University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, March 21
Cleveland, OH
5:30 PM
University of Minnesota
vs
NCAA Championships - Session VI
Players Mentioned
285 lbs.
/ Wrestling
184 lbs.
/ Wrestling
157 lbs.
/ Wrestling
165 lbs.
/ Wrestling
285 lbs.
/ Wrestling
125 lbs.
/ Wrestling
141 lbs.
/ Wrestling
Photo by: Austin Janning
McEnelly Wins National Championship
3/21/2026 8:37:00 PM | Wrestling
CLEVELAND, Ohio – In arguably the toughest weight class in the sport, Minnesota's Max McEnelly stood atop the 184-pound class Saturday night as the national champion.
A redshirt sophomore from Waconia, Minn., McEnelly defeated Penn State's top-ranked Rocco Welsh, 4-3, inside Rocket Arena at the 2026 NCAA Championships to win the first title of his standout career.
McEnelly is the 19th different Gopher to win a national title and it's the 25th individual championship overall in program history. He's the first Gopher to win a title at 184 pounds and it's the first for the program since Gable Steveson went back-to-back at heavyweight in 2021-22. In fact, each of the last four titles won by the Gophers came at 285 pounds, making McEnelly the first non-heavyweight to win since Jayson Ness in 2010.
Saturday night's final was a rematch of the Big Ten Championships, won in tiebreakers by Welsh, 2-1. That match lasted nine minutes and featured no takedowns, but McEnelly made sure that wouldn't be the case again. With 1:05 left in the first period, McEnelly attacked and used his left hand to grab Welsh's right ankle, rose to a high-c attack and took him down, the first takedown Welsh surrendered at the championships. Welsh quickly escaped, but McEnelly had the 3-1 lead through the opening period.
He started on bottom for the second period and escaped early for a 4-1 lead, taking that into the third. Welsh started on bottom and escaped in short order. McEnelly played defense the rest of the way, mixing in fakes where needed to keep Welsh at bay. In the closing seconds, McEnelly willingly took a pair of stall calls to avoid any further attacks, prevailing 4-3 and snapping Welsh's 40-match win streak.
McEnelly finished the season with a 24-2 record, including a 15-1 record in duals, a perfect mark 8-0 during the Big Ten regular season and a 15-2 record versus ranked competition. Twelve of his 24 victories were by tech fall and two more came by major decision.
In the team standings, Minnesota finished in ninth place with 48.5 points. It's the team's fifth top-10 finish under head coach Brandon Eggum and 41st in program history. Penn State won its fifth straight team title with 181.5 points, while Oklahoma State (131.0) was second and Nebraska (100.5) placed third.
Final Minnesota Results
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
Blood Round: #6 Jore Volk dec. #17 Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia), 7-2
Consolation Quarterfinals: #12 Vincent Robinson (NC State) dec. #6 Jore Volk, 4-1 SV1
7th-Place Match: #6 Jore Volk MD #11 Tyler Klinsky (Rider), 14-1
7th Place: 4-2 record
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
Blood Round: #11 CJ Composto (Penn) dec. #8 Vance VomBaur, 4-3
Did not place: 2-2 record
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
Blood Round: #13 Andrew Sparks dec. #10 Will Denny (NC State), 8-7
Consolation Quarterfinals: #13 Andrew Sparks MD #16 Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State), 10-2
Consolation Semifinals: #12 Cesar Alvan (Columbia) dec. #13 Andrew Sparks, 5-2
5th-Place Match: #13 Andrew Sparks MFF #2 Joey Blaze (Purdue)
5th Place: 6-2 record
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
Semifinals: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #7 Angelo Ferrari (Iowa), 2-2 TB2
Finals: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #1 Rocco Welsh (Penn State), 4-3
1st Place: 5-0 record
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
A redshirt sophomore from Waconia, Minn., McEnelly defeated Penn State's top-ranked Rocco Welsh, 4-3, inside Rocket Arena at the 2026 NCAA Championships to win the first title of his standout career.
McEnelly is the 19th different Gopher to win a national title and it's the 25th individual championship overall in program history. He's the first Gopher to win a title at 184 pounds and it's the first for the program since Gable Steveson went back-to-back at heavyweight in 2021-22. In fact, each of the last four titles won by the Gophers came at 285 pounds, making McEnelly the first non-heavyweight to win since Jayson Ness in 2010.
Saturday night's final was a rematch of the Big Ten Championships, won in tiebreakers by Welsh, 2-1. That match lasted nine minutes and featured no takedowns, but McEnelly made sure that wouldn't be the case again. With 1:05 left in the first period, McEnelly attacked and used his left hand to grab Welsh's right ankle, rose to a high-c attack and took him down, the first takedown Welsh surrendered at the championships. Welsh quickly escaped, but McEnelly had the 3-1 lead through the opening period.
He started on bottom for the second period and escaped early for a 4-1 lead, taking that into the third. Welsh started on bottom and escaped in short order. McEnelly played defense the rest of the way, mixing in fakes where needed to keep Welsh at bay. In the closing seconds, McEnelly willingly took a pair of stall calls to avoid any further attacks, prevailing 4-3 and snapping Welsh's 40-match win streak.
McEnelly finished the season with a 24-2 record, including a 15-1 record in duals, a perfect mark 8-0 during the Big Ten regular season and a 15-2 record versus ranked competition. Twelve of his 24 victories were by tech fall and two more came by major decision.
In the team standings, Minnesota finished in ninth place with 48.5 points. It's the team's fifth top-10 finish under head coach Brandon Eggum and 41st in program history. Penn State won its fifth straight team title with 181.5 points, while Oklahoma State (131.0) was second and Nebraska (100.5) placed third.
Final Minnesota Results
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
Blood Round: #6 Jore Volk dec. #17 Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia), 7-2
Consolation Quarterfinals: #12 Vincent Robinson (NC State) dec. #6 Jore Volk, 4-1 SV1
7th-Place Match: #6 Jore Volk MD #11 Tyler Klinsky (Rider), 14-1
7th Place: 4-2 record
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
Blood Round: #11 CJ Composto (Penn) dec. #8 Vance VomBaur, 4-3
Did not place: 2-2 record
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
Blood Round: #13 Andrew Sparks dec. #10 Will Denny (NC State), 8-7
Consolation Quarterfinals: #13 Andrew Sparks MD #16 Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State), 10-2
Consolation Semifinals: #12 Cesar Alvan (Columbia) dec. #13 Andrew Sparks, 5-2
5th-Place Match: #13 Andrew Sparks MFF #2 Joey Blaze (Purdue)
5th Place: 6-2 record
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
Semifinals: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #7 Angelo Ferrari (Iowa), 2-2 TB2
Finals: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #1 Rocco Welsh (Penn State), 4-3
1st Place: 5-0 record
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
Highlights: McEnelly Wins NCAA Title
Saturday, March 21
Max McEnelly - ESPN Interview
Saturday, March 21
ESPN Postgame: Max McEnelly
Saturday, March 21
Highlights: Max McEnelly Advances to Finals
Friday, March 20