University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, March 20
Cleveland, OH
11:00 AM
University of Minnesota
vs
NCAA Championships - Session III
Players Mentioned
285 lbs.
/ Wrestling
184 lbs.
/ Wrestling
184 lbs.
/ Wrestling
157 lbs.
/ Wrestling
165 lbs.
/ Wrestling
125 lbs.
/ Wrestling
141 lbs.
/ Wrestling
141 lbs.
/ Wrestling
McEnelly Reaches Semifinals, Becomes Two-Time All-American
3/20/2026 4:22:00 PM | Wrestling
Trio of Sparks, Volk and VomBaur all headed to Friday night's Blood Round
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Minnesota's Max McEnelly became a two-time All-American and is headed back to the 184-pound semifinals, while Andrew Sparks, Jore Volk and Vance VomBaur are all bound for the Blood Round, as Session III of the 2026 NCAA Championships concluded Friday afternoon inside Rocket Arena.
McEnelly is the fifth Gopher to be at least a two-time All-American at 184 pounds, joining head coach Brandon Eggum (1999-00), Damion Hahn (2001-02), Roger Kish (2006-07) and Kevin Steinhaus (2011-13). All-time, Minnesota has now had 60 multi-time All-Americans in its history.
Sparks, Volk and VomBaur can all join him on the podium if they can prevail Friday night. In each of the last two years, the Blood Round was where VomBaur won his match to become an All-American, while Volk did the same in 2024 while at Wyoming. Sparks is in the Blood Round for the first time in his career.
Minnesota has now had an All-American in every season since 1986 and is looking for multiple All-Americans for the eighth straight season.
Session IV gets underway Friday night at 7 p.m. CT. ESPN2 will have the television coverage, while ESPN+ will have mat-specific streams.
In the team standings, Minnesota is in 13th place with 21.0 points. Penn State leads the team race with 105.5 points, followed by Nebraska (66.0) and Oklahoma State (64.5).
The No. 3 seed, McEnelly punched his ticket to the semifinals for a second straight season with an 8-6 decision over No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach of Wyoming in the quarterfinals. A blast double gave McEnelly a 3-1 lead going to the second period. Neitenbach got the margin down to one point at 5-4, but a short-time takedown sent McEnelly into the third ahead, 8-4. Neitenbach got an escape and a point from stalling but it wasn't enough to close the distance. In Friday night's semifinals, he'll meet No. 7 Angelo Ferrari of Iowa in the first meeting between the pair.
Senior Jore Volk dropped his quarterfinal matchup to No. 14 Jacob Moran of Indiana at 125 pounds. Seeded sixth, Volk was up 4-1 going into the third, but Moran escaped to cut into the lead. With 30 seconds to go, Moran caught Volk on the ankle and took him down for the winning score in a 5-4 decision. Volk will get a second shot at reaching the podium as he faces No. 17 Jett Strickenberger of West Virginia. The two met earlier this season in the finals of the Southeast Open with Volk winning by injury default at 4:52.
At 141 pounds, VomBaur, a redshirt senior and No. 8 seed, was also sent to the consolation bracket following a 16-4 major decision loss to top-seeded and two-time defending national champion Jesse Mendez of Ohio State. VomBaur trailed 2-0 after the opening period as a result of stall calls, but Mendez broke it open with a pair of takedowns in the second. Up 8-2 going to the third, Mendez closed out the match with two more takedowns, plus an escape and riding time, while VomBaur logged two escapes. VomBaur heads to the Blood Round where he'll take on No. 11 C.J. Composto of Penn in their first ever meeting.
Sparks prevailed in a pair of consolation matches to reach the Blood Round. He first took care of No. 30 Thomas Snipes of The Citadel, 7-2, in the second round of consolations. After splitting the first two meetings in their careers, Sparks won the rubber match thanks to takedowns in the first and third periods. In the next round, he upset No. 5 LaDarion Lockett of Oklahoma State. Already ahead 3-0 after one period, Sparks put the match away in the second thanks to a reversal and four nearfall points before an eventual 10-3 win. Sparks will take on No. 10 Will Denny of North Carolina State Friday night, with the winner becoming an All-American.
Two Gophers saw their championship runs come to an end Friday in Session III.
Redshirt freshman heavyweight Koy Hopke went 1-1 on the day to finish his first career trip with a 2-2 record at the championships. The No. 14 seed began the day with a 2-0 shutout of Navy's No. 13 Spencer Lanosga, highlighted by a rideout in the second period for Hopke. However, he met No. 12 Braxton Amos of Wisconsin for the third time this season in the next round, and like in the previous two meetings, Amos prevailed. A 13-1 major decision ended Hopke's season with a 23-11 record overall and seventh-place finish at the Big Ten Championships.
