Seven Sooners Primed for NCAA Wrestling Championships

Thursday, March 19

Cleveland, Ohio | Rocket Arena

All Day

University of Oklahoma

NCAA Wrestling Championships

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Seven Sooners Primed for NCAA Wrestling Championships

March 18, 2026 | Wrestling

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By: OU Athletics Communications

NORMAN — The No. 23 Oklahoma wrestling team heads to Cleveland, Ohio, for the 2026 NCAA Championships on March 19-21 at Rocket Arena. ESPN holds the exclusive broadcasting rights, with coverage spanning ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and extensive mat-by-mat coverage on ESPN+. The event marks the 96th NCAA Wrestling Championships and the first time Cleveland has hosted since 2018.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO CLEVELAND

OU's seven NCAA qualifiers mark the most in a season under third-year head coach Roger Kish and the program's highest total since sending eight in 2023. The Sooners will look to crown their first All-American since 2024 and first NCAA champion since Cody Brewer captured the 133-pound title in 2015. Conrad Hendriksen (125), Carter Schmidt (133), Tyler Wells (141), Carter Schubert (174), Brian Soldano (184), DJ Parker (197) and Juan Mora (285) will all represent OU at the tournament.

Six wrestlers earned automatic bids by virtue of their finishes at the 2026 Big 12 Wrestling Championship. Wells, Schubert, Parker and Mora took fourth in their weight classes while Hendriksen (fifth place) and Schmidt (seventh place) both secured berths with their finishes. Soldano was one of 42 at-large selections for the tournament.

Wells and Parker enter their third NCAA Championships, while Hendriksen, Schmidt, Schubert and Mora are set to make their first appearance at the tournament.

The Sooners (10-6, 3-5 Big 12) capped their regular season with a pair of signature top-15 wins, most recently a 23-18 home victory over No. 13 Northern Iowa on Jan. 31. Oklahoma's first marquee win came Dec. 13, when the Sooners rallied from a 14-6 deficit to defeat No. 12 Rutgers, 19-14, at Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway. The victory marked the program's highest-ranked dual win since 2015. Overall, Oklahoma finished the season with nine dual victories against Division I opponents — the most under Kish.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Thursday, March 19 (times in central)
Session 1: First Round - 11 a.m. (ESPNU)
Session 2: Second Round & Consolation First Round - 6:00 p.m. (ESPN)

Friday, March 20
Session 3: Quarterfinals & Consolation Second & Third Rounds - 11 a.m. (ESPNU)
Session 4: Semifinals & Consolation Fourth & Fifth Rounds - 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

Saturday, March 21
Session 5: Consolation Semifinals & 3rd-5th-7th Place Matches - 10 a.m. (ESPNU)
Session 6: Finals - 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)

SEEDINGS AND OPENING MATCHUPS

125: No. 21 Conrad Hendriksen vs. No. 12 Vincent Robinson (North Carolina State)
133: No. 33 Carter Schmidt vs. No. 32 Andrew Austin (Central Michigan)
141: No. 21 Tyler Wells vs. No. 12 Luke Simcox (North Carolina)
174: No. 12 Carter Schubert vs. No. 21 Lenny Pinto (Rutgers)
184: No. 20 Brian Soldano vs. No. 13 Isaac Dean (Iowa State)
197: No. 8 DJ Parker vs. No. 25 Evan Bates (Missouri)
285: No. 21 Juan Mora vs. No. 12 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin)

CHAMPIONSHIP PEDIGREE

Since the inception of collegiate wrestling in 1928, Oklahoma has been one of the most dominant wrestling programs in the country. The Sooners have seven team national titles, 67 individual national champions and 278 All-Americans.

Oklahoma has the fifth-most team national titles (7) in the history of collegiate wrestling, winning titles in 1936, 1951, 1952, 1957, 1960, 1963 and 1974. The team's title in 1936 was the first from any team at the University of Oklahoma.

In addition to the Sooners' seven national championships, Oklahoma has finished as runner-up at NCAAs 12 times, third most in the country. The Sooners' 40 finishes inside the top four are the fourth-most nationally and OU has grabbed a top-10 spot at NCAAs 64 times (third most) out of 95 championships held.

The NCAA named Oklahoma the fourth-greatest wrestling dynasty in the country in the summer of 2020.

Oklahoma has collected 24 overall conference championships and 186 individual conference champions in school history. The team's most recent conference championship came in 2021, their first in 19 years.

For updates, follow @OU_Wrestling on X, or like Oklahoma Wrestling on Facebook.