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2026 College Postseason

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

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by Brian Reinhardt

Rocket Arena, 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championships.

Rocket Arena, 2026 NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championships.

Session 1 starts at Noon (ET), follow along here for live updates. TV coverage provided by ESPN2, all mats streamed on on ESPN+.

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!

Session one upsets by seed 

125 pounds 

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)


133 pounds 

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


141 pounds 

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


149 pounds 

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