Five Buckeyes earn All-American status, Ohio State finishes fifth for the second year in a row at NCAA Championships

Daria Smith
Sun, 22 Mar 2026 02:42:20 +0000
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Jesse Mendez at 2026 NCAA Championships Friday at Rocket Arena. Credit: Ohio State Athletics

After taking home at least one national title for the past two seasons, Ohio State came up empty this year at Rocket Arena.?

Despite being one of six teams to send 10 NCAA qualifiers, including five All-Americans—Jesse Mendez (141), Ben Davino (133), Carson Kharchla (174), Paddy Gallagher (165) and Brandon Cannon (157)—the Buckeyes left the NCAA Championships without a national champion.

Redshirt-junior No.3 Nic Bouzakis fell short in his second championship round match to Indiana’s No.14 seeded Jacob Moran by decision 10-2, sending him to the consultation bracket. On day two, Nic looked to find his momentum after a win by fall against Pittsburgh’s No.29 seeded Tyler Chappell but fell short after a loss to Rider’s Tyler Klinsky by fall, leaving him to not place in top eight.

No. 2 Davino finished runner-up at 133 after a loss to top-seeded Jax Forrest by decision 5-2 in the NCAA finals, while top-seeded Mendez, chasing his third straight national championship, fell short in the 141 pound finals with a 4-1 loss to Sergio Vega by sudden victory.

Ethan Stiles’ seeded at seven, tournament run came to an end Friday after a loss to University of Illinois’s Michael Gioffre 3-1 by decision, while both Cannon (157) and Kharchla (174) finished the tournament in fourth place and Gallagher finished in eighth as the No. 16 seed at the 165 pound weight class.

Redshirt-juniors Dylan Fishback and Nick Feldman along with redshirt sophomore Luke Geog all came up short to make the top eight in their respective weight class.

Fishback fell to Rutger’s Shane Cartagena-Welsh 8-1 by decision in the 184 weight class Friday.?

After losing his opening match to West Virginia’s No.21 seeded Rune Lawrence 9-6 by sudden victory, redshirt sophomore Luke Geog’s run ended after a 9-0 loss by decision to Stanford’s Angelo Posada at 197.

Feldman won his opening match against Mizzouri’s No. 28 seeded Jarrett Stoner 5-4 by decision but ultimately was eliminated by Pittsburgh’s No. 20 seed Dayton Pitzer in a 10-1 decision loss.?

The Buckeyes finished the tournament with a total of 84.5 points, placing them in fifth at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships. The Buckeyes last won a team national championship in 2015.