2026 NCAA Championship Session II Thread

Tom McAndrew

BWI Staff
Staff member
Oct 27, 2021
77,335
63,899
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I'm setting this up the night before so that everyone has the info, etc., and also so that I have one less thing to do tomorrow between sessions.

Please use the thread for all pre-session, in-session, and post-session discussion for the Session II of the 2026 NCAA Championships.

When:
March 19, 7:00 pm EDT

Where:
Rocket Arena, Cleveland, OH

TV:
ESPN

Video Streaming:
ESPN+. Please note that this is the only way to get access to multiple mats (They call it MatCast). As a heads up, MatCast will be available for each session (not all that necessary for Session VI on Saturday evening, as there is only one mat being used in that session. However, the Trophy Presentation at the end of Session VI will be on ESPN+, and not ESPN. You can subscribe to ESPN+ for $12.99 a month, and cancel your subscription in a week, and only pay for 1 month. To do so, go to:

https://support.espn.com/hc/en-us/articles/40375475974036-ESPN-Select-or-Unlimited-Plans-and-Prices

Audio Streaming:
The radio PBP, with Jeff Byers at the mic, will be streamed for free. The pre-Session portion of the broadcast will begin at 6:40 pm EDT, with the actual PBP of the matches taking place at 7:00 pm EDT. You can access the audio stream at:

gopsusports.com

Lion Vision


gopsusports.com
gopsusports.com

Once there, find "Wrestling: NCAA Championships - Session 2," and click on the right pointing arrow to the left of those words.

Team Scores:

The best place to track the team scoring is the Penn State Wrestling Club web site. It appears that they have reverted back to prior practice, and are making the team race info available to all during the NCAAs. You can find their site at:


PBP:​

I've not communicated with @SlipperyPete or @GregPickel, but I believe they plan to be available for PBP, and I'll also be available. We'll work it out amongst ourselves so that all of the competitions involving PSU wrestlers are covered with PBP. (GregPickel, will you be @ Rocket Area?) We always encourage others to provide their insight, analysis, reactions, and PBP if they so desire. As always, I remind you to please include the score for the match, or provide some context (wrestler, school, and weight class) beyond just "that's not a takedown."

Mat Assignments:
It also helps to give folks a heads up as to what mat a PSU wrestler will be wrestling on. You can usually get that info from Ironhead's audio PBP, from Penn State Wrestling's twitter account, or from TrackWrestling/FloArena. Anybody is welcome to post such info as it becomes available, as it will benefit all of us that are trying to watch the action on TV or via a video stream.

Let's have some fun in Session II, and wrap up a great day of wrestling.
 

Tom McAndrew

BWI Staff
Staff member
Oct 27, 2021
77,335
63,899
113
PSU matchups for Session II:

125: #1 Luke Lilledahl vs. #17 Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia)

133: #3 Marcus Blaze vs. #19 Gage Walker (Mizzou)

141: #14 Braeden Davis vs. #3 Brock Hardy (Nebraska)

149: #1 Shayne Van Ness vs. #16 Jacob Frost (Iowa St.)

157: #1 P.J. Duke vs. #17 Luke Mechler (Wisconsin)

165: #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink vs. #16 Paddy Gallagher (Ohio St.)

174: #1 Levi Haines vs. #16 Nick Fine (Columbia)

184: #1 Rocco Welsh vs. #16 Rylan Rogers (Lehigh)

197: #1 Josh Barr vs. #17 Dillon Bechtold (Bucknell)

285: #9 Cole Mirasola vs. #8 Ben Keuter (Iowa)
 

PSU Mike

All-American
Jul 28, 2001
4,098
7,154
113
Do they interleave consis and champs, or run one all the way thru then start the other?
 
Jul 3, 2025
28
81
13
Penn State is not a dynasty. We are a dynasty, and empire, an irresistible object and an immovable force, a juggernaut apocalyptic nightmare for our opponents, a fly in the ointment, a bee in your wax, an iceberg to your Titanic. We are going to win at least 30 titles including 10 AAs. We're going to win 8 individual titles, coach of the year, assistant coach of the year, 2nd assistant coach of the year, team of the year, team of the decade, team of all time, most hospitable of the year, if we have cheerleaders there we'll win cheerleader of the year, mascot of the year, WWE World Heavyweight Title, King of the Ring, and damn it one of our guys is coming out of there with a Burger King crown on their head. GO NITTANY LIONS!!!!!!
 

5q

All-Conference
Sep 8, 2001
1,497
2,022
113
So tracking 1.5pts off last years record number

how many we have in session 2 last year ?
 

razpsu

Heisman
Jan 13, 2004
14,000
13,998
113
Davis will need a miracle. Cole can’t get gassed again. He should beat kueter but he has to believe that he can.
 

OldMatCoach

Senior
Jan 27, 2026
123
553
93
PSU matchups for Session II:

125: #1 Luke Lilledahl vs. #17 Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia)

133: #3 Marcus Blaze vs. #19 Gage Walker (Mizzou)

141: #14 Braeden Davis vs. #3 Brock Hardy (Nebraska)

149: #1 Shayne Van Ness vs. #16 Jacob Frost (Iowa St.)

157: #1 P.J. Duke vs. #17 Luke Mechler (Wisconsin)

165: #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink vs. #16 Paddy Gallagher (Ohio St.)

174: #1 Levi Haines vs. #16 Nick Fine (Columbia)

184: #1 Rocco Welsh vs. #16 Rylan Rogers (Lehigh)

197: #1 Josh Barr vs. #17 Dillon Bechtold (Bucknell)

285: #9 Cole Mirasola vs. #8 Ben Keuter (Iowa)
Hopefully we go 10-0, 9-1 is likely, 8-2 could happen. If we can advance 9 it would be tremendous.
 

HikeNatParks

Senior
May 12, 2023
169
796
93
Great session I. Can’t do better than winning all 10. A minority view, sure, but I don’t care one bit about bonus, only advancement. Even by a single point. Five straight times. All ten weights.
Now let’s get these next 10!
 

Misalorales

All-Conference
Jun 3, 2025
1,118
3,449
113
Anyone else having issues with ESPN+? Tried other apps and they stream fine. Can't get my ESPN app to work now

NVM. Good ole uninstall/reinstall fixed it
 

Tom McAndrew

BWI Staff
Staff member
Oct 27, 2021
77,335
63,899
113
I forgot to mention -- Byers is live (and has been since 6:41) for the pre-Session component of the radio PBP.