Wrestling Advances Two to the Quarterfinals in Day One of NCAA Championships

Thursday, March 19

Cleveland, Ohio

11 a.m.

Missouri

Session I

Wrestling Advances Two to the Quarterfinals in Day One of NCAA Championships

3/19/2026 10:31:00 PM | Wrestling

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Mizzou wrestling wrapped up day one of the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships in 15th place with a total of 12 points at Rocket Arena on Thursday, March 19.

Missouri's six wrestlers combined to go 7-6 on the day, highlighted by three bonus point victories. Additionally, two of the Tigers' victories came as upsets of higher-ranked foes. Mizzou also sent two wrestlers through to tomorrow's quarterfinals.

SESSION I
Redshirt freshman Mack Mauger kicked off the tournament in match one at 125 pounds. He won his pigtail bout in a close decision to advance to the first round against No. 1-seed Lilledahl of Penn State, which he lost. At 133 pounds, sophomore Gage Walker continued the Tigers' hot streak, knocking off the No. 14-seed from Army, 5-0.

Returning All-American Cam Steed kicked off a pair of consecutive tech falls for the Black and Gold, tallying 16 points before 184-pound No. 2-seed Aeoden Sinclair put up 22 points of his own. Each wrestler punched their ticket to the second round with wins. Evan Bates, a redshirt senior, took to the mat against a familiar foe, Oklahoma's DJ Parker. In a hole late, Bates blitzed his way to a takedown in the final seconds for one of the biggest upsets of the first round.

At 285 pounds, Jarrett Stoner struck while the iron was hot, scoring a first-period takedown against Nick Feldman of Ohio State, the No. 5 seed. The Rockwall, Texas, native held strong but surrendered a late takedown to lose his first match.

SESSION II
Four Mizzou competitors saw action in the championship second round on Thursday evening. Walker opened the round with a loss to the No. 3 seed. Steed picked up the first of two front-side wins for Missouri with a quick fall. Not long afterward, Sinclair joined in on the fun with a convincing 5-0 decision. At 197 pounds, Bates was able to score a takedown and ultimately fell short in his match.

Both the lightest and heaviest Tigers hit the mats for consolation bouts during the second session. At 125 pounds, Mauger's backside run came up short, falling to North Dakota State. Stoner's tournament also came to an end with a loss to the No. 12 seed.

TOURNAMENT NOTES

Dating back to the 2021 NCAA Championships, Missouri wrestlers have combined for a record of 31-21 in Session I matches at the national tournament.
In each of their first career national tournament appearances, Mauger (125) and Walker (133) both earned their first tournament wins. Both came by decision in the first session.
Bates' upset of Parker marked his first career win over the opponent. The pair matched up previously in this year's dual, Mizzou's senior night in February, a meeting won by Parker via major decision.
Sinclair's first round tech of Mahroni Rushton from Northern Colorado ended with a score of 22-6, the same score by which that matchup ended at a dual between the two teams earlier this season.
Mizzou punched four guys through to the second round in the championship bracket, the most in a single NCAA Championships for Mizzou since 2024, when they had five.
In his second round bout, Walker faced off with a Penn State opponent for the second time in his career. The first came at last season's Collegiate Duals against Luke Lilledahl at 125 pounds.
With his pin in the second round, Steed tallied two bonus point wins across day one, as well as his fourth career fall at the national tournament. It also punched his ticket to the first national quarterfinal of his career.
Steed's pin marked his fifth of the season, with all five occurring in the first period.

UP NEXT
Action kicks off on day two of the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships tomorrow, Friday, March 20, 2026, at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Session III will begin at 11 a.m. with quarterfinals and consolation bouts.

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FULL RESULTS
125 | [32] Mack Mauger, DNP (1-2)

Pigtail: Win by decision over [33] Jace Schafer (BLOO), 4-1

First Round: Loss by major decision to [1] Luke Lilledahl (PSU), 11-2

Consolation First Round: Loss by decision to [16] Ezekiel Witt (NDSU), 6-2

133 | [19] Gage Walker, Consolation Bracket (1-1)

First Round: Win by decision over [14] Ethan Berginc (ARMY), 5-0

Second Round: Loss by decision to [3] Marcus Blaze (PSU), 17-2 (6:10)

174 | [7] Cam Steed, Quarterfinals (2-0)

First Round: Win by technical fall over [26] Derek Gilcher (IND), 16-1 (5:41)

Second Round: Win by fall over [10] Myles Takats (BUCK), 2:06

184 | [2] Aeoden Sinclair, Quarterfinals (2-0)

First Round: Win by technical fall over [31] Mahonri Rushton (UNCO), 22-6 (5:46)