Session I Recap: Cowboys Go 10-0 to Start 2026 NCAA Championships

MATCH-BY-MATCH UPDATES

The Cowboys are off to an unbeaten start in Cleveland.

Oklahoma State went 10-0 in the opening session of the NCAA Championships and sit in a tie for third in the team standings. Only Oklahoma State and Penn State still have 10 wrestlers in the championship side of the bracket.

Here are some of the storylines from the start of NCAAs.

Ryder Guts Out an Opening Round Win

Zack Ryder’s shoulder was popping in an out of place like a Lego set at a daycare at the Big 12 Championships in Tulsa. That led the redshirt freshman 184-pounder to medically forfeit after securing his spot at nationals.

Because of his eighth-place finish at Big 12s, though, Ryder got the 22 seed in Cleveland, meaning he faces an uphill battle to the podium.

Test No. 1 = passed.

Ryder took out 11 seed Shane Cartagena-Walsh with a sudden-victory takedown.

Ryder’s matches weren’t necessarily score-fests when he was healthy, and it looks like in Cleveland his motto is that of Al Davis — Just win, baby.

It was 1-1 going into OT, where Ryder was able to score on a counter attack. Despite being hurt, Ryder held center most of the match before that, and when he was provided an opening, he took it.

He’ll get Big 12 runner-up Eddie Neitenbach in the second round. The 6 seed, Neitenbach rolled to a 14-1 major decision against 27 seed Aidan Brenot (North Dakota State) to start his tournament. Neitenbach is 19-6 this season.

Forrest Secures His Second Bedlam Pin

His hair color might be different, but the result was the same.

Jax Forrest, rocking a bleach-blond hairdo, pinned OU’s Carter Schmidt in the first period of Forrest’s NCAA Championships debut. Back in January, Forrest pinned Schmidt in Forrest’s college wrestling debut.

NOT. MESSING. AROUND. 🤠

(1) Jax Forrest (133) of @CowboyWrestling defeats (33) Carter Schubert of Oklahoma with a fall in 1:59. #NCAAWrestling x 🎥 ESPN pic.twitter.com/wd7HtfrBeu

— NCAA Men’s Wrestling (@NCAAWrestling) March 19, 2026

Before the fall, Forrest rattled off four takedowns in the period and forced a stall warning on Schmidt.

It was the perfect start for the early enrollee high schooler, but his biggest competition in the bracket also dominated their first opponents. Ben Davino, Marcus Blaze and Aaron Seidel (seeds 2, 3 and 4 respectively) all opened with tech fall wins.

Forrest will wrestle 17 seed T.K. Davis (Gardner-Webb) in the second round after Davis beat 16 seed Zan Fugitt (Wisconsin) 4-1. Davis won the SoCon and is 24-1 this season.

Performance of the Session: Cody Merrill

In the Cowboys’ quest to a national title (or at least a second-place finish) bonus points will be important.

Redshirt freshman 197-pounder Cody Merrill had five bonus-point wins entering the weekend, and in his first NCAA Championships match, the Daniel Cormier disciple put on a show.

He teched 26 seed Ben Vanadia (Purdue) 18-3.

Merrill applied pressure basically instantly, forcing an early stall warning before getting a takedown. He took Vanadia down four times in the match and forced two stall points on top of that to help give the Cowboys a boost in the team standings.

Merrill will take on 10 seed Mac Stout (Pitt) in the second round. Stout beat 23 seed Mikey Squires 5-2 to open his tournament. Stout was an All-American last season and is 19-4 this year.

Team Standings