March 16, 2026
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College Wrestling
The 2026 Division I Wrestling Championships take place Thursday through Saturday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Every year there are opening-round surprises at college wrestling's premier national championship event. This year there are several intriguing first-round matchups. Let's look at the most intriguing first-round matchup in each of the 10 weight classes.
Minnesota's Jore Volk, a 2024 All-American, is coming off a strong performance at the Big Tens. He defeated Ohio State's Nic Bouzakis in the semifinals before losing in sudden victory to Penn State's Luke Lilledahl in the finals. Based on seeds, one would assume Volk would cruise to an easy victory over the SDSU wrestler. But Brady Roark of South Dakota State defeated Volk in their only meeting this season, which helped SDSU upset Minnesota in the dual meet. Volk will be looking for revenge, while Roark will look to send the Gopher to the consolation bracket early.
The returning NCAA champion Lucas Byrd of Illinois took a surprising early loss at the Big Tens but rebounded to finish fourth, avenging his first loss. He will open his NCAAs with a familiar opponent in Rutgers' Dylan Shawver, a past Big Ten champion and All-American. Shawver has struggled with consistency but has shown that he can wrestle with the nation's best wrestlers. Byrd and Shawver have met twice in their college careers, with Byrd winning both meetings by one point.
Lehigh's Luke Stanich has flown under the radar a bit this season with much of the talk at 141 pounds being about two-time NCAA champion Jesse Mendez of Ohio State and undefeated true freshman Sergio Vega of Oklahoma State. But Stanich has an impressive resume. He was a U20 world champion in freestyle and enters the NCAAs undefeated. He will face Arizona State's Pierson Manville in the opening round. Manville is a fearless competitor and was one of the top recruits in the Class of 2024. On paper, Stanich is a strong favorite but don't expect Manville to back down in this matchup.
The Canadian Lachlan McNeil transferred to Michigan after spending the previous four seasons at North Carolina where he was a three-time All-American. He had a bit of a slow start to his season, taking a couple unexpected losses at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in early December, but seems to be rounding into postseason form. One of his losses in Las Vegas came to Princeton's Eligh Rivera, 4-3. Interestingly, the two wrestlers will meet in the first round of the NCAAs on Thursday.
Returning All-American Vinny Zerban has had a nice season at Iowa State after transferring from Northern Colorado. He has wins over All-Americans Ty Watters of West Virginia, Daniel Cardenas of Stanford and Gavin Drexel of North Dakota State. However, Zerban has battled injuries and medically forfeited out of the Big 12s after wrestling just one match. He opens his NCAAs with a tough first round opponent in Minnesota's Charlie Millard. The Gopher freshman has gone through some ups and downs, taking some unexpected losses and picking up some notable wins. He nearly defeated returning NCAA champion Antrell Taylor of Nebraska before getting pinned in the closing moments. Both Zerban and Millard wrestle well from a lot of different positions, so there could be some exciting scrambles. Zerban's health remains a question mark heading into the NCAAs, which is a bit concerning when facing someone of Millard's caliber.
Nebraska's L.J. Araujo has earned a No. 6 seed after a strong season. He has wins this season over several NCAA qualifiers. Nebraska is counting on Araujo to have a strong performance in Cleveland and help the Huskers contend for another team trophy. He opens with E.J. Parco of Stanford. Despite Parco's underwhelming 12-7 record, he has proven to be very capable wrestler. He has a win this season over ACC champion Bryce Hepner of North Carolina. At the ACC Championships, Parco defeated Virginia Tech's Will Denney, who enters the NCAAs seeded No. 10. Araujo-Parco is a first-round match to keep an eye on.
Oklahoma's Carter Schubert spent much of the season ranked in the top 10 after winning a title at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in early December. A week after winning his Vegas title, Schubert defeated Lenny Pinto of Rutgers 5-1. The two wrestlers will square off again in Thursday's opening round. Pinto transferred to Rutgers this season from Nebraska where he was a three-time NCAA qualifier, twice reaching the round of 12. He has taken some head-scratching losses but seems to be peaking at the right time. Pinto had a strong performance at the Big Tens. This match is closer to a tossup than their seeds suggest.
In November, it would have been hard to envision Shane Cartagena-Walsh of Rutgers being seeded 11 spots higher than Oklahoma State's Zack Ryder at the NCAAs. But here we are. Ryder looked like a national title threat early in the season when he dominated returning All-American Jaxon Smith of Maryland. But Ryder has taken some unexpected losses and battled injuries. He enters the NCAAs with a 12-8 record. Cartagena-Walsh has been solid but not spectacular. He has beaten the wrestlers he is expected to beat but hasn't been competitive with the top wrestlers in the weight class. Ryder has to be considered the favorite in this matchup despite being seeded much lower.
Justin Rademacher of Oregon State was a national qualifier as a true freshman two seasons ago. After redshirting last season, Rademacher went on to claim a gold medal at the U20 World Wrestling Championships in freestyle. After dropping a close bout to two-time All-American Stephen Little in the Pac-12 finals, Rademacher enters the NCAAs as the No. 6 seed at 197 pounds. He has formidable opponent in the first round, Iowa's Gable Arnold. The Hawkeye has been a bit of utility wrestler, filling in wherever the Hawkeyes have needed him. He has wrestled at 174 pounds, 184 pounds and 197 pounds where he will compete in the postseason. Arnold may be undersized at 197 pounds, but he's immensely skilled and confident in his abilities. Arnold has always relied on his strong defense, and if he can turn it into a one-takedown match against Rademacher, the Hawkeye could turn out to be a bracket buster at 197 pounds.
It's a bit baffling how Pitt's Dayton Pitzer received such a low seed. Since Dec. 5, Pitzer has only lost to No. 2 Isaac Trumble of NC State. During that span he has defeated Virginia Tech's Jim Mullen twice, including by major decision at the ACC Championships a week ago. Somehow Mullen is seeded four spots ahead of Pitzer. In a addition to receiving an egregious seed, Pitzer was paired with someone who has given him a third of his losses this season, Navy's Spencer Lanosga. The two wrestlers met on back-to-back days in early November, with Lanosga winning both meetings.
