Men’s College Notebook: Conference Championships Preview
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by Brian Reinhardt
Eddie Ventresca competing at the Southern Scuffle
March has sprung, and for NCAA Wrestling fans, that means the postseason is here. This weekend, eight conference tournaments will begin the process of determining the field for the 2026 NCAA Championships.
Not only is conference pride on the line, but NCAA allocations as well.
Here is a snapshot of each conference tournament taking place this weekend.
NOTES: All times listed are Eastern.
Also, the content of this article was based on pre-seeds released by each conference. Final brackets, with changes, will either be available after a coaches’ meeting the day before or after weigh-ins. We do expect some seeds to be changed (Big Ten anybody?).
Big Ten
Dates: Saturday, March 7 & Sunday, March 8
Host: Penn State
Finals: Sunday, March 8 at 4:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network
Competing Teams: 14
NCAA Allocations: 87
2025 Champion: Penn State
Disclaimer, the brackets will look different from the pre-seeds. Penn State has won three in a row and is favored to win a fourth straight in 2026 in its home gym. Due to injuries this year, and a new seeding system for the pre-seeds, there could be quite a few very intriguing early-round matchups. Two reigning national champions who are currently both undefeated were given a second seed, Lucas Byrd (133-Illinois) and Levi Haines (174-Penn State). And because of injury, #1 at 157 pounds Brandon Cannon of Ohio State is the seventh seed, while #2 Angelo Ferrari of Iowa is the eighth seed for Iowa at 184 pounds. Will any of those be reseeded? However the brackets play out, the Big Ten has nine of the 10 top ranked wrestlers in the nation.
Weight to Watch: 133 pounds (NCAA Allocations: 8 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 10) OR 184 (NCAA Allocations: 8 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 9)
Just like a good probable starters list, we went with an OR for which weight to watch. At 133 pounds, the nation’s top three wrestlers all reside at the weight. Freshman Marcus Blaze was given the top seed, Byrd the second, and redshirt-freshman Ben Davino of Ohio State the third. Up at 184 pounds, six of the top eight in the nation come from the Big Ten. Transfer Rocco Welsh of Penn State sits atop the conference and the national rankings.
Big 12
Dates: Friday, March 6 & Saturday, March 7
Host: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Finals: Saturday, March 7 at 8 p.m. on ESPN+
Competing Teams: 14
NCAA Allocations: 63
2025 Champion: Oklahoma State
The Cowboys come into the 2026 tournament with six of the 10 top seeds, including every weight from 125 to 149 pounds. All 10 from Oklahoma State are seeded third or higher. Iowa State is right behind the Cowboys, with top seeds at 197 pounds and heavyweight, and four weights with the second seed. Those two teams have both lifted the trophy once over the last two seasons, with Oklahoma State winning last year.
Weight to Watch: 157 pounds (NCAA Allocations: 5 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 7)
Half of the field was ranked in the final Coaches’ Panel Rankings, with four in the top-7. The Big 12 claims the #4-#7 ranked wrestlers in the nation. #6 Kaleb Larkin of Arizona State got the top seed, as he made the move up to 149 pounds for Big 12 duals. In his first dual, he defeated #8 Ty Watters of West Virginia who spent time at #1 in the rankings earlier in the season. They could potentially face each other once again in the semifinals. On the bottom half of the bracket, freshman #5 Landon Robideau of Oklahoma State is the second seed and returning All-American #7 Vince Zerban of Iowa State is the third. Robideau won the dual bout, 4-1.
ACC
Date: Sunday, March 8
Host: Virginia Tech
Finals: Sunday, March 8 at 8 p.m. on ACC Network
Competing Teams: 7
NCAA Allocations: 39
2025 Champion: Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech will be going for a second straight ACC Championship in its home gym in 2026. Four teams placed at least one wrestler at the top of the bracket as a No. 1 seed, led by NC State and Stanford, both with three top seeds. Virginia Tech, the ACC Regular Season Dual Champions, has two, as does Pitt. Stanford finished fifth among the ACC schools at #18 in the final NWCA Coaches Poll, but on paper, the Cardinal come in as the favorites based on the pre-seeds.
Weight to Watch: 125 pounds (NCAA Allocations: 5 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 5)
The weight class features three currently ranked in the top-10 in the nation, and five of the seven entrants are ranked. Also, the reigning national champion, #5 Vince Robinson of NC State, is the #3 seed in the bracket. Virginia Tech’s #3 Eddie Ventresca went undefeated in ACC action and nabbed the top seed, while Stanford’s #9 Nico Provo is the second seed. Both recorded wins over Robinson in duals.
