  2. Aeoden Sinclair, Missouri
  3. Max McEnelly, Minnesota
  4. James Conway, F&M
  5. Brock Mantanona, Michigan
  6. Eddie Neitenbach, Wyoming
  7. Angelo Ferrari, Iowa
  8. Silas Allred, Nebraska

197 pounds

  1. Josh Barr, Penn State
  2. Rocky Elam, Iowa State
  3. Stephen Little, UALR
  4. Sonny Sasso, Virginia Tech
  5. Joey Novak, Wyoming
  6. Justin Rademacher, Oregon State
  7. Cody Merrill, Oklahoma State
  8. DJ Parker, Oklahoma

285 pounds

  1. Yonger Bastida, Iowa State
  2. Isaac Trumble, NC State
  3. Taye Ghadiali, Michigan
  4. AJ Ferrari, Nebraska
  5. Nick Feldman, Ohio State
  6. Nathan Taylor, Lehigh
  7. Konner Doucet, Oklahoma State
  8. Ben Kueter, Iowa

When are 2026 men’s NCAA Wrestling Championships?

  • 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.

NCAA Wrestling Championships at-large bids

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.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NCAA wrestling championships 2026 bracket, schedule, participants, seeds

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