NCAA Wrestling Day 2 Recap: Oklahoma State Puts Four Freshmen in the National Finals

MATCH-BY-MATCH RECAP
BRACKETS

It was a great day for Cowboy wrestling and makes the future look only spookier for the rest of the country.

Oklahoma State put four freshmen into the national finals in Jax Forrest, Sergio Vega, Landon Robideau and Cody Merrill.

It’s the first time OSU put four wrestlers in the finals since the Cowboys had five champions in 2005.

OSU has eight All-Americans this season — the first time the Cowboys have done that since 2017.

Here are some of the day’s storylines.

Robideau Shocks the World

Penn State freshman PJ Duke was speed-running his way through this tournament, and anyone not wearing orange gave Landon Robideau little chance against him. But Robideau is just a dawg.

Robideau beat Duke 3-1 in tiebreakers. The match had a tinge of controversy, as Duke nearly had a takedown in sudden-victory. It was initially ruled that way, but OSU’s corner threw a challenge brick. The challenge was successful.

It stinks because the official called for a takedown early, stopping the action. I don’t think it was a takedown, but Duke could’ve been in position to get one had they been allowed to keep wrestling.

Regardless, it went to tiebreakers, where Robideau pulled off a reversal. That led Duke to pick neutral and chase a takedown, which he was unable to get.

The reversal heard round the world 🔄#GoPokes | 📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/hGUa7RU8B7

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) March 21, 2026

I don’t think anybody in the OSU wrestling room was surprised about the result, but just about everyone else was. Duke has been rolling. He majored reigning national champ Andrell Taylor in the Big Ten final. Duke then pinned his first two opponents in Cleveland before teching his third.

Speaking of Antrell Taylor, that’s who Robideau will get in the national final.

They wrestled in OSU’s dual against Nebraska in December in Lincoln. Taylor won that match in tiebreakers.

It’s one of two losses Robideau has taken in his freshman season. He avenged his other in this tournament when he beat Kaleb Larkin (Arizona State) in the quarters.

Forrest Majors Seidel

Aaron Seidel gave Jax Forrest his only close match as a college wrestler back in February when Forrest beat Seidel 10-9.

A little over a month later, Forrest majored Seidel 14-3 in the national semifinal.

Forrest scored four takedowns on Seidel after the Hokie won the takedown battle 3-1 in the first match. It was as entertaining as it sounded.

WHAT. CAN’T. HE. DO. 🤯

(1) Jax Forrest (133) of @CowboyWrestling defeats (4) Aaron Seidel of Virginia Tech 14-3 to advance to the finals. #NCAAWrestling x 📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/bH4pSoyrvT

— NCAA Men’s Wrestling (@NCAAWrestling) March 21, 2026

Forrest will wrestle another freshman Saturday night in 2 seed Ben Davino (Ohio State). Davino beat 3 seed Marcus Blaze (Penn State) 3-2 in the other semi. That was split a tie between Blaze and Davino as each other’s only losses this season.

Cody Merrill Powers into Final

Redshirt freshman Cody Merrill might’ve been the 7 seed this weekend, but the worst he can do now is second.

Merrill beat 3 seed Stephen Little (Little Rock) in tiebreakers. It wasn’t a very exciting match aside from the tension of the moment at each move.

Little was close to getting a takedown at the end of the sudden-victory period, but Merrill scrambled just long enough.

Merrill started on top in tiebreakers, and a crazy scramble ensued. Merrill was able to ride for 24 seconds before Little got free. Little elected to stand Merrill up and chase a takedown, but he wasn’t able to get it.

From California, Merrill wrestled under Daniel Cormier at Gilroy High School. He took a redshirt last season and actually lost his ranking match going into the season, but now he’s a national finalist.

The task is tall in the finals, where Merrill will match up with Penn State’s Josh Barr. Barr is undefeated this year and has won all of his matches via bonus points.

Vega-Hardy 3 Is Closer, But the Cowboy Still Takes It

After Sergio Vega majored and pinned Brock Hardy in earlier meetings this season, Friday’s semifinal was a lot closer. But close still got the true freshman Cowboy into the finals.

Vega beat Hardy 5-3 in a match that was filled with tense scrambles. Vega was down 1-0 going into the third and picked neutral. He quickly scored a takedown to start the frame and was able to close it out.

A Vega-Jesse Mendez final is a match the wrestling purists wanted, and they’ll get it.

Both guys are undefeated. Vega still hasn’t been taken down this year. Mendez is a two-time national champ and has been throttling guys all season.

Mendez’s semi was tight, as he beat 5 seed Luke Stanich 4-1 in sudden-victory, but many will point to Mendez as the favorite on Saturday night.

Four More All-Americans

Troy Spratley, Casey Swiderski, Zack Ryder and Konner Doucet are all on the podium, as well.

— Spratley dropped his semifinal to top-seeded Luke Lilledahl 8-3, dropping him down to the consolation side, but he’s still on the podium. He can finish as high as third and as low as sixth.

He opens his Saturday in another rematch of last season’s NCAA final. Spratley beat Vince Robinson for the first time in his career in the second round of this tournament. We’ll see if he can do it again.

— Swiderski won his blood-round match against Gabe Wollochell 4-1 with a late takedown to become a two-time All-American.

He then fell to Iowa’s Ryder Block in the next round and will wrestle for seventh Saturday morning.

— Ryder, the 22 seed with a bum shoulder, advanced through the blood round via injury default. Ryder is a redshirt freshman and got to the podium.

He lost to 10 seed Caleb Campos 7-4 in the next round. Ryder will also wrestle for seventh on Saturday.

— The feel-good story of the year might be Doucet.

Doucet was a starter in OSU’s lineup before Wyatt Hendrickson transferred in. But rather than transferring out, Doucet sat behind Hendrickson for a year and is now on the podium for the first time. He had the honor of becoming OSU’s 500th All-American.

He pinned Dayton Pitzer in the third period of their blood-round match to do it. Doucet followed that up with a 1-0 win against former teammate Christian Carroll in the next round.

Doucet will face another former teammate to start his Saturday in AJ Ferrari after Ferrari lost in the semis. Ferrari beat Doucet 2-1 at National Duals. Doucet can still finish as high as third and as low as sixth.

Team Race

The Cowboys have broken into solo second in the team race — with a 20-point lead on third-place Nebraska.

It’s going to be hard, if not impossible, for the Cornhuskers to catch up with the Cowboys having four finalists to Nebraska’s two.

Penn State is still pacing the field with 153 points.