NCAA Wrestling Championships Brackets 2026: Schedule, Top Seeds and Team Race Guide

The 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Wrestling Championships will take place from March 19 to March 21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The tournament brings together the best college wrestlers in the country, competing across 10 weight classes for the national title.

The competition will run for three days, beginning with early-round matches on Thursday, followed by quarterfinals and semifinals on Friday. The event will conclude with the championship finals on Saturday night, when the national champions in each weight category will be crowned.

Penn State enters the tournament as the top-ranked team, making them one of the favorites to win the overall team title.

NCAA Wrestling Championships 2026 Overview

Event	2026 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Dates	March 19–21, 2026
Venue	Rocket Arena
City	Cleveland, Ohio
Weight Classes	10 divisions
Championship Finals	March 21, 6:30 PM ET

The tournament features some of the most competitive college wrestling matchups of the season, with top-ranked athletes battling through the bracket.

Team Title Race

Penn State enters the championships as the highest-ranked team. Several other programs also have strong lineups capable of competing for the team title.

Rank	Team	Ranking Points
1	Penn State	164
2	Oklahoma State	95.5
3	Ohio State	94
4	Nebraska	76.5
5	Iowa State	68.5
6	Iowa	66.5
7	Virginia Tech	53.5
8	Cornell	52
9	NC State	48
10	Arizona State	41

Penn State leads the standings with multiple top-seeded wrestlers across different weight divisions.

NCAA Wrestling Championships 2026 Schedule

The championship tournament is divided into six sessions over three days.

Day	Session	Time (ET)	Round	TV
Thursday	Session I	12:00 PM	First Round	ESPN2
Thursday	Session II	7:00 PM	Second Round / Consolations	ESPN
Friday	Session III	12:00 PM	Quarterfinals / Consolations	ESPNU
Friday	Session IV	8:00 PM	Semifinals / Consolations	ESPN2
Saturday	Session V	11:00 AM	Medal Matches	ESPNU
Saturday	Session VI	6:30 PM	Championship Finals	ESPN

All matches will also be available through streaming coverage on ESPN+.

Top Seeds by Weight Class

Each division features highly ranked wrestlers who earned top seeds heading into the tournament.

125 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School
1	Luke Lilledahl	Penn State
2	Eddie Ventresca	Virginia Tech
3	Nic Bouzakis	Ohio State
4	Sheldon Seymour	Lehigh
5	Troy Spratley	Oklahoma State
6	Jore Volk	Minnesota
7	Nico Provo	Stanford
8	Dean Peterson	Iowa

133 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School
1	Jax Forrest	Oklahoma State
2	Ben Davino	Ohio State
3	Marcus Blaze	Penn State
4	Aaron Seidel	Virginia Tech
5	Kyler Larkin	Arizona State
6	Drake Ayala	Iowa
7	Lucas Byrd	Illinois
8	Markel Baker	Northern Illinois

141 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School
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

Seed	Wrestler	School
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	SIUE
7	Ethan Stiles	Ohio State
8	Casey Swiderski	Oklahoma State

157 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School
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

Seed	Wrestler	School
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	Little Rock

174 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School
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	NC State
7	Cam Steed	Missouri
8	Alex Facundo	Oklahoma State

184 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School
1	Rocco Welsh	Penn State
2	Aeoden Sinclair	Missouri
3	Max McEnelly	Minnesota
4	James Conway	Franklin & Marshall
5	Brock Mantanona	Michigan
6	Eddie Neitenbach	Wyoming
7	Angelo Ferrari	Iowa
8	Silas Allred	Nebraska

197 Pounds

Seed	Wrestler	School
1	Josh Barr	Penn State
2	Rocky Elam	Iowa State
3	Stephen Little	Little Rock
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

Seed	Wrestler	School
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

What Makes the 2026 Brackets Competitive

The 2026 championship field includes several nationally ranked wrestlers and strong teams across different weight classes. Programs like Penn State, Oklahoma State, Ohio State, Nebraska and Iowa State have multiple athletes capable of reaching the finals.

Depth across the lineup will likely determine which team wins the overall title.

The tournament format means wrestlers must survive multiple rounds across three days, making endurance and consistency just as important as skill.

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Championship Night in Cleveland

The final session on Saturday evening at 6:30 PM ET will feature the championship matches for all ten weight classes. These bouts will determine the national champions and finalize the team standings for the season.

With top-ranked wrestlers competing in every division, the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships promise an intense and highly competitive conclusion to the college wrestling season.