Fellow redshirt freshman Charlie Millard saw his run end in a 4-2 decision loss to No. 27 Dylan Evans of Pitt. Scoreless going into the second period, Millard, the No. 21 seed, started on bottom and escaped, only to have Evans take him down. Millard escaped again, but a third-period escape from Evans brought the match to its final margin. Millard finished his first year as a Gophers starter with a 20-11 record, including 1-2 at NCAAs, and an eighth-place result at Big Tens.
Minnesota Results through Session III
125
First Round: #6 Jore Volk dec. #27 Brady Roark (South Dakota State), 8-2
Round of 16: #6 Jore Volk dec. #11 Tyler Klinsky (Rider), 2-0
Quarterfinals: #14 Jacob Moran (Indiana) dec. #6 Jore Volk, 5-4
141
First Round: #8 Vance VomBaur MD #25 Tom Crook (Virginia Tech), 14-2
Round of 16: #8 Vance VomBaur dec. #24 Nash Singleton (Oregon State), 8-3
Quarterfinals: #1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) MD #8 Vance VomBaur, 16-4
157
First Round: #21 Charlie Millard dec. #12 Vinny Zerban (Iowa State), 12-6
Round of 16: #5 Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) dec. #21 Charlie Millard, 7-3
Consolation - R2: #27 Dylan Evans (Pitt) dec. #21 Charlie Millard, 4-2
Did not place: 1-2 record
165
First Round: #13 Andrew Sparks MD #20 Ty Whalen (Princeton), 10-1
Round of 16: #4 Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State) dec. #13 Andrew Sparks, 2-1 TB1
Consolation - R2: #13 Andrew Sparks dec. #30 Thomas Snipes (The Citadel), 7-2
Consolation - R3: #13 Andrew Sparks dec. #5 LaDarion Lockett (Oklahoma State), 10-3
184
First Round: #3 Max McEnelly TF #30 Tyler Bienus (Bucknell), 22-6 (4:00)
Round of 16: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #14 Jaden Bullock (Virginia Tech), 12-6
Quarterfinals: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #6 Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming), 8-6
285
First Round: #14 Koy Hopke dec. #19 Nate Schon (Drexel), 11-7
Round of 16: #3 Taye Ghadiali (Michigan) TF #14 Koy Hopke, 15-0 (5:33)
Consolation - R2: #14 Koy Hopke dec. #13 Spencer Lanosga (Navy), 2-0
Consolation - R3: #12 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) MD #14 Koy Hopke, 13-1
Did not place: 2-2 record
McEnelly is the fifth Gopher to be at least a two-time All-American at 184 pounds, joining head coach Brandon Eggum (1999-00), Damion Hahn (2001-02), Roger Kish (2006-07) and Kevin Steinhaus (2011-13). All-time, Minnesota has now had 60 multi-time All-Americans in its history.
Sparks, Volk and VomBaur can all join him on the podium if they can prevail Friday night. In each of the last two years, the Blood Round was where VomBaur won his match to become an All-American, while Volk did the same in 2024 while at Wyoming. Sparks is in the Blood Round for the first time in his career.
Minnesota has now had an All-American in every season since 1986 and is looking for multiple All-Americans for the eighth straight season.
Session IV gets underway Friday night at 7 p.m. CT. ESPN2 will have the television coverage, while ESPN+ will have mat-specific streams.
In the team standings, Minnesota is in 13th place with 21.0 points. Penn State leads the team race with 105.5 points, followed by Nebraska (66.0) and Oklahoma State (64.5).
The No. 3 seed, McEnelly punched his ticket to the semifinals for a second straight season with an 8-6 decision over No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach of Wyoming in the quarterfinals. A blast double gave McEnelly a 3-1 lead going to the second period. Neitenbach got the margin down to one point at 5-4, but a short-time takedown sent McEnelly into the third ahead, 8-4. Neitenbach got an escape and a point from stalling but it wasn't enough to close the distance. In Friday night's semifinals, he'll meet No. 7 Angelo Ferrari of Iowa in the first meeting between the pair.
Senior Jore Volk dropped his quarterfinal matchup to No. 14 Jacob Moran of Indiana at 125 pounds. Seeded sixth, Volk was up 4-1 going into the third, but Moran escaped to cut into the lead. With 30 seconds to go, Moran caught Volk on the ankle and took him down for the winning score in a 5-4 decision. Volk will get a second shot at reaching the podium as he faces No. 17 Jett Strickenberger of West Virginia. The two met earlier this season in the finals of the Southeast Open with Volk winning by injury default at 4:52.
