Buckeyes Place 5th at NCAA Championships

Saturday, March 21

Cleveland, Ohio

6:30 p.m.

Ohio State

2026 NCAA Championships

Buckeyes Place 5th at NCAA Championships

3/21/2026 10:13:00 PM | Wrestling

Final 2026 Brackets Photo Gallery

Mendez, Davino finish second

Results

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State completed action at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships Saturday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland with a total of 84.5 points, good for fifth.

Five Buckeyes earned All-America honors. Jesse Mendez became the 10^th four-time All-American in Ohio State history while graduate Carson Kharchla earned his second honor. Senior Paddy Gallagher, redshirt-sophomore Brandon Cannon and redshirt freshman Ben Davino earned the honor for the first time in their careers.

Mendez (141) and Davino (133) both fell in the finals after Kharchla (174) and Cannon (157) took fourth. Gallagher (165) placed eighth.

No. 1 Jesse Mendez faced No. 2 Sergio Vega of Oklahoma State in the title match at 141 pounds. The bout was the first of the final session Saturday.

Vega was warned for stalling in the opening minute. After three minutes, there was no score. Vega started from bottom in the second. Vega got the escape point after Mendez built 42 seconds of riding time. The match went to the third with Vega leading 1-0. Mendez started from bottom in the third and escaped after 27 seconds to tie it at 1-all. The match went to a two-minute sudden victory period where Vega scored the late takedown with 22 seconds left to win by decision, 4-1.

Mendez finished his career as a two-time national champion, two-time Big Ten champion and four-time All-American. He is the 10^th Buckeye all-time to earn four All-America honors.

Davino, in the last match of the 2026 NCAA Championships, faced No. 1 Jax Forest of Oklahoma State.

Early defense by Davino kept the match scoreless through the opening three minutes. Davino started from bottom to open the second. He earned the opening score with an escape 37 seconds into the second. Forest escaped to start the third to make it 1-all. Forest then scored a takedown, the first given up by Davino this season. Leading 4-1, Forest, with a point for riding time after a late Davino escape, got the win by decision, 5-1.

In the morning session Sunday, Brandon Cannon (157) defeated (11) Ty Waters of West Virginia in the consolation semifinals to advance to the third-place match against (1) P.J. Duke of Penn State. Duke took the match by technical fall, 20-4. Cannon finished fourth with a 5-2 record. That effort earned him 2026 All-America honors.

Paddy Gallagher (165) wrestled in the seventh-place match against former Buckeye (9) Bryce Hepner, who transferred to North Carolina after the 2025 season. Hepner prevailed in a major decision victory, 9-1. Gallagher earned All-America honors for the first time in his career with a 4-3 record at the championships.

Carson Kharchla (174) earned a 5-2 win by decision over No. 7 Cam Steed of Missouri to advance to the third-place match against (5) Patrick Kennedy of Iowa. Kennedy got the win by decision, 9-6. Kharchla finished his Ohio State career as a two-time All-American with a 5-2 record an the 2026 NCAA Championships.

Ten Buckeyes earned a spot in the 2026 NCAA Championships, one of six schools to qualify a wrestler in all 10 weight classes.

Tom Ryan, head coach of the Buckeyes, has qualified 10 wrestlers for the NCAA championships for the second-consecutive year and for the fifth time in his Ohio State career. In all, 167 Buckeyes have made the NCAA championships in Ryan's 20 years in Columbus with 80 earning All-America honors.

Ohio State at the 2026 NCAA Championships
125-Nic Bouzakis (2-2)
Champ. Rnd. 1-(3) Nic Bouzakis (OSU) def. (30) Sulayman Bah (COL), D, 9-5
Champ. Rnd. 2-(14) Jacob Moran (IND) def. (3) Nic Bouzakis (OSU), MD, 10-2
Cons. Rnd. 2-(3) Nic Bouzakis (OSU) def. (29) Tyler Chappell (PITT), F, 2:35
Cons. Rnd. 3-(11) Tyler Klinsky (RID) def. (3) Nic Bouzakis (OSU), F, 6:46

133-Ben Davino (4-1/2^nd)
Champ. Rnd. 1-(2) Ben Davino (OSU) def. (31) Gable Strickland (LHU), TF, 17-2
Champ. Rnd. 2-(2) Ben Davino (OSU) def. (15) Tyler Knox (STAN), TF, 21-5
QFs-(2) Ben Davino (OSU) def. (7) Lucas Byrd (ILL), MD, 14-5
SFs-(2) Ben Davino (OSU) def. (3) Marcus Blaze (PSU), D, 3-2 TB1
Fs-(1) Jax Forest (OKST) def. (2) Ben Davino (OSU), D, 5-2

141-Jesse Mendez (4-1/2^nd)
Champ. Rnd. 1-(1) Jesse Mendez (OSU) def. (33) Aldo Hernandez (APST), F, 2:13
Champ. Rnd. 2-(1) Jesse Mendez (OSU) def. (17) Caedyn Ricciardi (NAVY), TF, 22-6
QFs-(1) Jesse Mendez (OSU) def. (8) Vance Vombaur (MINN), MD, 16-4
SFs-(1) Jesse Mendez (OSU) def. (5) Luke Stanich (LEH), SV, 4-1
Fs-(2) Sergio Vega (OKST) def. (1) Jesse Mendez (OSU), SV, 4-1

