2026 NCAA Championships Session Three - Running Blog

Welcome to Day 2 of the 2026 NCAA Championships. Sitting alongside the legendary Earl Smith, it is moving day!! Quarterfinals on the 4 inside mats, consis on the outside. Huge team points today, quarterfinal winners get 6 for guaranteed 6th, 1 for advancement and up to 2 more for bonus. We are going to see the team race go crazy today. Here are your 125 matchups:

1 Luke vs 8 Peterson

5 Spratley vs 4 Seymour

14 Moran vs 3 Volk

10 McGowan vs 2 Ventresca

Just like yesterday, focus will be on the Frontside.

I am all hopped up on Mountain Dew Zero, Let’s Go!!!!!!!!

Spratley strikes 1st to go up 3-0. All other matches scoreless. The Spratley W last night huge for OSU. LL in on Peterson, great counter offense and no score. Seymour E1.

Volk quick TD. E1 Moran and oob. Bouzakis WBF on the outside. Peterson down 1st. MAM down 1st and out quick for both. Volk chooses down and he is out. Spratley up 4-1. This is his type of match, get the 1st TD and be stingy. Luke chooses down. Moran chooses down, Eddie V chooses down. Luke out and in on a leg again. Eddie is out. Moran TD and goes up 5-4 30 to go restart. Volk has to get out. Moran wins!! Spratley wins!!! Luke and Dean into OT. Eddie V and MAM into OT. 133 doesn’t start til all 125s are done. Luke in 3rd time. Scramble OOB. Warning Pete. Luke got out in 13. Dean turn down. If MAM gets out he wins. And he does. 8 second sprint! Luke wins!! McGowan wins!!!!

Here are your semis:

1 Luke vs 5 Spratley & 14 Moran vs 10 McGowan.

Brackets…..officially….busted

133: Chalk and what we all wanted to see.

1 Forrest vs 8 Baker

5 Larkin vs 4 Seidel

3 Blaze vs 6 Ayala

7 Byrd vs 2 Davino

Jax scores 1st. Seidel leg in the air and a cradle and Larkin is out. Davino up 7-1 on a fireman’s to the back. Fingers can’t go fast enough, geez. Jax with a firemans for 7. Jax up 15-3, Seidel up 10-1, Those 2 in the semis most likely. Rematch of match of the year candidate. Jax with a TF, he apparently was double parked lol. Absolute STUD. It’s 10-3 now for Davino. Blaze E1 and TD to go up 4-0, If seeds hold the NCAA Semis are both rematches. 1 destined for OT and 1 for 1st guy to 10. 13-4 Davino after 2. E1 Davino. 4-1 Blaze 30 to go 2nd period. 11-1 Seidel, both matches guy leading in control. Ayala down to start the 3rd. 

Davino into the semis, people are sleeping on this guy, he is as good as anyone at the weight. Blaze working on RT: 1:07 to go and 53 RT. Seidel with a TF. 133 top semi is going to be absolute FIRE tonight. Ayala E1 but Blaze up 2 and RT. 6-3 final

Semis: 1 Forrest vs 4 Seidel and 2 Davino vs 3 Blaze: Both are rematches. 

141 All Chalk

1 Mendez vs 8 Vombaur

5 Stanich vs 4 Echemendia

3 Hardy vs 6 Cornella

7 Bailey vs 2 Vega

Rematches 1st and 4th matches. Vega gets to the leg and Bailey sprawls out. Bailey slumped middle of the year and now looks like who Iowa thought they were getting. Ech vs Stanich is fascinating. Cornella head outside single Hardy counters for the TD. Ech TD 3. Mendez up 1-0 two stalls Vombaur. Vega/Bailey scoreless. Bailey goes down. Stanich D1. Blood time Cornella. Bailey out in 4 seconds, wow!! Rematch already different. Vega in on a leg and scores. Now 3-1 36 to go. Cornella TD. 4-3 19 to go in the 1st. Stanich TD. Vega up 3-1 and choice. 5-3 Hardy in the 3rd they are on their feet. 

Stanich up 5-4 and trying to ride out for the Win. Hardy/Cornella in a scramble. Vega chose neutral. Mendez wins 6-4. Stanich rides out for the win by 2 with RT.4-1 Vega 45 to go. Hardy advances 5-3. Bailey has to GO. Vega wins 4-1.

