NCAA Wrestling Brackets Foreshadow Huge Tournament for Penn State

The Nittany Lions earn seven No. 1 seeds to the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

Penn State Nittany Lions PJ Duke (right) wrestles the Nebraska Cornhuskers' Antrell Taylor in the 157-pound final of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State earned a remarkable seven No. 1 seeds for the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships, meaning 70 percent of the top-seeded wrestlers in the field are Nittany Lions. Strictly considering those seeds, Penn State could break the NCAA record of five individual champs in a single tournament, which Penn State, Iowa and Oklahoma have achieved.

The NCAA on Wednesday announced the brackets for the NCAA Wrestling Championships, scheduled for March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. After a dominant regular season, coach Cael Sanderson's team seeks to win its fifth straight NCAA team title and 13th in the last 15 tournaments.

Sanderson, whose cookie company also is a big success, is pursuing his 13th NCAA title in 17 seasons as Penn State's head coach. If Penn State wins, Sanderson would move to within two titles of Iowa's Dan Gable, whose teams won 15 from 1978-97.

Penn State qualified its entire lineup to NCAAs and seeks to repeat with 10 All-Americans. Here's a look at Penn State's seeds and paths. Check out the NCAA wrestling website for the full brackets.

125: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl (20-0)

Penn State Nittany Lions wrestler Luke Lilledahl reacts after defeating Minnesota Golden Gophers Jore Volk in the 125-pound championship final of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

The Penn State sophomore defended his top seed after winning his second Big Ten title. Lilledahl's half of the bracket includes eighth-seeded Dean Peterson of Iowa, to whom Lilledahl lost in 2025, and Oklahoma State's fifth-seeded Troy Spratlet.

Down the road, Lilledahl could see Lehigh's fourth-seeded Sheldon Seymour in the semifinals. Seymour (19-0) defeated Lilledahl in the quarterfinals of the 2025 tournament. Lilledahl went on to place third.

133: No. 3 Marcus Blaze (21-1)

The Ohio State Buckeyes' Ben Davino (left) wrestles Penn State Nittany Lions' Marcus Blaze in the 133-pound championship final of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Matt Valenti, Penn head coach and NCAA selection committee chair, called 133 the most intriguing weight class of the tournament. It's top-heavy with talent, to the point that defending champ Lucas Byrd of Illinois is the seventh seed.

Blaze gets the No. 3 seed after a tremendous freshman season in which he was unbeaten until the Big Ten final, where he fell to Ohio State's Ben Davino in the tiebreaker. Blaze and Davino, the No. 2 seed, split their season series and could wrestle the deciding match in the semifinals. The No. 1 seed is Oklahoma State freshman Jax Forrest, who went 13-0 after beginning his college career in January.

141: No. 14 Braeden Davis (12-5)

If Penn State wants to repeat the feat of 10 All-Americans, it will need Davis to outwrestle his seed. Davis' struggles at the Big Ten Championships cut him a difficult route to becoming a two-time All-American (he placed fifth at 133 last season).

If he wins in the first round, Davis likely would face third-seeded Brock Hardy of Nebraska in Thursday's second round. Hardy pinned Davis during the regular season. Davis' half of the bracket also includes top-seeded Jesse Mendez of Ohio State and No. 8 Vance Vombaur of Minnesota, both of whom scored technical falls over Davis this season.

149: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (21-0)

Penn State Nittany Lions Shayne Van Ness (left) grabs the arms of Ohio State Buckeyes Ethan Stiles (right) in the 149-pound championship final of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Van Ness gets his first No. 1 seed after a wild Big Ten Championships, during which he rallied from two deficits for one-point decisions before getting a fall in the final. Van Ness is a two-time All-American looking for his first NCAA title.

In Van Ness' half of the bracket is Virginia Tech's Collin Gaj, the fourth-seeded freshman who won the ACC title. Cornell's Jaxon Joy (24-1) is the No. 2 seed.

157: No. 1 PJ Duke (19-1)

Duke launched himself into the No. 1 seed at NCAAs with a phenomenal Big Ten Tournament, where he was named the outstanding wrestler. Duke scored major decisions over Ohio State's Brandon Cannon and defending champ Antrell Taylor of Nebraska at Big Tens.

Duke could get a rematch with Cannon in Friday morning's quarterfinals. Cannon still appeared to be affected at Big Tens by the injury that curtailed his season. A wrestler to watch is fourth-seeded Kaleb Larkin of Arizona State, who won the Big 12 title as a redshirt freshman.

165: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (22-0)

Penn State Nittany Lions Mitchell Mesenbrink (left) wrestles Iowa Hawkeyes Mikey Caliendo (right) in the 165-pound championship final of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Mesenbrink is the huge favorite to defend his NCAA title after scoring bonus points in every bout he wrestled this season. Mesenbrink won his third Big Ten title with two major decisions and a technical fall.

The No. 2 seed is Purdue's Joey Blaze, the brother of Mesenbrink's teammate Marcus and the NCAA runnerup at 157 last season. Blaze was upset in the quarterfinals at Big Tens but still got the No. 2 seed over Iowa's Mikey Caliendo, the returning NCAA runnerup who has lost eight matches to Mesenbrink over the past three seasons.

174: No. 1 Levi Haines (21-0)

The four-time Big Ten champ looks to win his second NCAA title after placing third at the weight class last season. A matchup with former teammate Alex Facundo of Oklahoma State, seeded eighth, looms potentially in Friday's quarterfinals.

Cornell's second-seeded Simon Ruiz (16-0) is the weight class' other unbeaten wrestler. Christopher Minto of Nebraska, who gave Haines two of his closest bouts this season, is seeded third.

184: No. 1 Rocco Welsh (20-0)

Penn State Nittany Lions Rocco Welsh is introduced prior to his match against Minnesota Golden Gophers Max McEnelly in the 184-pound championship final of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

After redshirting last season, Welsh earned the top seed with an undefeated season that included a nervy run through the Big Ten tournament. Welsh won all three bouts in overtime, with two tiebreaker decisions and a third on a sudden-victory takedown.

Welsh is back at the NCAA tournament after placing second at 174 in 2024. That's where he lost to Carter Starocci, Penn State's five-time champ. Brock Mantanona of Michigan, who took Welsh to sudden victory at Big Tens, is in his half of the bracket. Missouri's Aoeden Sinclair (30-1) is the second seed.

197: No. 1 Josh Barr (19-0)

Barr and Mesenbrink give Penn State two undefeated top seeds with 100-percent bonus-rate success. Barr scored three technical falls to win his first Big Ten title and is a big favorite at NCAAs.

Second-seeded Rocky Elam (18-0) of Iowa State also is undefeated. Valenti said Barr the selection committee considered Barr and Elam a "virtual tie," elevating Barr to the No. 1 seed based on his overall body of work.

285: No. 9 Cole Mirasola (17-6)

Penn State Nittany Lions Cole Mirasola (left) wrestles Iowa Hawkeyes Ben Kueter (right) in a 285-pound bout during a consolation semifinal of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at Bryce Jordan Center. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Mirasola has a severe bracket in his first NCAA appearance. With a first-round win, Mirasola could meet Iowa's eighth-seeded Ben Kueter in the second round. The wrestlers split their previous two matches, with Kueter winning 2-0 in the Big Ten consolations.

If he reaches the quarterfinals, Mirasola likely would get top-seeded Yonger Bastida (25-0) of Iowa State. Michigan's Taye Ghadiali, the Big Ten champ, is the third seed.

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