149-Ethan Stiles (1-2)
Champ. Rnd. 1-(7) Ethan Stiles (OSU) def. (26) Anderson Heap (DAV), MD, 10-2
Champ. Rnd. 2-(10) Aden Valencia (STAN) def. (7) Ethan Stiles (OSU), D, 7-5
Cons. Rnd. 2-(25) Michael Gioffre (ILL) def. (7) Ethan Stiles (OSU), D, 3-1 TB1

157-Brandon Cannon (5-2/4^th)
Champ. Rnd. 1-(8) Brandon Cannon (OSU) def. (25) Mason Shrader (CMU), D, 10-4
Champ. Rnd. 2-(8) Brandon Cannon (OSU) def. (9) Daniel Cardenas (STAN), D, 8-7
QFs-(1) P.J. Duke (PSU) def. (8) Brandon Cannon (OSU), TF, 21-5
Cons. Rnd. 4-(8) Brandon Cannon (OSU) def. (6) Jude Swisher (PENN), MD, 17-3
Cons. Rnd-5-(8) Brandon Cannon (OSU) def. (15) Cameron Catabone (MICH), D, 4-3
Cons. SFs-(8) Brandon Cannon (OSU) vs. (11) Ty Watters (WVU), D, 9-6
3^rd Place-(1) P.J. Duke (PSU) def. (8) Brandon Cannon (OSU), TF, 20-4

165-Paddy Gallagher (4-3/8^th)
Champ. Rnd. 1-(16) Paddy Gallagher (OSU) def. (17) Braeden Scoles (ILL), MD, 13-4
Champ. Rnd. 2-(1) Mitchell Mesenbrink (PSU) def. (16) Paddy Gallagher (OSU), MD, 12-0
Cons. Rnd. 2-(16) Paddy Gallagher (OSU) def. (31) Jared Keslar (PITT), D, 2-1
Cons. Rnd. 3-(16) Paddy Gallagher (OSU) def. (8) Matty Bianchi (UALR), D, 4-3
Cons. Rnd. 4-(16) Paddy Gallagher (OSU) def. (27) EJ Parco (STAN), SV, 5-2
Cons. Rnd. 5-(13) Andrew Sparks (MINN) def. (16) Paddy Gallagher (OSU), MD, 10-2
7^th Place-(9) Bryce Hepner (UNC) def. (16) Paddy Gallagher (OSU), MD, 9-1

174-Carson Kharchla (5-2/4^th)
Champ. Rnd. 1-(4) Carson Kharchla (OSU) def. (29) Avery Bassett (LHU), D, 8-3
Champ. Rnd. 2-(4) Carson Kharchla (OSU) def. (20) Daschle Lamer (ORST), MD, 13-3
QFs-(5) Patrick Kennedy (IOWA) def. (4) Carson Kharchla (OSU), D, 2-1 TB1
Cons. Rnd. 4-(4) Carson Kharchla (OSU) def. (2) Simon Ruiz (COR), D, 5-3
Cons. Rnd. 5-(4) Carson Kharchla (OSU) def. (9) Beau Mantanona (MICH), MD, 11-3
Cons. SFs-(4) Carson Kharchla (OSU) def. () Cam Steed (MIZZ), D, 5-2
3^rd Place-(5) Patrick Kennedy (IOWA) def. (4) Carson Kharchla (OSU), D, 9-6

184-Dylan Fishback (1-2)
Champ. Rnd. 1-(12) Dylan Fishback (OSU) def. (21) Tomas Brooker (APST), D, 8-6
Champ. Rnd. 2-(5) Brock Mantanona (MICH) def. (12) Dylan Fishback (OSU), MD, 13-5
Cons. Rnd. 2-(11) Shane Cartagena-Walsh (RUT) def. (12) Dylan Fishback (OSU), D, 8-1

197-Luke Geog (3-2)
Champ. Rnd. 1-(21) Rune Lawrence (WVU) def. (12) Luke Geog (OSU), SV, 9-6
Cons. Rnd. 1-(12) Luke Geog (OSU) def. (28) Kael Wisler (MSU), D, 6-4
Cons. Rnd. 2-(12) Luke Geog (OSU) def. (6) Justin Rademacher (ORST), D, 3-2
Cons. Rnd. 3-(12) Luke Geog (OSU) def. (19) Zayne Lehman (Ohio), D, 6-3
Cons. QFs-(9) Angelo Posada (STAN) def. (12) Luke Geog (OSU)

285-Nick Feldman (2-2)
Champ. Rnd. 1-(5) Nick Feldman (OSU) def. (28) Jarrett Stoner (MIZZ), D, 5-4
Champ. Rnd. 2-(21) Juan Mora (OKLA) def. (5) Nick Feldman (OSU), D, 4-2
Cons. Rnd. 2-(5) Nick Feldman (OSU) def. (6) Nathan Taylor (LEH), D, 8-6
Cons. Rnd. 3-(20) Dayton Pitzer (PITT) def. (5) Nick Feldman (OSU), DEF, 10-1

#GoBucks