Live Updates: NCAA DI Men's Wrestling Championships Session I

3:24 PM - Huge upset at 197 pounds. #29 seed Colton Hawks scored a 12-8 win over #4 seed Sammy Sasso of Virginia Tech, a takedown in the final 10 seconds sealed the win. Hawks competed at the 2021 U20 World Championships.

3:12 PM - Sporting a big shoulder brace, #22 seed Zack Ryder scored the lone takedown of the bout in extra time to down #11 seed Shane Cartagena-Walsh of Rutgers, 4-1. Most recently, Ryder competed at the U20 World Championships back in 2024, and was a two-time Cadet World Team member (2022 and 2023).

2:51 PM - A familiar theme in this opening session, a lot more chalk at 174 pounds. Lone upset was #19 seed Logan Messer of George Mason over #14 seed Moses Espinoza-Owens of South Dakota State, 6-3.

2:25 PM - #27 seed EJ Parco of Stanford used a literal final-second takedown to top #6 seed LJ Araujo of Nebraska. First the refs went to the monitor, then Nebraska threw the brick for an independent review. After all that, the call stood and Parco had the highest upset to date.

2:21 PM - Wild finishes at 165 pounds. 2025 All-American #8 seed Matt Bianchi of Little Rock used a takedown in the second of the two 30-second period rideouts after it looked like Virginia Tech's #25 seed Mac Church's quick escape would win it.

2:04 PM - Returning national champion, #2 Antrell Taylor, went for bonus in his first bout on the mat, a 19-4 tech fall over Edinboro's Garrett McChesney.

1:48 PM - 5 #1 seeds take the mat, 5 #1 seeds go bonus in their first bouts. Forrest, Mendez and Duke all get falls, while Van Ness goes tech fall and Lilledahl gets the major.

1:43 PM – 149 almost went chalk, just one upset. Big Ten battle, #20 Chance Lamer of Nebraska 4-1 over #13 seed Joseph Zargo of Wisconsin.

1:21 PM - Some bigger upsets at 141 pounds. #9 seed Joey Oliveri of Rutgers was the highest seed to fall to this point, losing 2-1 to #24 seed Nash Singleton of Oregon State. Also, #21 seed Tyler Wells of Oklahoma with a 3-2 win over #12 seed Luke Simcox of North Carolina.

1:17 PM - The first top seed stepped onto the mat. After a rest period for the pig tail winners, Penn State’s #1 seed Luke Lilledahl got by Missouri’s Mack Mauger. The bout was tied 0-0 after the first, Lilledahl used an escape and takedown in the second to go up 4-0 into the third and finished it with a 11-2 major decision.

1:06 PM - The first top-10 seed of the day went down. At 133 pounds, #23 seed Braxton Brown of Maryland scored a 4-2 decision over #10 seed Maximillian Leete of American.

12:55 PM - Another returning national champion was in a dog fight until the end. #7 seed Lucas Byrd scored a final takedown in the last 30 seconds to seal the first round 11-7 decision over #26 seed Dylan Shawver of Rutgers, a former All-American himself.

12:41 PM - 125 pounds goes chalk in the first round (assuming Luke Lillendahl wins his upcoming bout of course). 14 of the top 16 seeds all advanced in the session, the lone upsets were #17 over #16 and #18 over #15.

12:31 PM - The first returning national champion to step out onto the mat, #12 seed Vince Robinson of NC State scored a 5-1 win over Oklahoma’s Hendrickson and there will be a 2025 NCAA finals rematch against Oklahoma State’s Troy Spratley in Round 2 tonight.

12:24 PM - North Dakota State’s Ezekiel Witt and West Virginia’s Jett Strickenberger met for the third time in the last two weeks. At the Big 12 Championships, Witt beat Strickenberger twice. Today, it was reversed and a slight upset as #17 seed Strickenberger downed #16 seed Witt, 13-5 major decision.

12:14 PM - #33 seed Morgan State’s Yannis Charles wins his pigtail match at 157 pounds over Bellarmine’s Jeb Prechtel, 15-10. He is the first wrestler from Morgan State to win a match at the NCAAs since 1996 when their program was dropped. He is one of two NCAA Qualifiers this year, their first since being reinstated for the 2024 season.

