The NCAA D1 men’s wrestling tournament started on March 19. The championship tournament was held over the span of three days. This event hosted some very anticipated and exciting matches, including huge wins, records, and some unexpected upsets.
Over the course of the tournament hosted from March 19 to March 21 at the Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, five of the total ten number-one seeds failed to secure a first-place finish. Additionally, throughout the ten weight classes, seven Penn State wrestlers found themselves holding the first seed. Penn State achieved its fifth consecutive NCAA team championship title, beating its previous team scoring record of 177 points. In the 2026 NCAA championships, the Nittany Lions put up an astonishing 181.5 team points, with runner-up Oklahoma State having a team score of 131 points.
Oklahoma State is the first team in NCAA wrestling history to have three freshman national champions in the same finals tournament. This success was led by three freshmen: Jax Forrest (133 lbs), Sergio Vega (141 lbs), and Landon Robideau (159 lbs). Jax Forrest is widely considered a historically rare wrestler. Forrest graduated early from high school, joining the OSU roster late in the season in early January.
Penn State wrestler Mitchell Mesenbrink is hailed as the most dominant college wrestler of 2026. Wrestling at 165 lbs, Messenbrink won by tech fall over the no. 3 seed, Michael Caliendo. With an astonishing 96.3% bonus win rate, Messenbrink’s dominant technical fall in the finals of the NCAA wrestling championships solidified his spot for the Dan Hodge Trophy. This award is a great honor awarded to the most dominant collegiate wrestler of the year.
Notable tournament upsets throughout the NCAA championship finals include a win by #2 Sergio Vega (OKST) against #1 Jesse Mendez (OHST), #10 Aden Valencia (STAN) over #1 Shayne Vanness (PSU), #5 Landon Robideau (OKST) over #2 Antrell Taylor (NEB), #1 Max McEnelly (MINN) over #1 Rocco Welsh (PSU), and #2 Isaac Trumble (NCST) over #1 Younger Bastida (ISU).
