Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State Sends Four Wrestlers to NCAA Finals
March 20, 2026 | Cowboy Wrestling
Cowboys record 500th All-American and sit in second place
Photos
CLEVELAND – The Oklahoma State wrestling team sent four wrestlers, who are all freshmen, to the finals of the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships Friday night and now sits in second place with one day remaining at the event. OSU's 111.5 teams points – it's most through day two since 2005 – trail Penn State by 41.5 points and lead third-place Nebraska by 21 points.
The Cowboy finalists include true freshmen Jax Forrest at 133 pounds, Sergio Vega at 141 pounds and Landon Robideau at 157 pounds, as well as redshirt freshman Cody Merrill at 197 pounds. It marks the first time in program history that OSU has sent more than two freshmen to the NCAA finals and the only previous years a pair of freshmen went were 1946 and 1947. The Cowboys had just 11 freshmen finalists, including six true freshmen, in school history prior to this year, and none since 2021.
"These guys are driven," coach David Taylor said. "I think what I liked most today was that not one of them celebrated about their win. These guys want to be national champions. That's what they talk about, and that's what they live their life around. It's a hard thing to do as a kid, because it's easy to be excited that they're going to the finals, but that's not how they are. We have an awesome group of kids. We had nine new starters this year, almost a brand-new group. It's been an awesome ride. So, today was a good day, but tomorrow's going to be a tough day too."
It marks the first time the Cowboys have tallied four finalists since 2014. Their All-America honors combined with All-America performances from Troy Spratley (125 pounds), Casey Swiderski (149 pounds), Zack Ryder (184 pounds) and Konner Doucet (heavyweight) gave OSU eight All-Americans for the first time since 2017, matching a school record that's now been reached eight times.
That also improves OSU's all-time All-America total to 500, which is more than 100 more than any other team.
The undefeated Forrest was the first to punch his ticket to the finals, doing what he's done the whole tournament with a bonus-point win, this time a 14-3 major decision over No. 4 Aaron Seidel of Virginia Tech. It was a notable improvement from his 10-9 win over Seidel, whose only two losses this season are to Forrest, at Virginia Tech earlier this season.
"It's a dream come true," Forrest said. "I've been coming to the national tournament since I was a kid, countless times with my dad and family. Now, not only doing this a lot earlier than I expected, but getting to do it with this team has been awesome. It's been a really good last couple of days, and I'm excited for a really good one tomorrow."
Vega, also undefeated, was next. He got past Nebraska's No. 3 Brock Hardy with a 5-3 decision to improve his record to 23-0. He trailed 1-0 in the period and used a takedown, escape and riding time point to advance. The win is Vega's third this season over the four-time All-American.
"It's been awesome these past couple of days and even the season," Vega said. "Finding out how tough I am and what I'm capable of doing has been cool. If you had told me four months ago that I'd be in the national finals, I probably wouldn't have believed you. I told myself I believed I could do it, but I don't know if I really did. These past couple of months I've been wrestling, and now I really believe I can do it."
The other two Cowboy finalists provided a pair of upset wins in tiebreakers in two of the most surprising results of the tournament.
First Robideau, seeded fifth, handed Penn State's No. 1 PJ Duke his second loss of the season by scoring a reversal in the first half of the tiebreaker to set up a 3-1 win.
"I heard people writing me off, and I love that," Robideau said. "I knew I was going to win. My teammates are the best in the country, and this is why we win. That wasn't the finals, so I'm not satisfied. I've got one more to win."
The seventh-seeded Merrill knocked off Little Rock's No. 3 Stephen Little, a three-time All-American, with long ride in the first half of the tiebreaker to help him earn a 3-2 win.
"I've gone through this season with a couple of losses, but in this tournament I get a fresh start," Merrill said. "When I first started wrestling, my goal was to become the national champion. Nothing changed at all when I got here. I've got the same mentality I had when I got here at the beginning of the season. That's to take it match by match and refuse to be denied."
Spratley also wrestled in the quarterfinals against top-seeded and undefeated Luke Lilledahl of Penn State. Spratley put up a tough fight but fell to the consolation semifinal as Lilledahl won an 8-3 decision.
Swiderski, Ryder and Doucet also wrestled in the session, each needing wins in the round of 12 to became All-Americans and keep their tournament runs going.
That's what each of them did, as Swiderski earned a 4-1 win over No. 21 Gabe Willochell of Wyoming, Ryder earned a medical forfeit over No. 8 Silas Allred of Nebraska and Doucet, a senior, earned his fourth fall of the season against No. 20 Dayton Pitzer of Pittsburgh in 6:22. He had three total falls in his four seasons of competition prior to this one.
Doucet followed with a 1-0 win over No. 18 Christian Carroll of Wyoming to join Spratley in Saturday morning's consolation semifinals, while Swiderski and Ryder dropped close decisions to move into Saturday morning's seventh-place matches.
