Connect with us

Cleveland, OH

Penn State wins the 2026 NCAA DI men’s wrestling championships

Published

4 weeks ago

on

Penn State wins the 2026 NCAA DI men’s wrestling championships


285 pounds: No. 1 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) and No. 2 Isaac Trumble (NC State) advance

No. 1 Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) over No. 4 AJ Ferrari (Nebraska), 15-7: Yonger Bastida takes an early shot against AJ Ferrari and converts for a takedown, but his coaches want near fall. Another shot from Bastida that nearly puts Ferrari on his back. This time he gets nearfall points and takes a 10-1 lead. Ferrari is helped on the mat by his trainers. Bastida chooses down to start the second period with a 10-2 lead. Ferrari is in on a shot, but he runs out of time in the period. Bastida will carry his 11-2 lead into the third. Ferrari chooses down to start the third period. The Cornhusker escapes. He trails 11-3. Takedown Ferrari. He still trails 11-6. Fourteen seconds. Bastida escapes. Takedown Bastida for good measure. The Cyclone is a national finalist with a 15-7 semifinal win. 

No. 2 Isaac Trumble (NC State) over No. 3 Taye Ghadiali (Michigan), 4-1: Ghadiali  is in on the first shot against NC State’s Trumble who finished fourth last year. No points. Scoreless first period. Ghadiali is on the board first with an escape to start the second period. Ghadiali’s point is the only point of the period. Trumble chooses down to start the third and final period. Ghadiali is warned for stalling. Ghadiali rides Trumble hard, but the Wolfpack veteran is out. Shot from Trumble. Ghadiali sprawls. Scrambling! Takedown Trumble. Both coaches threw bricks during that exchange. The call stands. Isaac Trumble is into the national finals! 

197 pounds: No. 1 Josh Barr (Penn State) and No. 7 Cody Merrill (Oklahoma State) advance

No. 1 Josh Barr (Penn State) over No. 5 Joey Novak (Wyoming), 14-3: Josh Barr is in a takedown right off the whistle, and he picks up a quick 3-0 lead. Reversal for Novak. The Cowboy has no quit in him. Escape Barr. The Nittany Lion leads 4-2. Takedown Barr. He leads 7-2 at the end of the first period. Novak chooses down to start the second period. He escapes, and Barr takes him down again. The Nittany Lion leads 10-3.  Barr does neutral in the third period and takes down Novak. He leads 13-3 with 2:30 of riding time. Barr is warned for stalling. Barr rides out Novak for the remainder of the third period, and he’s back in the national finals with a 14-3 win. 

No. 7 Cody Merrill (Oklahoma State) over No. 3 Stephen Little (Little Rock), 2-1: Scoreless first period. Merrill chooses down to start the second period and escapes quickly to put himself on the board first. Merrill’s escape is the lone point of the period. Little chooses down to start the third period. Let’s go to overtime. Little goes in on a shot and nearly gets the takedown. The officials review the call. No takedown. Time for tiebreakers. Little gets out in 24 seconds. Merrill chooses down. Little lets him up and goes for the takedown. He comes up just short. Cody Merrill is a national finalist. 

184 pounds: No. 1 Rocco Welsh (Penn State) and No. 3 Max McEnelly (Minnesota) advance

No. 1 Rocco Welsh (Penn State) over No. 5 Brock Mantanona (Michigan), 4-3: Scoreless after the first period. Mantanona chooses down to start the second. Mantanona escapes. Welsh in on a leg, but Mantanona scrambles away. Takedown Welsh. One minute to go. Rocco Welsh is a national finalist with a 4-3 victory!

No. 3 Max McEnelly (Minnesota) over No. 7 Angelo Ferrari, 2-1 (TB-1): Scoreless first period. McEnelly chooses down to start the second period. McEnelly escapes. Ferrari chooses down to start the third. McEnelly’s escape is the only point on the board so far. Ferrari escapes. This one is tied 1-1 with 30 seconds to go. Riding time is not a factor. Let’s go to overtime. Scrambling in short time. Ferrari wants the challenge brick. He thinks he had the takedown. No takedown. Time for tiebreakers. McEnelly starts down. McEnelly is out in seven seconds. Ferrari chooses down to start his 30-second tie-breaker. He needs to get out in less than seven seconds. McEnelly holds him down. Ten seconds. Ferrari escapes, but he runs out of time. McEnelly is a national finalist!