MAC
Dates: Friday, March 6 & Saturday, March 7
Host: Buffalo
Finals: Saturday, March 7 at 3 p.m. on ESPN+
Competing Teams: 12
NCAA Allocations: 27
Rider went a perfect 6-0 in conference action and was rewarded with three of the 10 top seeds.
Weight to Watch: 149 pounds (NCAA Allocations: 4 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 4)
Caleb Tyus! The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville redshirt-senior enters the postseason with a perfect 15-0 record and has risen to #2 in the national rankings. He started his final campaign with a 10-4 win over #3 Ethan Stiles of Ohio State and finished it with a perfect 5-0 mark in MAC action, outscoring those foes 41-10.
EIWA
Dates: Friday, March 6 & Saturday, March 7
Host: American
Finals: Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m. on FloWrestling
Competing Teams: 12
NCAA Allocations: 26
Regular season champions Lehigh enter as the favorite, as the Mountain Hawks have three top seeds and another three as the second seed. One to look out for, 149 pounds only has one NCAA Allocation, and the top seed is Eugene Harney from Morgan State, trying to become the first from the school to reach the NCAAs since the program was reinstated for the 2023-24 season.
Weight to Watch: Heavyweight (NCAA Allocations: 4 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 4)
Four heavyweights from the EIWA are ranked in the top-25, with a trio ranked between #12 and #16, two from the service academies. #12 Brady Colbert recently clinched the win for Army in the Navy dual and is the top seed. #14 Nathan Taylor is back from a missed season and the second seed, while #16 Spencer Lanosga from Navy has had a very impressive freshman campaign and is the third seed.
Ivy League
Date: Sunday, March 8
Host: Columbia
Finals: Sunday, March 8 at 4 p.m. on ESPNNews
Competing Teams: 6
NCAA Allocations: 23
2025 Champion: Cornell
Cornell brought home the inaugural Ivy League Championships last year after the six Ivy League schools broke away from the EIWA to hold their own tournament. The Big Red will be the favorite to repeat, as Cornell has four wrestlers seeded at the top in their weight class in the pre-seeds, with an additional two seeded second. With six teams, the top two in each weight class get a bye into the semifinals. Columbia, the 2025-26 Ivy League dual meet champions, have the second most top seeds with three, while Penn had a pair.
Weight to Watch: 149 pounds (NCAA Allocations: 3 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 3)
Three wrestlers ranked in the top-15 nationally, with two in the top-5. Cornell’s Jaxon Joy is coming off his only loss of the season last time out and sits #3 in the rankings, while Penn’s #5 Cross Wasilewski is the second seed. In the dual, Joy took a 5-1 decision.
Pac-12
Date: Friday, March 6
Host: Cal Poly
Finals: Friday, March 6 at 9 p.m. on FloWrestling
Competing Teams: 4
NCAA Allocations: 13
2025 Champion: Oregon State
The smallest of the eight conference tournaments with just four teams competing in the one-day event. Simple brackets with four wrestlers, win one match and you are into the finals. Last year had some controversy, as Little Rock initially won the team trophy only to have a wrestler ruled ineligible and the adjusted scoring gave the title to Oregon State. This year, three weights received a pair of allocations and the other seven only received one, so only the champion in those seven brackets will get an automatic bid to NCAAs. Oregon State went through conference action a perfect 3-0 this year.
Weight to Watch: 197 pounds (NCAA Allocations: 2 | Coaches Panel Rankings: 2)
The only weight with a pair of top-10 wrestlers, it could turn out to be one of the top matches of the weekend. If both win their semifinal bouts (both face sub-.500 foes), #4 Stephen Little of Little Rock will face #5 Justin Rademacher of Oregon State in the final. They did not meet in dual action this year; in fact, they have not met since the 2024 Pac-12 Championships. Little won both matchups two years ago (10-3 in the dual, then 17-5 at the Pac-12s), but since then, Rademacher redshirted and won a U20 World title.
SoCon
Dates: Friday, March 6 & Saturday, March 7
Host: Asheville, N.C.
Finals: Saturday, March 7 at 3 p.m. on ESPN+
Competing Teams: 9
NCAA Allocations: 10
2025 Champion: Appalachian State
App State enters the weekend with three consecutive championships. App State, Chattanooga and The Citadel all won a share of the regular season title. Chattanooga leads the way with four top seeds, followed by App State and The Citadel with a pair apiece.
Weight to Watch: All of them! With the SoCon gaining just 10 NCAA Allocations, the only automatic bids for the NCAA Championships will be going to the 10 individual champions.