The 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships wraps up Saturday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, with the fifth session scheduled to begin Saturday at 10 a.m. CT on ESPNU and finals scheduled from 5:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships
March 20, 2026 | Rocket Arena | Cleveland, Ohio
Attendance: 17,115
Session 4 (Friday Night)
Team Standings After Session 4 (Top 10)
1. Penn State - 153.0
2. Oklahoma State - 111.5
3. Nebraska - 90.5
4. Iowa - 81.0
5. Ohio State - 77.5
6. Stanford - 58.0
7. Iowa State - 52.0
8. Michigan - 48.0
9. Minnesota - 39.5
10. NC State - 37.0
Semifinals
125: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) dec. No. 5 Troy Spratley (OSU), 8-3
133: No. 1 Jax Forrest (OSU) MD No. 4 Aaron Seidel (VT), 14-3
141: No. 2 Sergio Vega (OSU) dec. No. 3 Brock Hardy (NEB), 5-3
157: No. 5 Landon Robideau (OSU) dec. No. 1 PJ Duke (PSU), 3-1, TB-1
197: No. 7 Cody Merrill (OSU) dec. No. 3 Stephen Little (UALR), 3-2, TB-1
Consolation Fourth Round
149: No. 8 Casey Swiderski (OSU) dec. No. 21 Gabe Willochell (WYO), 4-1
184: No. 22 Zack Ryder (OSU) med. for. No. 8 Silas Allred (NEB)
HWT: No. 7 Konner Doucet (OSU) fall No. 20 Dayton Pitzer (PITT), 6:22
Consolation Quarterfinals
149: No. 15 Ryder Block (IOWA) dec. No. 8 Casey Swiderski (OSU), 8-5, SV-1
184: No. 10 Caleb Campos (AMER) dec. No. 22 Zack Ryder (OSU), 7-4
HWT: No. 7 Konner Doucet (OSU) dec. No. 18 Christian Carroll (WYO), 1-0
Finals Bouts (Saturday Night)
133: No. 1 Jax Forrest (OSU) vs. No. 2 Ben Davino (OHST)
141: No. 2 Sergio Vega (OSU) vs. No. 1 Jesse Mendez (OHST)
157: No. 5 Landon Robideau (OSU) vs. No. 2 Antrell Taylor (NEB)
197: No. 7 Cody Merrill (OSU) vs. No. 1 Josh Barr (PSU)
Consolation Semifinal Bouts (Saturday Morning)
125: No. 5 Troy Spratley (OSU) vs. No. 12 Vincent Robinson (NCST)
HWT: No. 7 Konner Doucet (OSU) vs. No. 4 AJ Ferrari (NEB)
Seventh-Place Match (Saturday Morning)
149: No. 8 Casey Swiderski (OSU) vs. No. 3 Cross Wasilewski (PENN)
184: No. 22 Zack Ryder (OSU) vs. No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach (WYO)
CLEVELAND – The Oklahoma State wrestling team sent four wrestlers, who are all freshmen, to the finals of the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships Friday night and now sits in second place with one day remaining at the event. OSU's 111.5 teams points – it's most through day two since 2005 – trail Penn State by 41.5 points and lead third-place Nebraska by 21 points.
The Cowboy finalists include true freshmen Jax Forrest at 133 pounds, Sergio Vega at 141 pounds and Landon Robideau at 157 pounds, as well as redshirt freshman Cody Merrill at 197 pounds. It marks the first time in program history that OSU has sent more than two freshmen to the NCAA finals and the only previous years a pair of freshmen went were 1946 and 1947. The Cowboys had just 11 freshmen finalists, including six true freshmen, in school history prior to this year, and none since 2021.
"These guys are driven," coach David Taylor said. "I think what I liked most today was that not one of them celebrated about their win. These guys want to be national champions. That's what they talk about, and that's what they live their life around. It's a hard thing to do as a kid, because it's easy to be excited that they're going to the finals, but that's not how they are. We have an awesome group of kids. We had nine new starters this year, almost a brand-new group. It's been an awesome ride. So, today was a good day, but tomorrow's going to be a tough day too."
It marks the first time the Cowboys have tallied four finalists since 2014. Their All-America honors combined with All-America performances from Troy Spratley (125 pounds), Casey Swiderski (149 pounds), Zack Ryder (184 pounds) and Konner Doucet (heavyweight) gave OSU eight All-Americans for the first time since 2017, matching a school record that's now been reached eight times.
That also improves OSU's all-time All-America total to 500, which is more than 100 more than any other team.
The undefeated Forrest was the first to punch his ticket to the finals, doing what he's done the whole tournament with a bonus-point win, this time a 14-3 major decision over No. 4 Aaron Seidel of Virginia Tech. It was a notable improvement from his 10-9 win over Seidel, whose only two losses this season are to Forrest, at Virginia Tech earlier this season.
"It's a dream come true," Forrest said. "I've been coming to the national tournament since I was a kid, countless times with my dad and family. Now, not only doing this a lot earlier than I expected, but getting to do it with this team has been awesome. It's been a really good last couple of days, and I'm excited for a really good one tomorrow."
Vega, also undefeated, was next. He got past Nebraska's No. 3 Brock Hardy with a 5-3 decision to improve his record to 23-0. He trailed 1-0 in the period and used a takedown, escape and riding time point to advance. The win is Vega's third this season over the four-time All-American.