Semis are SET:

1 Mendez vs 5 Stanich and 2 Vega vs 3 Hardy (part 3)

149 Quarters

1 SVN vs 8 Swiderski 1st PSU/OSU matchup of the meet

12 Young vs 20 Lamer

3 Wasilewski vs 11 McNeil

10 Valencia vs 2 Joy: Feet vs Top Game

Joy in immediately. Swiderski in immediately. TD Joy. Swiderski on the edge. Lamer TD. Stall Joy on top scramble. E1 Valencia. Joy 2nd TD. Roughness warning Casey. Cross close to a TD gets it with 2 seconds left up 3-0. Lamer with a bucket of RT. Casey chooses down 1st. Joy chooses down. McNeil chooses down. Lamer up 7-0 now. Joy up 7-1. Swiderski E1. on their feet. McNeil E1 on their feet. SVN taking ground. Lamer all over CY. SVN chooses down. R2 SVN. 

Valencia TD and E1. TD again 8-9 he cuts him. McNeil does big boy things gets the TD and the turk and the FALL!!! KJ going crazy. Lamer into the semis. Valencia takes the lead and he is gonna do it. Sean Gray and Hidlay are partying!! SVN and Casey into OT. Caution Casey. Blood Swiderski. 1:36 to go. Lots of fakes. Who gets it done? Swiderski to the leg, Scramble SVN. Stalemate as SVN was kicking loose. 37 til rideouts. UNBELIEVABLE 20 seconds handfight scramble and SVN gets it done!!!! Go back and watch this!!! 

Semis

1 Van Ness vs 20 Lamer

11 McNeil vs 10 Valencia

157 Quarterfinals

1 Duke vs 8 Cannon: Rematch B10 qtr

5 Robideau vs 4 Larkin: Rematch B12 Final

3 Shapiro vs 6 Watters

7 Webster vs 2 Trelly: Rematch Dual

Robideau has Larkin leg and gets the 1st TD. Duke gets 1st TD. Webster chooses down 1st. Blood time Shapiro. E1 Larkin. Robideau in again. Larkin frees his leg. Duke TD. 

Period ends 3-1 Landon. Trelly 35 of RT and climbing. Shapiro/Watters scoreless after 1. Shapiro down 1st. Robideau on the leg again. Larkin in the scramble. R2 Shapiro. Stalemate Larkin. Webster out. 1:07 RT Taylor. Duke with a TF. So good. Antrell will go down. If he gets out in 7 he has RT. Watters E1. 2-1 on serve. Robideau chooses down. Watters TD at end up period to go up 4-2.

TD 3 Larkin goes up 5-4. Antrell got out quick has 1:01 RT. Webster has the leg shelved. R2 Robideau and E1 Larkin. 6-6 awesome match. Antrell got hit for stalling but gets the TD to ice it. Shapiro TD to tie it 5-5. E1 Watters. Larkin and Robideau OT. Watters wins 6-5. Robideau gets the TD to win 

Your 165 semifinals:

1 Duke vs 5 Robideau and 11 Watters vs 2 Taylor

Technical difficulties, sincere apologies. Caliendo up 3-1 MM and Hepner scoreless and Hepner had the better chances to score. Alvan up 3-1. Denny/Blaze 0-0 after 1. Blaze up and out

Alvan E1 up 4-1. Caliendo up 7-1. Stall Alvan. Delay Hepner/MM concussion protocol I think Hepner. 7-2 Caliendo. TD Blaze up 4-0. Ruiz chooses down. 10-2 Caliendo. MM/Hepner scoreless after 1. Hepner is the real deal. Ruiz down 4-2 in the 3rd. Blaze up 4-1 in the 3rd. Alvan with another upset to the semis. Caliendo bonus to the semis, criminally underrated. MM with swipes now up 4-2. Blaze wins 4-3. MM up 5-2, weird match. Hepner has battled HARD. Mesenbrink wins 6-0

Semi matchups:

1 MM vs 12 Alvan, 3 Caliendo vs 2 Blaze

174

1 Haines vs 9 Mantanona

5 PK vs 4 Kharchla

3 Minto vs 11 Gaitan

7 Steed vs 15 Wask

LJ vs Lockett mat 7 backside 5 vs 6 seed smh

Steed to a leg. Minto to a leg and the TD. Mizzou challenges the no TD call. E1 Gaitan. Warning Minto. TD Levi. Levi can end his career 2-1-3-1 so good and underappreciated. Levi cradle to end the period up 5-0. Mizzou loses the challenge. Kharchla E1 in the 2nd on serve. Gaitan starts down period 2. Levi TD. Minto TD up 6-2.

