University of Minnesota Athletics
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184 lbs.
/ Wrestling
Photo by: Brad Rempel
McEnelly, Steveson Ready for RAF12
8/21/2026 1:09:00 PM | Wrestling
MINNEAPOLIS – Reigning 184-pound national champion Max McEnelly and two-time heavyweight champ Gable Steveson will represent the Gopher Wrestling program Saturday night at Real American Freestyle's RAF12 in Cleveland, Ohio.
McEnelly is scheduled to compete against Bo Nickal in a catchweight matchup, while Steveson faces Anthony Cassioppi in a heavyweight bout. The event starts at 7 p.m. CT at at Rocket Arena, the same arena in which McEnelly won his title this past March, and streamed on FoxNation (subscription required).
En route to his championship, McEnelly finished the 2025-26 season with a 24-2 record, including a 15-1 record in duals, a perfect 8-0 mark 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. He became the 19th different Gopher to win a national title, and it was the 25th individual championship overall in program history. McEnelly was the first Gopher to win a national title at 184 pounds, and he captured the first title overall for the program since Gable Steveson went back-to-back at heavyweight in 2021-22.
Nickal was a three-time national champion at Penn State from 2016-19, winning twice at 184 pounds and once at 197. He is 1-0 all-time in the RAF and won the inaugural Light Heavyweight title but vacated it due to a move up in weight classes. In addition, Nickal has competed in 10 professional mixed martial arts matches, sporting a 9-1 record.
Steveson will be stepping onto the RAF mat for the second time after scoring a 10-0 tech fall over Alexander Romanov at RAF09 in May. In addition to RAF, Steveson has also competed four times professionally in mixed martial arts, most recently winning in his UFC debut last month. He's 4-0 with wins at UFC 329, LFA 217, APFC 21 and MFL 3. He's also got a victory at DBX-4. All of his wins have come by knockout or technical knockout.
An Olympic gold medalist, two-time NCAA champion and two-time Hodge Trophy winner, Steveson is Minnesota's only five-time All-American and the only wrestler in program history to produce four top-3 finishes at the NCAAs. He was also a four-time Big Ten champion, one of two in team history to win four conference championships and the only wrestler in league history to win four titles at heavyweight.
A two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Steveson finished his career with the best winning percentage in Gopher Wrestling history with an 103-3 career record (.972), including a perfect 59-0 in dual competition and 44-0 mark against Big Ten opponents. He embarked on a 70-match win streak, the second longest in program history, on his way to finishing 16th in Gopher history with 59 career dual wins and tied for 43rd in career wins.
Cassioppi was a four-time All-American at Iowa and is currently associate head coach at Wisconsin. His best finish at NCAAs was third place in 2021. Steveson and Cassioppi met four times collegiately with Steveson going a perfect 4-0, including a pair of major decisions in 2021. Their last matchup came in the 2021 NCAA semifinals where Steveson dominated, 16-6.
Launched in August of 2025, Real American Freestyle consists of eight weight classes on the men's side and three on the women's. Each match consists of three two-minute periods with a modified scoring system that resembles United World Wrestling and USA Wrestling formats. Points can be earned for actions like takedowns (2 points), stepouts (1), exposure from standing (4-5), exposure from the ground (2), reversals (1), and more. Matches can be won by fall, tech fall (10-point lead), disqualification or injury time. Click here for more information on the rules.
McEnelly is scheduled to compete against Bo Nickal in a catchweight matchup, while Steveson faces Anthony Cassioppi in a heavyweight bout. The event starts at 7 p.m. CT at at Rocket Arena, the same arena in which McEnelly won his title this past March, and streamed on FoxNation (subscription required).
En route to his championship, McEnelly finished the 2025-26 season with a 24-2 record, including a 15-1 record in duals, a perfect 8-0 mark 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. He became the 19th different Gopher to win a national title, and it was the 25th individual championship overall in program history. McEnelly was the first Gopher to win a national title at 184 pounds, and he captured the first title overall for the program since Gable Steveson went back-to-back at heavyweight in 2021-22.
Nickal was a three-time national champion at Penn State from 2016-19, winning twice at 184 pounds and once at 197. He is 1-0 all-time in the RAF and won the inaugural Light Heavyweight title but vacated it due to a move up in weight classes. In addition, Nickal has competed in 10 professional mixed martial arts matches, sporting a 9-1 record.
Steveson will be stepping onto the RAF mat for the second time after scoring a 10-0 tech fall over Alexander Romanov at RAF09 in May. In addition to RAF, Steveson has also competed four times professionally in mixed martial arts, most recently winning in his UFC debut last month. He's 4-0 with wins at UFC 329, LFA 217, APFC 21 and MFL 3. He's also got a victory at DBX-4. All of his wins have come by knockout or technical knockout.
An Olympic gold medalist, two-time NCAA champion and two-time Hodge Trophy winner, Steveson is Minnesota's only five-time All-American and the only wrestler in program history to produce four top-3 finishes at the NCAAs. He was also a four-time Big Ten champion, one of two in team history to win four conference championships and the only wrestler in league history to win four titles at heavyweight.
A two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, Steveson finished his career with the best winning percentage in Gopher Wrestling history with an 103-3 career record (.972), including a perfect 59-0 in dual competition and 44-0 mark against Big Ten opponents. He embarked on a 70-match win streak, the second longest in program history, on his way to finishing 16th in Gopher history with 59 career dual wins and tied for 43rd in career wins.
Cassioppi was a four-time All-American at Iowa and is currently associate head coach at Wisconsin. His best finish at NCAAs was third place in 2021. Steveson and Cassioppi met four times collegiately with Steveson going a perfect 4-0, including a pair of major decisions in 2021. Their last matchup came in the 2021 NCAA semifinals where Steveson dominated, 16-6.
Launched in August of 2025, Real American Freestyle consists of eight weight classes on the men's side and three on the women's. Each match consists of three two-minute periods with a modified scoring system that resembles United World Wrestling and USA Wrestling formats. Points can be earned for actions like takedowns (2 points), stepouts (1), exposure from standing (4-5), exposure from the ground (2), reversals (1), and more. Matches can be won by fall, tech fall (10-point lead), disqualification or injury time. Click here for more information on the rules.
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