Wrestling Qualifies Two for NCAAs, Places Seven on Day Two of Big 12 Championship

Friday, March 6

Tulsa, Okla. | BOK Center

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University of Oklahoma

Big 12 Championship

Wrestling Qualifies Two for NCAAs, Places Seven on Day Two of Big 12 Championship

March 07, 2026 | Wrestling

Full Results

By: OU Athletics Communications

TULSA, Okla. – Seven Sooners carved out spots on the podium, and Oklahoma added two more NCAA qualifiers during Session III of the 2026 Big 12 Championship on Saturday afternoon inside the BOK Center.

Conrad Hendriksen (125) and Carter Schmidt (133) earned automatic qualifying bids in their final matches to place fifth and seventh, respectively, while Tyler Wells (141), Carter Schubert (174), DJ Parker (197) and Juan Mora (285) each finished fourth. Peyten Kellar (165) rounded out the Sooner contingent with an eighth-place finish.

OU's six NCAA qualifiers mark the most in a season under third-year head coach Roger Kish and the most for the program since sending eight in 2023. As a team, Oklahoma finished seventh with 73 points.

Hendriksen dropped his consolation semifinal match to No. 3 seed and 11th-ranked Jett Strickenberger of West Virginia (8-2) before setting up a first-round rematch in the fifth-place bout with South Dakota State's fourth-seeded Brady Roark. As he did in their first meeting, Hendriksen grinded out a tough 3-1 decision to deliver the redshirt sophomore his first career NCAA bid.

Facing a win-and-in scenario to qualify for the NCAA Championships at 133 pounds, 12-seeded Schmidt matched up with South Dakota State's eighth-seeded Cale Seaton in the seventh-place bout, which served as the final automatic qualifying position due to pre-determined allocations. After a scoreless first period, Schmidt exploded in the middle frame, earning an escape and scoring a takedown before executing a single-leg trip that put Seaton on his back for the pin. The redshirt sophomore joined Hendriksen, Schubert and Mora as Sooners who earned their first career NCAA bids this weekend in Tulsa.

Wells, Schubert, Parker and Mora each won consolation semifinal matches in their respective weight classes before falling in their placement bouts to finish fourth. In the seventh-place match at 165 pounds, Kellar was defeated by Cal Baptist's No. 6 seed Gabriel Schumm, 14-9.

Full results from Saturday's third session can be found on FloWrestling.

UP NEXT

The six qualifying Sooners now head to Cleveland, Ohio, on March 19-21 for the NCAA Championships at Rocket Arena. After all the conference tournaments have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the remaining 42 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 10, while brackets and seeding will be announced on NCAA.com at 8 p.m. on March 11. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.