"It's been awesome these past couple of days and even the season," Vega said. "Finding out how tough I am and what I'm capable of doing has been cool. If you had told me four months ago that I'd be in the national finals, I probably wouldn't have believed you. I told myself I believed I could do it, but I don't know if I really did. These past couple of months I've been wrestling, and now I really believe I can do it."
The other two Cowboy finalists provided a pair of upset wins in tiebreakers in two of the most surprising results of the tournament.
First Robideau, seeded fifth, handed Penn State's No. 1 PJ Duke his second loss of the season by scoring a reversal in the first half of the tiebreaker to set up a 3-1 win.
"I heard people writing me off, and I love that," Robideau said. "I knew I was going to win. My teammates are the best in the country, and this is why we win. That wasn't the finals, so I'm not satisfied. I've got one more to win."
The seventh-seeded Merrill knocked off Little Rock's No. 3 Stephen Little, a three-time All-American, with long ride in the first half of the tiebreaker to help him earn a 3-2 win.
"I've gone through this season with a couple of losses, but in this tournament I get a fresh start," Merrill said. "When I first started wrestling, my goal was to become the national champion. Nothing changed at all when I got here. I've got the same mentality I had when I got here at the beginning of the season. That's to take it match by match and refuse to be denied."
Spratley also wrestled in the quarterfinals against top-seeded and undefeated Luke Lilledahl of Penn State. Spratley put up a tough fight but fell to the consolation semifinal as Lilledahl won an 8-3 decision.
Swiderski, Ryder and Doucet also wrestled in the session, each needing wins in the round of 12 to became All-Americans and keep their tournament runs going.
That's what each of them did, as Swiderski earned a 4-1 win over No. 21 Gabe Willochell of Wyoming, Ryder earned a medical forfeit over No. 8 Silas Allred of Nebraska and Doucet, a senior, earned his fourth fall of the season against No. 20 Dayton Pitzer of Pittsburgh in 6:22. He had three total falls in his four seasons of competition prior to this one.
Doucet followed with a 1-0 win over No. 18 Christian Carroll of Wyoming to join Spratley in Saturday morning's consolation semifinals, while Swiderski and Ryder dropped close decisions to move into Saturday morning's seventh-place matches.
The 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships wraps up Saturday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, with the fifth session scheduled to begin Saturday at 10 a.m. CT on ESPNU and finals scheduled from 5:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships
March 20, 2026 | Rocket Arena | Cleveland, Ohio
Attendance: 17,115
Session 4 (Friday Night)
Team Standings After Session 4 (Top 10)
1. Penn State - 153.0
2. Oklahoma State - 111.5
3. Nebraska - 90.5
4. Iowa - 81.0
5. Ohio State - 77.5
6. Stanford - 58.0
7. Iowa State - 52.0
8. Michigan - 48.0
9. Minnesota - 39.5
10. NC State - 37.0
Semifinals
125: No. 1 Luke Lilledahl (PSU) dec. No. 5 Troy Spratley (OSU), 8-3
133: No. 1 Jax Forrest (OSU) MD No. 4 Aaron Seidel (VT), 14-3
141: No. 2 Sergio Vega (OSU) dec. No. 3 Brock Hardy (NEB), 5-3
157: No. 5 Landon Robideau (OSU) dec. No. 1 PJ Duke (PSU), 3-1, TB-1
197: No. 7 Cody Merrill (OSU) dec. No. 3 Stephen Little (UALR), 3-2, TB-1
Consolation Fourth Round
149: No. 8 Casey Swiderski (OSU) dec. No. 21 Gabe Willochell (WYO), 4-1
184: No. 22 Zack Ryder (OSU) med. for. No. 8 Silas Allred (NEB)
HWT: No. 7 Konner Doucet (OSU) fall No. 20 Dayton Pitzer (PITT), 6:22
Consolation Quarterfinals
149: No. 15 Ryder Block (IOWA) dec. No. 8 Casey Swiderski (OSU), 8-5, SV-1
184: No. 10 Caleb Campos (AMER) dec. No. 22 Zack Ryder (OSU), 7-4
HWT: No. 7 Konner Doucet (OSU) dec. No. 18 Christian Carroll (WYO), 1-0
Finals Bouts (Saturday Night)
133: No. 1 Jax Forrest (OSU) vs. No. 2 Ben Davino (OHST)
141: No. 2 Sergio Vega (OSU) vs. No. 1 Jesse Mendez (OHST)
157: No. 5 Landon Robideau (OSU) vs. No. 2 Antrell Taylor (NEB)
197: No. 7 Cody Merrill (OSU) vs. No. 1 Josh Barr (PSU)
Consolation Semifinal Bouts (Saturday Morning)
125: No. 5 Troy Spratley (OSU) vs. No. 12 Vincent Robinson (NCST)
HWT: No. 7 Konner Doucet (OSU) vs. No. 4 AJ Ferrari (NEB)
Seventh-Place Match (Saturday Morning)
149: No. 8 Casey Swiderski (OSU) vs. No. 3 Cross Wasilewski (PENN)
184: No. 22 Zack Ryder (OSU) vs. No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach (WYO)
Players Mentioned
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