174 pounds: No. 1 Levi Haines (Penn State) and No. 3 Chris Minto (Nebraska) advance

No. 3 Chris Minto (Nebraska) over No. 7 Cam Steed (Missouri), 5-1: Shot from Minto, and he’s on the board with a takedown in the first two minutes of the period. He finished fourth at 165 pounds last year and second in the Big Ten at 174 pounds this year. Minto chooses down to start the second period and escapes to extend his lead 4-0. Steed chooses down to start the third period. Chris Minto is a national finalist with a 5-1 win! 

No. 1 Levi Haines (Penn State) over No. 5 Patrick Kennedy (Iowa), 18-3 Levi Haines also puts himself on the board with a first-period takedown. He now leads 7-1 after Kennedy’s escape. Kennedy chooses down to start the third period. Kennedy escapes. Takedown Haines. He leads 10-3 and is looking for back points. He adds to his total, leading 17-3. He also has riding time which would give him the tech fall at the whistle. He rides out Kennedy for the bonus points. Haines is back in the national finals!

Advertisement

165 pounds: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) and No. 3 Mikey Caliendo (Iowa) advance

No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) techs No. 12 Cesar Alvan (Columbia), 11-0: Takedown Mesenbrink. He’s looking for the fall. He takes near fall points instead and leads 11-0. He adds four more near fall points and earns the 15-0 tech fall. He’s back in the national finals. 

No. 3 Mikey Caliendo (Iowa) over No. 2 Joey Blaze (Purdue), 8-5: Blaze picks up a takedown over Mikey Caliendo. He leads 3-2 with one minute to go in the second period. Takedown Caliendo. He takes the 5-4 lead. Purdue challenges the takedown. Call is upheld. Ninety seconds to go. Scrambling! This one is going to overtime 5-5. Takedown Caliendo! He is back in the national finals! Iowa’s finalist streak stays alive for another year! 

157 pounds: No. 5 Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) and No. 2 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) advance

No. 5 Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) over No. 1 PJ Duke (Penn State), 3-1: Scoreless first period. Robideau chooses down to start the second period. He escapes for the only point of the second period. Duke chooses down to start the third period. Duke escape, and this one is tied 1-1. Let’s go to overtime! Takedown Duke. Challenge Oklahoma State. No takedown. Robideau in on a dangerous shot. Duke wrestles on the edge. Ten seconds. Time for ride-outs! Robideau chooses down and picks up a two-point reversal. Duke chooses neutral. He has 30 seconds to get a takedown. Robideau is warned for stalling. The crowd does not approve. Robideau is going to the national finals! He tops formerly undefeated PJ Duke of Penn State 3-1. 

Advertisement

No. 11 Ty Watters (West Virginia) vs. No. 2 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska), 4-2: Scorless first period. Taylor, the reigning champ at the weight, chooses down to start the period and escapes. Watters is on a shot, but no points. Watters chooses down to start the third period. He escapes. Takedown Taylor! Watters escapes. Taylor leads 4-2. He carries that lead through the final whistle, and he’s back in the finals. 

149 pounds: No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) & No. 10 Aden Valencia advance

No. 1 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) vs. No. 20 Chance Lamer (Nebraska), 22-1: Van Ness is on the board first with an early takedown. He’s looking for back points but settles for the three-point takedown. Lamer is hit for stalling. Van Ness ends the first period on top and carries his 3-0 lead into the second period. Van Ness escapes to start the second period and picks up another takedown. He leads 7-0. Escape Lamer. Takedown Van Ness. He picked up four nearfall points in the process and leads 14-1 with 26 seconds to go in the second period. Lamer chooses neutral to start the third period. Takedown and nearfall for Van Ness. He picks up the 22-1 win, and he’s a national finalist! 

