By Brian Reinhardt
USA Wrestling

Ohio State came into the National Duals with a bit of a chip on its shoulder as the No. 3 seed in the event. Maybe that was motivation, or perhaps the Buckeyes just wanted to put on a show in one of the biggest wrestling events of the season. 

Ohio State dominated the field to win over $200,000 in prize money. The Buckeyes outscored their four foes, including a trio of duals against teams ranked in the top 10, by a combined 122-27, winning 31 of the 40 individual bouts. 

The Buckeyes’ run to the title included triumphs over three fellow Big Ten foes. Ohio State opened with a 33-6 win over Wyoming, then scored a 29-6 win over No. 10 Minnesota. 

But all the attention and social media mentions were about the 33-3 semifinal performance against No. 2 Nebraska. Ohio State won the first eight bouts and jumped out to a 30-0 lead before the lone Nebraska win came at 197 pounds. But perhaps the biggest result from that dual came in the last match at heavyweight, as No. 6 Nick Feldman took out No. 1 AJ Ferrari, 5-4. 

The momentum carried over into the 27-12 final against No. 3 Iowa. Again, right out of the gate, the Buckeyes took the first five matches and took a commanding 21-0 lead halfway through the dual. In fact, the Hawkeyes did not record a single takedown until the sudden victory period in the sixth match at 165 pounds.

National Duals MVP 

There were so many stand-out performances throughout the weekend, the real MVP might be the organizers for giving wrestling fans what they wanted: duals that matter and match-up after match-up of nationally ranked wrestlers. 

With the dominance of Ohio State, we are going with two-time national champion Jesse Mendez. A perfect 4-0 weekend, with three wins coming over top-10 foes from Big 10 schools. 

Mendez wasted little time in his first bout, scoring a fall in just 33 seconds over David Saenz of Wyoming. He then majored No. 5 Vance VomBaur of Minnesota, 14-5. In a rematch of their 2025 NCAA final, Mendez scored the lone takedown of the bout with just 10 seconds left to down No. 2 Brock Hardy of Nebraska, 4-1. In the final, Mendez finished his weekend with a 17-1 tech fall over Iowa’s No. 9 Nasir Bailey.

Down Goes No. 1 

The event featured six of the 10 current No. 1’s in their weight class. Four of them took their first loss of the season. 

NC State’s Vince Robinson fell on a late takedown to ACC rival Eddie Ventresca of Virginia Tech, his third straight win over the reigning national champion. At 157 pounds, Nebraska’s Antrell Taylor took losses to both No. 23 Logan Rozynski of Lehigh (MD 9-1) and No. 9 Brandon Cannon of Ohio State (MD 16-4). 

In the upper weights, Missouri R-Fr. No. 9 Aeoden Sinclair scored the bout’s lone takedown in the second period, followed by a third-period ride-out to take out No. 1 Max McEnelly of Minnesota, 6-3. Finally, at heavyweight, Feldman capped the Ohio State rout of Nebraska by taking out former national champion Ferrari. 

The only two that left unscathed were Mendez and Illinois’ Lucas Byrd at 133 pounds.

NCAA Finals Rematches 

Coming into the National Duals, there was a chance for fans to see three rematches that took place in the finals at the 2025 NCAA Championships. 

Fans got to see all three, and all three reigning national champs followed up with the same result. 

At 125 pounds, NC State’s Robinson scored his third straight win over No. 2 Troy Spratley of Oklahoma State, 3-2. Next at 133 pounds, Illinois’ Byrd scored another decision over No. 3 Drake Ayala, 7-2. As mentioned above, Mendez and Hardy met for the fifth time, with Mendez’s fourth victory in the rivalry.

Freshmen Announce Their Presence 

Some of the biggest jaw-dropping results were by wrestlers in their first years out on the mat. 

True freshman Sergio Vega of Oklahoma State had himself a weekend, going a perfect 4-0 and outscoring his foes 23-2, including three shutouts. He came away with wins over three All-Americans, including a 2025 NCAA finalist. His hit list featured No. 2 Hardy by 13-2 major decision, No. 8 Ryan Jack of NC State, 2-0, and No. 9 Bailey of Iowa, 3-0. 

His classmates, Landon Robideau at 157 pounds and LaDarion Lockett at 165 pounds, also got in on the action. Robideau secured an 8-2 win over No. 11 Jackson Arrington in the NC State dual, while Lockett took out 2025 NCAA finalist No. 2 Michael Caliendo of Iowa, 7-3. 

Ohio State’s R-Fr. Ben Davino took out two-time NCAA finalist Ayala in the final, scoring all three of the bout’s takedowns in the 10-4 win. Cornell’s Jaxon Joy got a late takedown to best No. 4 Casey Swiderski of Oklahoma State. 

Later this week, we will go more in-depth on all the top freshmen nationally that are now very well-known after only competing less than a month into their collegiate careers.

Venue of the Weekend 

All eyes were on the National Duals, but Charleston, S.C., was the place for one of the most picturesque settings for a college wrestling dual. 

Throwdown on the Yorktown II took place over the weekend. Maryland, Air Force, The Citadel and Gardner-Webb battled aboard the USS Yorktown (CV-10), which is an Essex-class aircraft carrier built during World War II. The ship also saw action in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, was decommissioned in 1970, and now serves as a museum ship at Patriots Point in South Carolina. 

Here were the final team scores:
Maryland 27, Gardner-Webb 13
Maryland 24, The Citadel 9
Air Force 23, The Citadel 12
Gardner-Webb 20, Air Force 18