11:50 AM - Wrestlers, let's clear the mats!

No. 17 Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia) maj. dec. No. 16 Ezekiel Witt (North Dakota State), 13-5

No. 18 Spencer Moore (Illinois) dec. No. 15 Koda Holeman (Cal Poly), 4-1 (SV)

No. 33 Carter Schmidt (Oklahoma) maj. dec. No. 32 Andrew Ausin (CMU), 11-3

No. 17 T.K. Davis (Gardner-Webb) dec. No. 16 Zan Fugitt (Wisconsin), 4-1

No. 20 Julian Farber (Northern Iowa) dec. No. 13 Jacob Van Dee (Nebraska), 5-4

No. 19 Gage Walker (Missouri) dec. No. 14 Ethan Berginc (Army West Point), 5-0

No. 23 Braxton Brown (Maryland) dec. No. 10 Maximilian Leete (American), 4-2

No. 33 Aldo Hernandez (Appalachian State) dec. No. 32 Matthew Martino (Princeton), 8-5

No. 17 Caedyn Ricciardi (Navy) dec. No. 16 Ryan Jack (NC State), 4-1 (SV)

No. 24 Nash Singleton (Oregon State) dec. No. 9 Joey Olivieri (Rutgers), 2-1

No. 21 Tyler Wells (Oklahoma) dec. No. 12 Luke Simcox (North Carolina), 3-2

No. 33 Austin McBurney (Brown) dec. No. 32 Clayton Jones (Michigan State), 11-9

No. 20 Chance Lamer (Nebraska) dec. No. 13 Joseph Zargo (Wisconsin), 4-1

No. 33 Yannis Charles (Morgan State) dec. No. 32 Jeb Prechel (Bellarmine), 15-10

No. 17 Luke Mechler (Wisconsin) dec. No. 16 Cael Swensen (South Dakota State), 2-1

No. 21 Charlie Millard (Minnesota) dec. No. 12 Vinny Zerban (Iowa State), 12-6

No. 20 Jimmy Harrington (Harvard) dec. No. 13 Derek Raike (Ohio), 4-1 (SV)

No. 19 Noah Mulvaney (Bucknell) dec. No. 14 Andrew Barbosa (Rutgers), 8-2

No. 27 EJ Parco (Stanford) dec. No. 6 LJ Araujo (Nebraska), 8-7

No. 33 Grant O’Dell (Bellarmine) dec. No. 32 Luke Condon (Wisconsin), 4-1 (TB1)

No. 20 Daschle Lamer (Oregon State) dec. No. 13 Carter Baer (Binghamton), 2-0

No. 19 Logan Messer (George Mason) dec. No. 14 Moses Espinoza-Owens (South Dakota State), 6-3 (SV)

No. 20 Brian Soldano (Oklahoma) dec. No. 13 Isaac Dean (Iowa State), 4-1

No. 22 Zack Ryder (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 11 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (Rutgers), 4-1 (SV)

No. 17 Dillon Bechtold (Bucknell) dec. No. 16 Branson John (Maryland), 4-1 (SV)

No. 25 Evan Bates (Missouri) dec. No. 8 DJ Parker (Oklahoma), 4-3

No. 21 Rune Lawrence (West Virginia) dec. No. 12 Luke Geog (Ohio State), 9-6 (SV)

No. 29 Colton Hawks (Arizona State) dec. No. 4 Sonny Sasso (Virginia Tech), 12-8

No. 19 Zayne Lehman (Ohio) dec. No. 14 Gabe Sollars (Indiana), 6-4

No. 21 Juan Mora (Oklahoma) dec. No. 12 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin), 4-3

No. 20 Dayton Pitzer (Pittsburgh) dec. No. 13 Spencer Lanosga (Navy), 3-2 (TB1)

No. 27 Hunter Catka (Rutgers) dec. No. 6 Nathan Taylor (Lehigh), 6-3 (SV)