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NCAA Wrestling Championships 2026: Brackets for all 10 weight classes released

IMG_6598by: Nick Kosko5 hours agonickkosko59

The NCAA Wrestling Championships are set eight days from now and the 2026 edition has revealed the brackets for all 10 weight classes. The tournament will take place in Cleveland from March 19th to 21st.

Each bracket in the NCAA Wrestling Championships features conference champions, automatic qualifiers and at-large bids. The brackets are seeded No. 1 to 33.

Without further ado, let’s look at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championship brackets. We start at 125 pounds.

125 lbs.

Big Ten champion Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) gets the No. 1 seed and is on the same side as Lehigh’s Sheldon Seymour (No. 4). If the seeds hold, that’ll be a fascinating semifinal. Eddie Ventresca of Virginia Tech gets No. 2 while Ohio State’s Nic Bouzakis is No. 3 to round out the top four mentioned here.

133 lbs.

Star freshman Jax Forrest gets the No. 1 seed and the Oklahoma State stud is undefeated as well. In fact, he’s looked immaculate so far. Penn State’s Marcus Blaze is No. 3 after falling to Ohio State’s Ben Davino in the Big Ten finals. We just might get an Aaron Seidel (Virginia Tech) matchup with Forrest in the semifinals in a rematch, which would be cinema!

141 lbs.

Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez goes for his third straight NCAA title and is the No. 1 seed here. Last year’s finalist Brock Hardy (Nebraska) is on the opposite side as the No. 3. Sergio Vega is No. 2 as a freshman for Oklahoma State. But can anyone knock off Mendez?

149 lbs.

Shayne Van Ness and Jaxon Joy could be on a collision course for the NCAA Wrestling Finals at 149. But the Penn State and Cornell stars could have company in a wide open weight. Don’t rule out a finals run for Penn’s Cross Wasilewski.

157 lbs.

Despite losing the Ivy League finals, Cornell’s Meyer Shapiro lands the No. 3 seed, opposite Penn State freshman PJ Duke, the Big Ten champion. Reigning NCAA Wrestling champion Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) gets No. 2. Kaleb Larkin and Landon Robideau could be a fascinating quarterfinal if seeds hold.

165 lbs.

165 belongs to Penn State’s Mitchell Mesenbrink who handled No. 3 Mikey Caliendo (Iowa) for the eighth time in their careers just last weekend. Joey Blaze (Purdue), made the NCAA Wrestling finals at 157 last year and comes in as the No. 2 seed with his head to head over Caliendo. Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State) and Ladarion Lockett (Oklahoma State) just squared off in the Big 12 finals and could see each other in the quarters.

174 lbs.

Levi Haines of Penn State goes for his second NCAA Wrestling title while Simon Ruiz of Cornell also comes in undefeated. Don’t rule out Nebraska’s Christopher Minto at No. 3 though. The top seeds are mostly from the Big Ten so we could see a lot of familiar matchups.

184 lbs.

Despite a trip up in the EIWA tournament, Franklin and Marshall’s James Conway gets the No. 4 seed in the NCAA Wrestling championships. But, Penn State’s Rocco Welsh is unbeaten after beating Minnesota’s Max McEnelly. Missouri’s Aedon Sinclair is No. 2 and might be the guy to upend Welsh, if he can beat McEnelly a second time this year. This weight is loaded!

197 lbs.

We’ve said previously on this network that Penn State’s Josh Barr is far ahead of the field right now. But Iowa State’s Rocky Elam is the No. 2 and unbeaten. That could be a fun NCAA Wrestling finals matchup, should we get some chalk at 197. Other than Barr, it seems like landmine after landmine across the bracket.

285 lbs.

This looks like the best Iowa State’s Yonger Bastida has wrestled in his career and he is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Wrestling Championships. Michigan’s Taye Ghadiali beat Nebraska’s AJ Ferrari in the Big Ten finals and they are the No. 3 and 4. Isaac Trumble of NC State has been amazing this year and could win the whole thing as well.

2026 NCAA Wrestling Championship schedule 

*All times Eastern

  • Thursday, March 19
    • Preliminaries| 12 p.m.
    • Preliminaries and wrestle-backs | 7 p.m.
  • Friday, March 20
    • Quarterfinals and wrestle-backs | 12 p.m.
    • Semifinals and wrestle-backs | 8 p.m.
  • Saturday, March 21
    • Consolation finals | 11 a.m.
    • Championship finals | 6:30 p.m.

Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio will host the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships. It is the first time the city has hosted since 2018.