Rutgers Wrestling Clinches Eight NCAA Championship Berths at Big Ten Finals

No. 11 Rutgers Wrestling locks in eight NCAA Championship spots

Rutger Scarlet Knights Wrestling: Remy Cotton | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

The No. 11 Rutgers Scarlet Knights wrestling program continues to solidify its reputation. They did it by being one of the most dangerous teams in college wrestling. After a demanding weekend of intense matches at the Bryce Jordan Center, Rutgers closed out the 2026 Big Ten Wrestling Championships with a major accomplishment. That is eight automatic bids to the NCAA Wrestling Championships.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights' Hunter Catka Delivers A Fine Game

Seven Scarlet Knights reached the podium during the tournament, showcasing the depth, resilience, and grit that have become trademarks of the program. With the conference championship weekend now complete, Rutgers turns its attention toward Cleveland. That's where the NCAA Wrestling Championships will take place from March 19 through March 21.

That does it for us here at Big Tens!

We're bringing eight to NCAAs, and hopefully will have even more when at-larges are handed out on Tuesday!#RelentlessPursuit | #GoRU https://t.co/LEIHM2uOX3

— Rutgers Wrestling (@RUWrestling) March 8, 2026

When the final day of the Big Ten Championships began on Sunday, Rutgers had already secured seven automatic qualifiers. The final spot rested on the performance of heavyweight Hunter Catka. Catka opened the day with a hard-fought 4-1 decision over Hayden Filipovich of Purdue to reach the ninth-place final.

The victory kept his NCAA hopes alive and set up a decisive matchup later in the afternoon. In the ninth-place match, Catka faced Josh Terrill of Michigan State. The Rutgers heavyweight wasted little time taking control. During the opening period, he scored two takedowns and added near-fall points.

In the second period, Catka dramatically sealed the deal. He caught Terrill on his back and secured a definitive pin, sending the Rutgers bench into celebration. The victory locked in Catka’s fourth career appearance at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. More importantly for the Scarlet Knights, it secured the program’s eighth automatic berth of the weekend.

Qualifying eight wrestlers for the NCAA Championships places the 2026 squad among the most accomplished teams in Rutgers wrestling history. The program has reached this mark only four times. The previous seasons that produced eight or more qualifiers include 2024 with eight wrestlers, 2016 with ten wrestlers, and 2011 with eight wrestlers.

This year’s result marks the highest number of automatic qualifiers Rutgers has secured from the conference championship since 2016, when nine Scarlet Knights advanced. As a team, Rutgers finished eighth in the Big Ten standings with 63.5 points.

The Scarlet Knights compiled 27 wins throughout the tournament. And many of them are coming in the grueling consolation brackets. Over the weekend, the Scarlet Knights recorded 18 victories over ranked InterMat opponents. That includes five wins over wrestlers ranked inside the top 15 nationally.

Scarlet Knights Reach the Big Ten Podium

Joseph Olivieri captured fifth place at 141 pounds. Shane Cartagena-Walsh also finished fifth at 184 pounds. Andrew Barbosa placed sixth at 165 pounds. Meanwhile, Lenny Pinto earned sixth place at 174 pounds. Remy Cotton finished sixth at 197 pounds.

Andrew Clark secured seventh place at 149 pounds. And Ayden Smith rounded out the group with an eighth-place finish at 125 pounds in his first appearance at the Big Ten Championships.

One of the most memorable moments of the tournament came earlier in the weekend. That's when Andrew Barbosa shocked the field during the quarterfinals. Barbosa faced Joey Blaze of Purdue, the 2025 NCAA runner-up who entered the match undefeated at 18-0 and ranked No. 2 nationally.

With fewer than ten seconds remaining and trailing 2-0, Barbosa countered a reattack and spun behind Blaze for a dramatic takedown. The officials reviewed the sequence before confirming the points. That gives Barbosa a stunning 3-2 victory and one of the biggest upsets of the conference tournament.

Barbosa was also one of only seven wrestlers seeded outside the top four to reach a championship semifinal. In the placement rounds, Joseph Olivieri closed his tournament with a strong performance. He secured a 5-2 decision over No. 11 Dario Lemus of Maryland to claim fifth place.

Shane Cartagena-Walsh also earned fifth after No. 3 seed Silas Allred of Nebraska was forced to medically forfeit their placement match. Barbosa, Cotton, and Pinto each dropped their respective fifth-place matches against highly ranked opponents.

Dylan Shawver finished just outside the automatic qualification spots, placing ninth at 133 pounds. He capped his weekend with a thrilling sudden-victory win over No. 8 seed Braxton Brown of Maryland, scoring the deciding takedown during the extra period.

Now the focus shifts to Tuesday, when the NCAA announces its at-large selections. Shawver and Anthony White both hold strong coaches’ rankings and RPI numbers, giving them legitimate chances to earn additional bids.

If both wrestlers are selected, Rutgers could send its full 10-man lineup to the NCAA Championships for only the second time in program history. The 2026 championships marked only the third time Rutgers has produced seven or more top-eight finishers at the Big Ten Championships.

Cartagena-Walsh, Clark, and Olivieri each became back-to-back Big Ten placewinners. He joined a group of 17 wrestlers who have accomplished that feat since Rutgers joined the conference in the 2014–15 season. Lenny Pinto also returned to the Big Ten podium for the fourth time in his career.

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