October 4, 2026
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College Wrestling
Freshmen win national titles now. Oklahoma State proved it at the 2026 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, becoming the first program in NCAA history to crown three freshman national champions in the same season.
The next group is just as deep. Some arrive straight from high school with age-group world medals and wins over established college stars. Others spent last season in redshirt, testing themselves against Division I competition before stepping into full-time lineup roles this winter.
Virginia Tech's Bo Bassett, already a U.S. senior world team member, headlines the class. He is far from the only newcomer capable of making an immediate national impact.
Few wrestlers have entered college with a resume like Bassett's. The Bishop McCort graduate went 170-0 in high school, won three Pennsylvania state titles, became the first boys wrestler to win four Super 32 titles and added four Walsh Ironman championships.
His freestyle credentials are stronger still. Bassett won a U17 world title in 2021 and a U20 world bronze in 2024, then returned to the top of the podium at the 2026 U20 World Championships at 65 kilograms, going 5-0 in Bratislava. He won the Senior U.S. Open earlier in the year and swept 2025 world bronze medalist Real Woods at Final X to claim the 65-kilogram spot on the U.S. Senior World Team.
Based on everything he accomplished before setting foot on a college mat, Bassett has to be the favorite at 141 pounds.
Knox is one of the most accomplished high school wrestlers in New Jersey history, and his senior season ended in controversy. The Saint John Vianney standout won four NJSIAA state titles at 126 pounds, but the NJSIAA's Controversies Committee voted 8-0 in July 2026 to strip his Region 7 and state championships after determining he violated the organization's sportsmanship policy for leaving the bench area during a brawl at the District 25 Tournament. His father was also involved in the altercation. A Superior Court judge initially ruled in Knox's favor, allowing him to compete at the state tournament, but the Controversies Committee had the final word.
What is not in dispute is how he wrestles. Knox finished his career with a 144-1 record and three Beast of the East titles, and he has beaten older competition in freestyle. He won the 2025 U20 U.S. Open and U20 World Team Trials at 57 kilograms, then placed third at the 2026 Senior U.S. Open. That spring he reached the finals of the Senior World Team Trials Challenge Tournament, posting an 11-0 technical fall over NCAA All-American and Pan American champion Liam Cronin before falling to Olympic silver medalist Spencer Lee.
Cortez owns world silver medals in two styles. The California product is a two-time state champion and four-time placer who won U20 world silver in Greco-Roman in 2024 before shifting his focus to freestyle. He took the 57-kilogram title at the 2026 U20 U.S. Open, swept Grey Burnett in the World Team Trials finals and reached the finals in Bratislava for his second career world silver.
Mendoza has already shown what he can do at this level. The four-time Illinois state champion out of Chicago's Mount Carmel, a Fargo champion and one of the top recruits in the Class of 2025, went 8-5 in attached matches during his redshirt season and added seven wins unattached. He won the Cyclone Open, placed second at the Soldier Salute and beat ranked opponents four times, including an 8-2 win over then-No. 9 Jacob Frost of Iowa State in February.
Injury cut Zepeda's first college season short, but not before he showed plenty. The Gilroy, California, product started at NC State and went 9-1 at 157 pounds before a knee injury ended his year. He won the Reno Tournament of Champions, placed second at the Southern Scuffle and scored bonus points in seven of his nine wins.
A three-time California state champion, Zepeda went 149-7 in high school with a 52-0 senior season. He won a junior freestyle title at Fargo in 2024, is a three-time Fargo All-American and a Doc Buchanan champion. He also beat Bassett at Who's Number One in 2023. Zepeda transferred to Michigan in the spring.
No freshman on this list made a bigger jump during a redshirt year. Burton arrived in Blacksburg as a two-time New Jersey state champion with titles at Super 32, Fargo, Powerade, Beast of the East and Escape the Rock. Then came the 2026 freestyle season. He entered the U20 U.S. Open at 79 kilograms as the No. 33 seed, went 7-0, posted a technical fall over top-seeded Zane Gerlach and beat Asher Cunningham in the finals. He won the U20 World Team Trials and took bronze at the U20 World Championships in Bratislava.
Ross arrives in Stillwater as one of the nation's top heavyweight prospects. The Fort Dodge, Iowa, product won four state titles and finished 146-2, losing twice as a freshman before closing with 144 straight wins. Every match of his senior season ended by fall or technical fall. He won multiple Fargo titles and was twice named Dan Gable Wrestler of the Year.
This summer, Ross won the U20 World Team Trials at 125 kilograms and reached the finals of the U20 World Championships, surrendering just one point through his first four matches before settling for silver. He will have to earn his starting spot at Oklahoma State, where he is expected to challenge Konnor Doucet.
Heavyweight is a difficult place for a true freshman to make an immediate impact. Merrill looks capable of it. The two-time California state champion from Riverside's John W. North went 48-0 with 44 pins as a junior before adding another state title as a senior. He won the Grand View Open, Younes Hospitality Open and BVU Open and placed sixth at the Soldier Salute.
In freestyle, he placed second at Fargo in 2025, won the 2026 U20 U.S. Open and U20 Pan American Championships and made the U23 World Team. He placed third at the Senior U.S. Open, upsetting world and Olympic medalist Mason Parris along the way.
Raney is Kentucky's only six-time high school state champion, winning every year from seventh grade through his senior season at Union County. He finished 203-4 with 187 falls and became Kentucky's first Junior Fargo champion. He won the 2025 Walsh Ironman alongside twin brother and fellow Oklahoma State recruit Jayden Raney, and owns a bronze medal from the 2024 U17 Greco-Roman World Championships. Both Raney twins in the same Cowboy room at the same weight gives Oklahoma State one of the more intriguing lineup competitions of the offseason.
Perentin gives Cornell a second freshman with significant international experience. The Delbarton standout is a three-time New Jersey state champion, a four-time placer and a Fargo national champion. He also captured an Italian national title and represented Italy at 74 kilograms at the 2026 U20 World Championships in Bratislava, opening with a technical fall and a pin before finishing fifth.
