The 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championships was the 95th annual NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championship that took place from March 19–21, 2026 in Cleveland at the Rocket Arena.
Penn State won its 14th national team title and its 13th under head coach Cael Sanderson. The championship was also the program's fifth consecutive NCAA team title. The Nittany Lions also broke their 2025 tournament record for most points scored in a single tournament with 181.5 points.
Penn State had the most individual champions, with four wrestlers winning NCAA titles: Luke Lilledahl, Mitchell Mesenbrink, Levi Haines, and Josh Barr. Oklahoma State had three individual champions: Jax Forrest, Sergio Vega, and Landon Robideau. Stanford, Minnesota, and NC State each had one individual champion, with Aden Valencia, Max McEnelly, and Isaac Trumble, respectively, winning titles. Oklahoma State finished in second place, their highest team placement and largest point total at the NCAA tournament since 2016. Nebraska finished in third place with 100.5 points marking their second-highest team point total in team history.
Qualification Pre-allocations The NCAA announced qualifying tournament pre-allocations on February 26, 2026.
Conference 125 133 141 149 157 165 174 184 197 285 Total ACC 5 3 5 4 4 4 3 4 3 4 39 Big 12 5 8 7 5 5 4 7 8 8 6 63 Big Ten 9 8 7 9 8 9 10 8 10 9 87 EIWA 2 2 3 1 2 4 3 3 2 4 26 Ivy League 2 2 3 3 4 3 2 1 1 2 23 MAC 2 4 2 4 4 2 2 3 2 2 27 Pac-12 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 13 Southern 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10 Pre-allocations 28 29 29 29 29 28 29 29 29 29 288
At-large selections The NCAA announced at-large selections on March 11, 2026.
Conference 125 133 141 149 157 165 174 184 197 285 Total ACC 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 4 Big 12 2 2 1 1 1 0 1 2 3 2 15 Big Ten 1 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 7 EIWA 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 5 Ivy League 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 MAC 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 6 Pac-12 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 Southern 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 At-large bids 5 5 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 43
Participating teams A total of 68 teams qualified wrestlers. California Baptist University announced that it would discontinue the wrestling program following the 2025–26 season. Morgan State University had two qualifiers in its return to competition, which last occurred in 1997.
Air Force (2) American (3) Appalachian State (3) Arizona State (7) Army (4) Bellarmine (2) Binghamton (2) Bloomsburg (2) Brown (3) Bucknell (5) Buffalo (1) Cal Poly (4) Central Michigan (2) Chattanooga (2) Columbia (7) Cornell (5) Davidson (1) Drexel (3) Duke (1) Edinboro (4) Franklin & Marshall (1) Gardner–Webb (1) George Mason (4) Harvard (1) Illinois (8) Indiana (6) Iowa (9) Iowa State (10) Kent State (2) Lehigh (6) Little Rock (4) Lock Haven (4) Maryland (4) Michigan (6) Michigan State (2) Minnesota (6) Missouri (6) Morgan State (2) Navy (5) NC State (7) Nebraska (10) North Carolina (6) North Dakota State (5) Northern Colorado (2) Northern Illinois (2) Northern Iowa (5) Northwestern (2) Ohio (4) Ohio State (10) Oklahoma (7) Oklahoma State (10) Oregon State (6) Penn (6) Penn State (10) Pittsburgh (8) Princeton (5) Purdue (4) Rider (5) Rutgers (9) SIU Edwardsville (3) South Dakota State (6) Stanford (8) The Citadel (1) Utah Valley (5) Virginia (3) Virginia Tech (10) VMI (1) West Virginia (6) Wisconsin (8) Wyoming (6)
Competition schedule The NCAA announced the competition schedule on March 4, 2026.