R2 Steed. Minto TD in bonus territory. PK/CK 1-1. Levi up big wins with bonus. Kennedy/Kharchla OT. Steed/Wask 2-2 and neutral in the 3rd. Minto needs to ride out for the major and gets it done. Steed/Wask 22 to go and into OT. PK/CK OT. Steed feet to back into the semis. PK out in 3 seconds. CK chooses neutral and Kennedy into the semis.

Your semis:

1 Haines vs 5 Kennedy and 3 Minto vs 7 Steed

184 quarterfinals

1 Rocco vs 8 Allred

5 Mantanona vs 20 Soldano

3 Max vs Neitenbach

7 Ferrari vs 2 Sinclair: All eyes on this one.

Sinclair to the leg. Brutal draw for him. Has leg in the air. Stalemate. TD and E McEnelly up 3-1. BrockMant/Soldano scoreless. Max chooses down. Mant pins Soldano feet to back. 2nd semifinalist for Michigan. Ferrari E1 in the 2nd. TD Rocco. Max with another TD up 8-4. 

2nd TD for Welsh up 7-1 now. BTW Nebraska is in 2nd and will most likely have 1 more semifinalist. 8-5 Max in the 3rd. Blood time Sinclair/Ferrari 1-1 with 90 to go, Allred concussion. Rocco wins by inj def. Max wins 8-6. 1 to go Sinclair/Ferrari. Sinclair to the leg. Dive roll Angelo. Stalemate 21 til OT. OT. Sinclair in AGAIN. Came up to the body. Dive roll again. And Ferrari wins the scramble.

Semis: Rocco vs Mantanona & McEnelly vs Ferrari

197 Quarters

1 Barr vs 9 Posada

29 Hawks vs 5 Novak

3 Little vs 11 McDanel

15 Cotton vs 7 Merrill

This weight has had a lot of chaos to say the least

Barr with a quick TD. Novak quick TD. Barr with a suck back but no swipes. Novak a 2nd TD up 6-1. E1 Hawks. TD Merrill. Merrill up 3-0 chooses down in the 2nd and E1. Barr up 10-1, Novak up 11-2. Novak chooses down. TD Cotton and E1 Merrill 5-3 now tightening up. Barr working on a TF and he gets it. 5-3 Merrill in the 3rd no RT and neutral. 1-0 Little in the 3rd and they are neutral. McDanel choose neutral. 19 to go Merrill/Cotton. Merrill gets TD at the buzzer and advances. They warned Little with 1 second left to tie the match 1-1. Erisman throws the brick not sure how you can challenge stall call. Wyoming has a semifinalist Joey Novak. Little and McDanel into OT. Little has Little Rock 1st semifinalist in school history with the TD

197 semifinals:

1 Barr vs 5 Novak and 3 Little vs 7 Merrill.

285 Quarterfinals

1 Bastida vs 8 Keuter

21 Mora vs 4 Ferrari

3 Ghadiali vs 27 Catka

7 Doucet vs 2 Trumble

Penn State is up 41 points

Trumble with the quick TD. Ferrari 2 bonus wins so far. Warning Catka. TD Ferrari. Ghadiali TD. Bastida TD. All 4 285s with 1st period TDs. Blood time Ferrari match. Ghadiali 3-0 after 1. Trumble both boots in vs Doucet and 3:10 RT and climbing. Ghadiali rides the whole 2nd period 3-0 and 3:03 RT. Chooses down. Trumble has 4:14 RT, chooses down. Ferrari up 4-1 2nd period. Bastida up 4-2 in the 3rd. Ghadiali with another TD he’s on top and up 7-0. Doucet rides the whole 3rd period, not sure why. Trumble wins 4-0, Ghadiali wins 8-0 and that is your bottom semifinal 2 vs 3 seed.  

Michigan has 3 in the semifinals. Bastida wins 4-2 and advances for Iowa State. Ferrari up 4-2 57 to go. Blood time. Ferrari holds on and advances 4-3 

Semifinals: Bastida vs Ferrari and Ghadiali vs Trumble 

See you guys 8pm Eastern time for the semifinals