At 141 pounds, VomBaur, a redshirt senior and No. 8 seed, was also sent to the consolation bracket following a 16-4 major decision loss to top-seeded and two-time defending national champion Jesse Mendez of Ohio State. VomBaur trailed 2-0 after the opening period as a result of stall calls, but Mendez broke it open with a pair of takedowns in the second. Up 8-2 going to the third, Mendez closed out the match with two more takedowns, plus an escape and riding time, while VomBaur logged two escapes. VomBaur heads to the Blood Round where he'll take on No. 11 C.J. Composto of Penn in their first ever meeting.
Sparks prevailed in a pair of consolation matches to reach the Blood Round. He first took care of No. 30 Thomas Snipes of The Citadel, 7-2, in the second round of consolations. After splitting the first two meetings in their careers, Sparks won the rubber match thanks to takedowns in the first and third periods. In the next round, he upset No. 5 LaDarion Lockett of Oklahoma State. Already ahead 3-0 after one period, Sparks put the match away in the second thanks to a reversal and four nearfall points before an eventual 10-3 win. Sparks will take on No. 10 Will Denny of North Carolina State Friday night, with the winner becoming an All-American.
Two Gophers saw their championship runs come to an end Friday in Session III.
Redshirt freshman heavyweight Koy Hopke went 1-1 on the day to finish his first career trip with a 2-2 record at the championships. The No. 14 seed began the day with a 2-0 shutout of Navy's No. 13 Spencer Lanosga, highlighted by a rideout in the second period for Hopke. However, he met No. 12 Braxton Amos of Wisconsin for the third time this season in the next round, and like in the previous two meetings, Amos prevailed. A 13-1 major decision ended Hopke's season with a 23-11 record overall and seventh-place finish at the Big Ten Championships.
Fellow redshirt freshman Charlie Millard saw his run end in a 4-2 decision loss to No. 27 Dylan Evans of Pitt. Scoreless going into the second period, Millard, the No. 21 seed, started on bottom and escaped, only to have Evans take him down. Millard escaped again, but a third-period escape from Evans brought the match to its final margin. Millard finished his first year as a Gophers starter with a 20-11 record, including 1-2 at NCAAs, and an eighth-place result at Big Tens.
Minnesota Results through Session III
125
First Round: #6 Jore Volk dec. #27 Brady Roark (South Dakota State), 8-2
Round of 16: #6 Jore Volk dec. #11 Tyler Klinsky (Rider), 2-0
Quarterfinals: #14 Jacob Moran (Indiana) dec. #6 Jore Volk, 5-4
141
First Round: #8 Vance VomBaur MD #25 Tom Crook (Virginia Tech), 14-2
Round of 16: #8 Vance VomBaur dec. #24 Nash Singleton (Oregon State), 8-3
Quarterfinals: #1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) MD #8 Vance VomBaur, 16-4
157
First Round: #21 Charlie Millard dec. #12 Vinny Zerban (Iowa State), 12-6
Round of 16: #5 Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) dec. #21 Charlie Millard, 7-3
Consolation - R2: #27 Dylan Evans (Pitt) dec. #21 Charlie Millard, 4-2
Did not place: 1-2 record
165
First Round: #13 Andrew Sparks MD #20 Ty Whalen (Princeton), 10-1
Round of 16: #4 Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State) dec. #13 Andrew Sparks, 2-1 TB1
Consolation - R2: #13 Andrew Sparks dec. #30 Thomas Snipes (The Citadel), 7-2
Consolation - R3: #13 Andrew Sparks dec. #5 LaDarion Lockett (Oklahoma State), 10-3
184
First Round: #3 Max McEnelly TF #30 Tyler Bienus (Bucknell), 22-6 (4:00)
Round of 16: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #14 Jaden Bullock (Virginia Tech), 12-6
Quarterfinals: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #6 Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming), 8-6
285
First Round: #14 Koy Hopke dec. #19 Nate Schon (Drexel), 11-7
Round of 16: #3 Taye Ghadiali (Michigan) TF #14 Koy Hopke, 15-0 (5:33)
Consolation - R2: #14 Koy Hopke dec. #13 Spencer Lanosga (Navy), 2-0
Consolation - R3: #12 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) MD #14 Koy Hopke, 13-1
Did not place: 2-2 record
Gopher Round Table: Wrestling
Wednesday, March 11
Highlights: Big Ten Wrestling Session II
Saturday, March 07
Highlights: Big Ten Wrestling Session I
Saturday, March 07
Cinematic Recap: Gophers Smash the Spartans on Senior Day
Thursday, February 19