No. 10 Aden Valencia (Stanford) over No. 11 Lachlan McNeil (Michigan), 9-5: Scoreless first period. McNeil escapes to start the second period. Takedown Valencia. He leads the All-American Wolverine 3-1 with short time in the second period. Valencia ends the period on top and chooses down to start the third period. He escapes for the 4-1 lead. Shot from Valencia. Takedown! He leads 7-1 and pushes riding time up over a minute. Takedown McNeil. Valencia leads 7-5 with 10 seconds to go. Aden Valencia is an NCAAA finalist with a 9-5 win. 

Advertisement

141 pounds: No. 1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) and No. 2 Sergio Vega (Oklahoma State) advance
 

No. 1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) over No. 5 Luke Stanich (Lehigh), 4-1: Jesse Mendez continues his quest for another national title and a Hodge Trophy by going on offense right away with a shot against Stanich. The Mountain Hawk defends. Scoreless first period. Great defensive effort from Stanich. Mendez chooses down to start the second period and escapes.  Stanich chooses down to start the third period and escapes. This one is all tied up. One minute to go. Let’s go to overtime. Takedown Mendez. The Buckeye is back in the national finals!

No. 2 Sergio Vega (Oklahoma State) over No. 3 Brock Hardy (Nebraska), 5-4: Scoreless first period. Hardy chooses down to start the second period and escapes. He leads 1-0. Vega chooses neutral to start the third period. Takedown Vega. He leads 3-1. Reversal Hardy. This one is tied, but Hardy has been warned for stalling. Vega escapes and has the riding time advantage. Shot from Vega. Scrambling! Ten seconds. No takedown for Hardy, despite a tough effort. Vega takes the win 5-4. 

133 pounds: No. 1 Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) & No. 2 Ben Davino (Ohio State) advance

No. 1 Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) over No. 4 Aaron Seidel (Virginia Tech), 14-3 Takedown Forrest. He’s on fire this tournament. This is exactly the barn-burner it was advertised to be. Forrest leads 3-0 after the first minute.Forrest chooses down to start the second period with a 3-1 lead. Forrest leads 5-1 with 30 seconds to go in the second period. Takedown Forrest. Make that 8-1 in favor of the Cowboy. Shot from Seidel. Forrest leads 11-1 with twenty seconds to go in the period. Ten seconds. Out of bounds. Jax Forrest is into the national finals with a 14-3 major decision win over Seidel! 

No. 2 Ben Davino (Ohio State) vs. No. 3 Marcus Blaze (Penn State), 3-2: Scorless first period. Such a clash of styles across the two mats in this semifinal, with this one showing off impressive defensive prowess. Blaze is in on a leg. Davino scrambles on the edge and rolls into a shot of his own. Out of bounds. This one is all tied up 1-1 with less than a minute to go in the third period. Thirty seconds. Overtime. Davino is in on a shot. The crowd wants a takedown call. No takedown. Let’s resume sudden victory! Now tie-breakers. Davino escapes in 21 seconds. He holds down Blaze for 30 seconds, and Ben Davino is a national finalist! This crowd loves him! Challenge call. Call upheld. Davino is a national finalist!

125 pounds: No. 1 Luke Lilledadhl (Penn State) & No. 10 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton) advance

No. 1 Luke Lilledadhl (Penn State) vs. No. 5 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State), 8-3: Lightin’ Luke Lilledahl is living up to his nickname, and he picks up an early takedown against 2025 NCAA finalist Troy Spratley. Spratley escapes. Lilledahl leads 3-1. Another shot from Lilledahl. Spratley is scrambling. Lilledahl puts him on his back, but Spratley scrambles out of it. The Nittany Lions leads 8-1. Officials review the near fall points. Call is upheld. Escape Spratley. Lilledahl leads 8-3 with one minute to go in the second period. Lilledahl holds his lead through the third period and takes the win 8-3. He’s heading to the national finals!

Advertisement

No. 10 Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton) over No. 14 Jacob Moran (Indiana), 4-1: Scoreless first period. McGowan chooses down to start the second period and escapes. He’s in on a leg. Out of bounds. Moran chooses down to start the third period. He trails 1-0. Moran escapes. This one is all tied up. Short time takedown from McGowan! He’s a finalist for the Princeton Tigers with a 4-1 win.  





Source link

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Cleveland, OH

Winners and Losers From Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Playoffs Game 1

Published

5 hours ago

on

April 19, 2026

By

Winners and Losers From Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Playoffs Game 1


A well-balanced effort and a huge second half from the Cleveland Cavaliers stars allowed them to dominate the Toronto Raptors 126-113 for the first playoff win of the year.

Here are the winners and losers of the first playoff game of the year for Cleveland.

Winners

Max Strus

Oh, did Max Strus miss over 65 games this year while dealing with injury he sustained in the offseason? You would have never noticed based on how he played in game one.

He was the difference maker off the bench in 24 minutes. He scored 24 points on 80% shooting. He was the clutch man at the end of the first half with four points in 30 seconds, then took over in the third by scoring eight straight.

Advertisement

Kenny Atkinson made a strong push to get Strus back in the rotation before playoffs and it’s showing why. He’ll be the X-factor all postseason long.

Cleveland’s starting bigs

The Cavaliers started the game looking to get Jarrett Allen touches inside the paint on the first four possessions of the game. He set the tone early by playing bully ball, throwing down a few hard dunks and showing Cleveland wanted to win the paint.

Allen cooled off but what he did early opened up the lanes for James Harden to drive in and create open shots on the perimeter. Then as Toronto tried to take that away, Evan Mobley took over in the paint.

Advertisement

Cleveland can win this series in the paint as the Raptors don’t have enough size to keep pace with this brand of basketball. Harden can unlock a new layer from bigs, it showed it the regular season and it’s showing now.

Advertisement

Mobley finished with 17 points and seven rebounds and Allen had 10 with seven boards.

The James Harden trade

Plenty of people doubted how effective Harden would be in the playoffs. He hasn’t had much success since he was a bench player for the Thunder.

Advertisement

This game was peak Harden. He got to be the playmaker instead of the scorer and it opened Cleveland’s offense up. As stated, the big got involved in a big way. The role players were able to find their shots.

Advertisement

He just freezes the game in a unique way. He knows when to throw a lob, when to pass out, when to shoot a floater and when to get creative.

Harden also helped Donovan Mitchell play an efficient game. Mitchell has always been able to score in the postseason, but often has had to sacrifice his efficiency. With Harden around Mitchell will know he is another star who can score when needed, but will focus on getting everyone else involved.

Harden finished with 22 points and 10 assists while Mitchell had 32 points. Meanwhile, the Clippers couldn’t make it out of the play-in and Los Angeles saw some of the frustration with Darius Garland’s inconsistency.

Losers

Jaylon Tyson 

Cleveland found a role for 10 guys in this first game which was something they weren’t expected to do in the playoffs. Many expected Dennis Schroder or Keon Ellis to be the odd man out of the rotation.

Instead Tyson looked like someone playing in his first career playoff game, which is exactly what he is. In just 13 minutes he had four fouls. He shot 0/4, only hitting a pair of free throws. He turned the ball over once and really got his defense exposed at times.

Advertisement

Tyson’s role in the rotation could be in serious jeopardy. Ellis and Shroder didn’t have great days either, but both helped keep the offense smooth and played solid enough defense. Tyson should have some more opportunities to prove himself, but the leash gets shorter in the postseason.

Toronto’s guards without Quickley

Without Immanuel Quickley out there, the Cavaliers had a clear mismatch to exploit in the backcourt. 

Now RJ Barrett and Jamal Shead still managed to put up some points, Barrett scored 24 and Shead scored 17, but neither got the offense going and neither could stop Mitchell and Harden on defense.

Advertisement

Barrett and Shead combined to dish out just five assists. Most of their passing had to come from the front court. That is a major weakness for Toronto right now.

Advertisement

Things got worse with Ja’Kobe Walter and AJ Lawson. Both guys struggled hard defensively and allowed Cleveland to bully with their stars.

If Quickley is out for the rest of the series, Cleveland will have plenty of chances to end this in four games.

Advertisement
Add us as a preferred source on Google



Source link

Continue Reading

Cleveland, OH

Cavaliers vs Raptors live updates: Score, highlights and how to watch Game 1

Published

17 hours ago

on

April 18, 2026

By

Cavaliers vs Raptors live updates: Score, highlights and how to watch Game 1


The 2026 NBA postseason is officially underway as the Cleveland Cavaliers host the Toronto Raptors – and the Raptors have some work to do.

The Cavs started the third quarter on a 21-6 run to open up a 22-point lead after clinging to a seven-point advantage at halftime. Donovan Mitchell scored 11 points in the third, including Cleveland’s final five points of the quarter, and he leads all scorers with 24 points heading into the final 12 minutes.

As the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference the Cavs (52-30) have homecourt advantage in the best-of-seven series, but the Raptors (46-36) defeated Cleveland in all three regular-season matchups. However, all three of those games were played before Thanksgiving.

Advertisement

Continue to follow USA TODAY Sports for updates from Cavaliers vs Raptors Game 1. Want to see the full National Basketball Association schedule for April 18 and how to watch all the games? Check out our sortable NBA schedule to filter by team or division.

  • Cleveland 120, Toronto 102 with 3:58 left in 4th quarter.

The Cavs opened the third quarter on a 21-6 run, including a 9-0 start out of the gate. And who’s leading the way? That would be Max Strus, who made eight points before the Raptors called a timeout at 5:37 mark. Strus has a game-high 19 points for the game.

  • Points (61): James Harden 15, Donovan Mitchell 13, Max Strus 11
  • Rebounds (18): Evan Mobley 4, Jarrett Allen 4, Sam Merrill 3
  • Assists (12): James Harden 6, Donovan Mitchell 4
  • Steals (5): Donovan Mitchell 2

  • Points (54): Brandon Ingram 13, Scottie Barnes 11, RJ Barrett 11, Jamal Shead 11
  • Rebounds (15): Jakob Poeltl 3, Collin Murray-Boyles 3
  • Assists (16): Brandon Ingram 4, Scottie Barnes 4
  • Steals (1): RJ Barrett 1
  • Cleveland is 20 for 38 from the field (52.6%), 8 for 17 from 3-pointers (47.1%) and 13 for 17 from the free throw line (76.5%).
  • Toronto is 21 for 40 from the field (52.5%), 8 for 15 from 3-pointers (53.3%) and 4 for 9 from the free throw line (44.4%).

Tip off between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors is scheduled for 1 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, April 18.

All times Eastern and accurate as of Saturday, April 18, 2026, at 11:45 a.m.

Watch the NBA Playoffs on Fubo

NBA scores and results

See scores, results for all of today’s games. .

See NBA scores, results from April 17

Advertisement

Odds for NBA games today

The latest NBA odds can be found below from the best sports betting apps . Some odds may include games scheduled on future dates.



Source link

Continue Reading

Cleveland, OH

Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians prediction, pick for MLB on Friday 4/17/26

Published

1 day ago

on

April 18, 2026

By

Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians prediction, pick for MLB on Friday 4/17/26


Brendan O’Sullivan dives into his pick and prediction for the Baltimore Orioles vs. Cleveland Guardians game on Friday, April 17.

The Orioles and Guardians play the second game of their four-game series on Friday, April 17.

Cleveland is a -143 moneyline favorite, while Baltimore is +119 on DraftKings Sportsbook. The game total is set at over/under eight runs.

Let’s get into a pick and prediction for this Orioles vs. Guardians game.

Advertisement

Orioles vs. Guardians prediction, preview

The Orioles had won six of seven games, seemingly finding their footing in the early portion of the season. Then, they lost two straight to the Diamondbacks, returning back to .500 heading into the weekend series. Baltimore hits the road for a four-game set against the Guardians, who have also struggled with consistency.

Cleveland is not much better, with mediocre batting and pitching. There are standout names on the roster such as Jose Ramirez, Steven Kwan and rookie Chase DeLauter, but they’re not carrying the offense enough.

The pitching is hit spotty, depending on who’s starting that day. Gavin Williams and Joey Cantillo are standouts thus far, but the rest of the rotation is unreliable. Neither of these pitchers are on the mound on Friday, putting the Guardians in danger of an offensive explosion.

Tanner Bibee is starting for the Guardians in game two of the series. He has a 6.38 ERA across four starts, pitching no further than 5.0 innings in an outing. Despite pitching the second fewest innings of the rotation, