OSU First Team in NCAA History with Three Freshman Champs
CLEVELAND – Oklahoma State wrestlers Sergio Vega, Landon Robideau and Jax Forrest won individual titles at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships Saturday, making OSU the first team in history to record three freshman champions in one year at the national tournament.
All true freshmen, they claimed titles at 141, 157 and 133 pounds, respectively. It was just the third time a team has recorded multiple freshman champions, as Cornell College had two true freshmen win in 1947 and Penn State had a true freshman and redshirt freshman win in 2017.
OSU’s title winners were the biggest contributors to OSU’s team total of 131 points, which marked the third-highest score at the event in program history, the second-highest runner-up score in NCAA tournament history and a higher score than 12 of the 25 team champions since the NCAA began using the current placement point values in 2001.
“We had an awesome tournament,” coach David Taylor said. “It’s not something you’re typically proud of (getting second place), but it’s a stepping stone. You think about the progress we’ve made with a lot of young guys in the lineup, so it’s a pretty awesome season. I’m super proud of the guys, our organization, fans and supporters. All that to say, we’re going to keep getting better.”
No Cowboy contributed more than Forrest’s 26 team points, which broke Pat Smith’s 1990 program freshman record of 25 points (applying the current scoring model).
Vega and Forrest, who finished the season at 24-0 and 18-0, respectively, became the first true freshmen since 1947 to complete undefeated championship seasons.
Only four others in history have accomplished the feat, and all of them occurred in 1947 when many true freshmen who were already into their twenties competed after returning from World War II. None of that group, consisting of then-Oklahoma A&M’s Dick Hutton, Iowa’s Joe Scarpello, and Dick Hauser and Lowell Lange of Cornell College, won more than 15 matches.
Vega was the first Cowboy to claim his title, facing two-time defending NCAA champion, top-seeded and undefeated Jesse Mendez of Ohio State in the opening bout of the night.
Each wrestler scored an escape in regulation, and they took a 1-1 tie into sudden victory. Mendez got to a leg with less than thirty seconds remaining in the extra time, but Vega countered as he’s done all season to score a takedown with 22 seconds left and secure his national title. The win cemented a 24-0 season for the true freshman, who did not allow a single takedown all season. “That was awesome,” Vega said. “It hit me right away. It took them a while to call the takedown. It was awesome. I’ve never had a moment like that in my life.”
Fifth-seeded Robideau was the next Cowboy on the mat, facing defending NCAA champion and three-time All-American Antrell Taylor of Nebraska. Robideau opened the scoring with a two-point nearfall 25 seconds into the second period, then added an escape and stalling point in the third. He then held off several late shots from Taylor to secure a 4-2 decision and became OSU’s second true freshman national champion of the night.
Robideau, who has now avenged both of his season losses in this tournament, wraps up his season with a 21-2 overall record. “I was just super thankful,” Robideau said. “First, I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. After that, I saw my teammates there supporting me. I saw my mom and my brother, and I thought of all the hard work I’d put in to get to that point. Having them there matside, supporting me, means a lot.”
Forrest, who was still in high school for the first semester of this season, wrestled in the main event to close out the tournament. He faced No. 2 Ben Davino of Ohio State in what many considered the final match of the most challenging weight class in the country.
Trailing 1-0 heading into the final period, Forrest used an escape, takedown and more than two minutes of riding time to secure a 5-2 win and cap his historic run. … more at … https://okstate.com/news/2026/3/21/cowboy-wrestling-osu-first-team-in-ncaa-history-with-three-freshman-champs
Blades, Hikiji, Jimenez, Rodriguez and Welker named finalists for 2026 USA Wrestling Anthony-Maroulis Trophy
Five finalists have been selected for the 2026 USA Wrestling Anthony-Maroulis Trophy, which is presented annually to the nation’s best women’s college wrestler—Kennedy Blades of Iowa, Erin Hikiji of Providence, Audrey Jimenez of Lehigh, Cristelle Rodriguez of Doane and Kylie Welker of Iowa.
Blades, Jimenez and Welker were champions at the inaugural NCAA Women’s Wrestling National Championships. Hikiji and Rodriguez earned national titles at the NAIA Women’s Wrestling Championships.
The award winner will be selected by a vote from three constituent groups—women’s college head coaches, national wrestling media and the fans. Each group accounts for one-third of the total vote.
Public voting is now open at usawrestlingevents.com/wcwoty and will run through Tuesday, March 31. The winner will be announced on Thursday, April 2.
Finalists were determined by the Anthony-Maroulis Trophy oversight committee, which includes representatives of USA Wrestling, college coaches, media, officials and past winners.
| The following criteria were considered when evaluating finalist candidates, using data from the 2025-26 season only:• Season record• Bonus percentage• Number of falls• Number of technical falls• Quality of competition• Integrity and sportsmanship• Impact on program and team success• Cultural impact on women’s college wrestling |
| The USA Wrestling Anthony-Maroulis Trophy is named after Victoria Anthony and Helen Maroulis, who are the first four-time women’s college national champions. Both women won a fourth WCWA national title in 2014 as teammates at Simon Fraser University, becoming the first wrestlers in history to achieve the feat.Previous winners of the award were Yelena Makoyed of North Central (2023), Adaugo Nwachukwu of William Penn (2024) and Kennedy Blades of Iowa (2025).USA Wrestling created the Anthony-Maroulis Trophy to elevate a new award for women’s college wrestling that has significant cultural impact seen with other college athletic awards, such as the Dan Hodge Trophy in men’s college wrestling and the Hesman Trophy in college football. |
Hayden Hidlay Returns to NC State Wrestling
RALEIGH – NC State wrestling’s first-ever five-time All-American is returning to Raleigh to rejoin the NC State wrestling staff, this time as an assistant coach, as announced by head coach Pat Popolizio on Tuesday.
One of the most decorated athletes to come out of the NC State wrestling program, a Raleigh reunion will be had with Hayden Hidlay as he returns to his alma mater.
Hidlay joins the Wolfpack staff after spending the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons as an assistant coach at Stanford, as well as the 2023-24 season at North Dakota State. Immediately following his graduation from NC State back in 2022, the five-year member of the Pack served as the student-athlete development coordinator for NC State wrestling.
“Hayden was one of the most impactful student-athletes we’ve ever had, not only just within our program, but both at the conference and national levels too,” said head coach Pat Popolizio. “As one of the winningest wrestlers in NC State school history, he was our program’s first-ever five-time All-American, all while accumulating academic accolades across the board as well.
He’s spent the last few seasons growing, as a coach and as a man, at Stanford and North Dakota State. Just days ago, he guided Aden Valencia to his first national championship as a 10th-seeded redshirt-freshman at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Cleveland.
Hayden will continue to instill our program’s culture that he helped build as an athlete. We are thrilled at the opportunity to have him back in Raleigh, back in the wrestling room that he accomplished so much in.”
Over the last two seasons, Hidlay helped the Cardinal produce tremendous results during their first inaugural years in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The squad is coming off a historic season with its highest-ever finish at the NCAA Championships in sixth place and the third national champion in program history, a wrestler whom Hidlay closely oversaw.
“I am honored to be returning to NC State wrestling,” said Hayden Hidlay. … more at … https://gopack.com/news/2026/3/24/hayden-hidlay-returns-to-nc-state-wrestling
Newberry Men’s Wrestling Awarded Thrivent Community Service Team of the Week
This week’s Thrivent Newberry College Athletics Community Service Teams of the Week is the Wolves Men’s Wrestling team. The Wolves men’s wrestling team assisted the Newberry College Admissions team with set up in preparation for Admissions Preview Day.
Thrivent is a membership-owned fraternal organization dedicated to serving the unique needs of our clients—guiding them toward financial choices that will help them live the lives they want today and … more at … https://newberrywolves.com/news/2026/3/23/newberry-mens-wrestling-awarded-thrivent-community-service-team-of-the-week.aspx
UMO Features 111 Student-Athletes on the Winter Spring Academic All-Conference Teams
MOUNT OLIVE – A total of 111 University of Mount Olive student-athletes were named to the Winter/Spring Academic All-Conference teams presented by Barnes and Noble College Thursday morning.
The Conference Carolinas Academic All-Conference teams consist of junior and senior student-athletes in the conference who have competed in a conference-sponsored sport and maintained a cumulative grade-point average of 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale in all work completed at their member institution.
The GPA is calculated based on the cumulative averages of the student-athletes through the previous semester and each student-athlete must have attended their member institution for at least one academic year. … more at … https://umotrojans.com/news/2026/3/19/baseball-umo-features-111-student-athletes-on-the-spring-presidential-honor-roll.aspx
Isaac Trumble Wins Wrestling Heavyweight National Championship
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Isaac Trumble claims the heavyweight national title at 285 lbs by completing his perfect season 21-0 at the Rocket Arena in Cleveland at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Trumble defeated Iowa State’s No. 1 seed Yonger Bastida 5-0 to become the Wolfpack’s 10th national champion.
After a scoreless first period, Isaac Trumble got an escape and a takedown in the second period to command his win over top-seeded Yonger Bastida in the championship match. A riding time point tacked on for good measure led the sixth-year senior comfortably into the final moments of the match.
After Nick Gwiazdowski last won the heavyweight title back-to-back in 2014 and 2015, Trumble is now the fifth national champion for NC State at 285 lbs.
With the win, NC State was propelled into the 10th-place spot on the team leaderboard with 44.5 total points to jump in front of Virginia Tech. The Pack has now been in the top-10 NCAA final team scores six times under head coach Pat Popolizio.
After six seasons in Raleigh, the match marked Trumble’s final bout of his collegiate career, finishing with a total record of 88-20 across both 197 lbs and 285 lbs divisions. The Springfield, Nebraska, native looks to begin his career in the U.S. Army as a field artillery officer.
Trumble claimed All-American honors for the second season in a row after placing fourth last year in Philadelphia on a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus.
The win also marks the second straight season for the Wolfpack … more at … https://gopack.com/news/2026/3/21/isaac-trumble-wins-wrestling-heavyweight-national-championship
TDR Top 12 awards update #1
Plaque Awards for the following schools have been mailed; American Leadership Academy, Bunn, C.B. Aycock, Cleveland, Corinth-Holders, Heidi Trask, Onslow Early College, Pamlico County, Pender County, South Brunswick, Vance County, Wake Forest, Washington, West Brunswick, West Carteret, West Craven and West Johnston. These are 17 of the 44 schools that will have their plaques presented, delivered or mailed out in the next week.
The TDR Top 12 awards
We have returned from the “Big Show” of the NCAA Division I National Men’s Wrestling Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio. It was a challenging trip and we are glad to be back home. The flury of wrestling events and travel have interrupted our postings on The TDR Blog pages. For the rest of March we will be mailing and delivering plaques to the schools of the following wrestlers. The wrestlers named for the Big Awards will be announced in the coming week.
2026 TDR Top 12 Women’s team
First Team
106 — Izabella Johnson (Croatan), 107 — Alissa Austin (First Flight), 114 — Zainab Hijawi (South Central), 120 — Khiry Reese (Rosewood), Adrianna Miller (White Oak), 126 – Claire Ballard (New Bern), LaNautica Johnson (Vance County), 132 – Mia Lavigne (White Oak), 138 – Benny Jenkins (Wake Forest), 145 – Sydney Simmons (Laney), 152 – Laita Tellez (Havelock), 165 – Emma Yopp (South Brunswick), 185 – LaNesha Gause (Laney), 235 – Leslie Barden (Laney).
Second Team
107 – Peyton Smith (Jacksonville), 114 — Morgan Foy (Onslow Early College), 120 — Abby Garcia (Havelock), 126 – Mia Kiser (Laney), Gabriella Aguirre-Gomez (Manteo), Trinity Wiley (South Brunswick), Jameson McCoy (Rosewood), 132 – Lauren Hall (Heidi Trask), 145 – Zaniyah Shepard (White Oak), 165 – Evangline (Evie) Alasin (Northeastern), Emma Boychuck (Swansboro), 185 – Bella Abba (Wakefield), 235 – Malea Vinson (White Oak).
Honorable Mention 100 – Angelica Ayala-Garcia (Manteo), Yesan Huang (Laney), Alaina Vee (Swansboro), 107 – Ryleigh Cline (Swansboro), 114 – Mackynzie Bilbrey (Northside), Nyima Lovett (J.H. Rose, 120 – Skyla Simpson (First Flight), 126 – Abigail Brwer (Cleveland), 132 – Kelli Faison (Croatan), Italia Squicciarini (Topsail), 145 – Faith Bane (New Bern), Aydelyn Collins (Swansboro), Alexis Tirado (Croatan), 152 – Imani Carroll (Bunn), 185 – Leilany Hernandez-Colon (First Flight), Brilelle Bowman (Dixon).
2026 TDR Top 12 Men’s team
First Team
06 – Xavier Bernthal (New Bern), 113 – Tyler Gardner (Jacksonville), 120 – Lucas Angstadt (Ashley), 126 – Holton Quincy (North East Carolina Prep), 132 – Ashton Tennessee (West Johnston), 138 – Maxwell Davis (Jacksonville), 144 – James Campos (White Oak), 150 – Isiah Mewborn (Pamlico), 157 – Jacob Campos (White Oak), 165 – Tobin McNair (Wakefield), 175 – Aldinio Previl (Rosewood) 190 – Luke Padgett (Croatan), 215 – Judah Harris (Hunt), 285 – Mason Hocker (John Hoggard).
Second Team
106 – Sander Tran (South Central), 113 — Jackson Abel (Franklinton), 120 — Isaiah Mazura (Rosewood), 126 — Christopher Braxton (New Hanover), 132 – Miller Menteer (Currituck), Christian Riddick (First Flight), 138 – Samuel McQueen (Emsley Laney), Coy Deel (West Craven), 144 – Cade Gehris (First Flight), 150 – Aiden Campbell (Havelock), Hayden Smith (White Oak), 165 – John Bane (New Bern), Mac Kopelman (Emsley Laney), 175 – Jude Moulton (John Hoggard), 190 – Jaylin Darden (Rosewood), Rhett Stevens (Corinth-Holders), 215 – Nick Wade (Rosewood), Syler Hall (Pamlico), 285 – John Garay-Martinez (First Flight).
Honorable Mention
106 – Jonathan Helbert (West Carteret), Eliel Lopez (Rosewood), 113 — Alan Tebalan (North East Carolina Prep), 120 – Rory Gallagher (John Hoggard), Brayden Waneroik (North East Carolina Prep), Lucas Angell (Currituck), 126 – Robert Alexander (White Oak), Nate Jones (Northside, Jax), 132 – Colten Lewis (White Oak), Gael Guerrero-Perez (Bunn), 138 – Zymir Best (Charles B. Aycock), Zachary Loveless (American Leadership Academy), Jake Amiott (Topsail), Shane Mangroo (Rosewood), 144 – Vincent Valentino (Emsley Laney), Dominic Avvisato (Dixon), Stephen Rubistello (Tarboro), David Barrera-Meza (Washington), 150 –Kaliil McDowell (Wakefield), Tucker Massie (Washington), Jacob Perry (New Bern), 157 – Jonathan Nguyen (Northeastern), Noah Cerino (West Carteret), Camden Herron (Northside, Jax), 165 –Anoop Monroe (Northside, Jax), 175 – Ben McCaleb (Topsail), Bryson Mabe (West Brunswick), 215 –Wisdom Mason (North Pitt), Andrew Robinson (Pender Co.), 285 – Josh Lemke (Rosewood), Kayden Clark (SW Onslow).
2026 Dan Hodge Trophy Fan Vote Is Open
Fan voting has begun in the 2026 ASICS Race for the Dan Hodge Trophy. When the dust settled on the 2026 NCAA DI Wrestling Championships March 21 in Cleveland, seven of the 10 NCAA champions finished the season undefeated and are the finalists for the 2026 WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy.
Penn State and Oklahoma State each have multiple finalists. Nittany Lions Luke Lilledahl (25-0 at 125), Mitchell Mesenbrink (27-0 at 165), Levi Haines (26-0 at 174) and Josh Barr (24-0 at 197) each won their respective weights. Mesenbrink and Haines are now two-time champs.
The Cowboys have two Hodge finalists. Freshmen Jax Forrest (18-0 at 133) and Sergio Vega (24-0 at 141) were undefeated and won at consecutive weights in the lineup. However, the two Cowboys bookended the NCAA finals after the decision was made to start the finals at 141 so the much-anticipated battle of freshmen at 133 between Forrest and Ohio State’s talented Ben Davino would be the last bout of the night. Vega won his title over two-time NCAA champ Jesse Mendez of Ohio State, considered by many to be one of the front-runners all season for this year’s Hodge
The seventh and final Hodge finalist is 285-pound champion Issac Trumble of North Carolina State. Trumble finished the season 21-0 and blanked top-seeded Yonger Bastida of Iowa State 5-0 in the finals.
The statistics of each Hodge finalist is included in the story’s main graphic.
The four criteria for the Hodge are record, dominance/bonus-point percentage, quality of competition, and sportsmanship. … more at … https://www.win-magazine.com/2026/03/23/2026-dan-hodge-trophy-fan-vote/
NCAA Division I wrestling not immune to NIL, transfer portal impact
Chris Easterling
Akron Beacon Journal
CLEVELAND — Kevin Dresser wrestled decades ago for legendary Iowa coach Dan Gable. Much more recently than that, he’s been a wrestling head coach, first at Virginia Tech and, since 2017, at Iowa State University.
So, needless to say, Dresser’s seen some things in both college wrestling and, more broadly, college athletics in general. And, yet, little has been as transformative since name, image and likeness (NIL) arrived on the scene on July 1, 2021. “Well, I started at Iowa State nine years ago,” Dresser told the Beacon Journal the day before the 2026 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships began in Rocket Arena, “and if you would have told me on day one that I’d be negotiating six-figure contracts with student-athletes on top of scholarship money, I would have said, ‘You’re crazy as hell.’ So, yeah, it’s been a change.”
NIL and the transfer portal have been dual-track subjects that have dominated the off-the-field conversations about college sports, only getting louder as they’ve become more established. However, so much of those discussions have revolved around the impact on football and basketball, men’s and women’s.
NCAA wresters like Indiana’s Tyler Lillard see NIL as ‘opportunity’
As 330 wrestlers descend upon Cleveland for the national championships, they’re not sheltered from the realities that exist at every level of collegiate athletics. … more at … https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/2026/03/19/david-taylor-penn-state-ncaa-wrestling-championships-nil-transfer-portal/89205304007/?utm_source=beaconjournal-newsalert-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsalert&utm_term=hero&utm_content=nabj-akron-nletter01
TDR blog
After 20 seasons of publicizing wrestling The TakeDown Report’s (TDR) focus has changed to the collecting of college coaching records from North America since 1903. We will continue to recognize and reward successful wrestlers in eastern North Carolina (east of Raleigh & Fayetteville), assist with schools in starting or re-starting a team and this blog. Join us on our FaceBook Page – “The TakeDown Report” for photos and news. Please send results, stories, links and news to pass along. E-mail us at takedownreport@gmail.com
Martin Fleming, Editor
Takedown Report
Takedown Report 