Date Time (ET) Session Events TV March 19 12:00 p.m. Session I Pigtails and First Round ESPN2ESPN+ 7:00 p.m. Session II First Round Wrestle-Backs, Second Round, and Consolation Round ESPNESPN+ March 20 12:00 p.m. Session III Quarterfinals, Second Round Wrestle-Backs, and Third Round Wrestle-Backs ESPNUESPN+ 8:00 p.m. Session IV Semifinals, Blood Round, and Fifth Round Wrestle-Backs ESPN2ESPN+ March 21 11:00 a.m. Session V Semifinal Wrestle-Backs, Third-Place Matches, Fifth-Place Matches, and Seventh-Place Matches ESPNUESPN+ 6:30 p.m. Session VI First-Place Matches ESPNESPN+
Team results Rank Team Points Penn State 181.5 Oklahoma State 131.0 Nebraska 100.5 4 Iowa 92.5 5 Ohio State 84.56 Stanford 67.5 7 Michigan 66.0 8 Iowa State 52.0 9 Minnesota 48.5 10 NC State 44.5
Individual results Weight First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth 125 lbs Luke LilledahlPenn State Marc-Anthony McGowanPrinceton Nico ProvoStanford Vincent RobinsonNC State Troy SpratleyOklahoma State Jacob MoranIndiana Jore VolkMinnesota Tyler KlinskyRider 133 lbs Jax ForrestOklahoma State Ben DavinoOhio State Aaron SeidelVirginia Tech Marcus BlazePenn State Drake AyalaIowa Tyler KnoxStanford Jacob Van DeeNebraska Lucas ByrdIllinois 141 lbs Sergio VegaOklahoma State Jesse MendezOhio State Luke StanichLehigh Brock HardyNebraska Carter NogleAir Force Anthony EchemendiaIowa State CJ CompostoPenn Wyatt HensonLock Haven 149 lbs Aden ValenciaStanford Shayne Van NessPenn State Lachlan McNeilMichigan Chance LamerNebraska Collin GajVirginia Tech Ryder BlockIowa Cross WasilewskiPenn Casey SwiderskiOklahoma State 157 lbs Landon RobideauOklahoma State Antrell TaylorNebraska PJ DukePenn State Brandon CannonOhio State Kannon WebsterIllinois Ty WattersWest Virginia Cameron CatraboneMichigan Meyer ShapiroCornell 165 lbs Mitchell MesenbrinkPenn State Mikey CaliendoIowa Cesar AlvanColumbia Nicco RuizArizona State Andrew SparksMinnesota Joey BlazePurdue Bryce HepnerNorth Carolina Paddy GallagherOhio State 174 lbs Levi HainesPenn State Christopher MintoNebraska Patrick KennedyIowa Carson KharchlaOhio State Cam SteedMissouri Danny WaskNavy Beau MantanonaMichigan MJ GaitanIowa State 184 lbs Max McEnellyMinnesota Rocco WelshPenn State Aeoden SinclairMissouri Caleb CamposAmerican Brock MantanonaMichigan Angelo FerrariIowa Eddie NeitenbachWyoming Zack RyderOklahoma State 197 lbs Josh Barr Penn State Cody MerrillOklahoma State Stephen LittleLittle Rock Joey NovakWyoming Camden McDanelNebraska Angelo PosadaStanford Gabe ArnoldIowa Branson JohnMaryland 285 lbs Isaac TrumbleNC State Yonger BastidaIowa State Taye GhadialiMichigan Konner DoucetOklahoma State Ben KueterIowa AJ FerrariNebraska David SzubaArizona State Christian CarrollWyoming
Finals matches Weight Champion Result Runner-up 125 lbs Luke Lilledahl Penn State Dec 2–1 Marc-Anthony McGowan Princeton 133 lbs Jax Forrest Oklahoma State Dec 5–2 Ben Davino Ohio State 141 lbs Sergio Vega Oklahoma State Dec SV 4–1 Jesse Mendez Ohio State 149 lbs Aden Valencia Stanford SV–1 8–5 Shayne Van Ness Penn State 157 lbs Landon Robideau Oklahoma State Dec 4–2 Antrell Taylor Nebraska 165 lbs Mitchell Mesenbrink Penn State TF 20–4 (5:13) Mikey Caliendo Iowa 174 lbs Levi Haines Penn State Dec 2–1 Christopher Minto Nebraska 184 lbs Max McEnelly Minnesota Dec 4–3 Rocco Welsh Penn State 197 lbs Josh Barr Penn State Dec 6–3 Cody Merrill Oklahoma State 285 lbs Isaac Trumble NC State Dec 5–0 Yonger Bastida Iowa State
Medal table Rank Team First Second Third Total 1 Penn State 4 2 1 7 2 Oklahoma State 3 1 0 4 3 Stanford 1 0 1 2 4 Nebraska 0 2 0 2 Ohio State 0 2 0 2 6 NC State 1 0 0 1 Minnesota 1 0 0 1 8 Iowa 0 1 1 2 9 Iowa State 0 1 0 1 Princeton 0 1 0 1 11 Michigan 0 0 2 2 12 Columbia 0 0 1 1 Lehigh 0 0 1 1 Little Rock 0 0 1 1 Missouri 0 0 1 1 Virginia Tech 0 0 1 1 Totals (16 entries) 10 10 10 30
Awards Award Recipient Team Ref. NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler Mitchell Mesenbrink Penn State NCAA Tournament Coach of the Year Chris Ayres Stanford
References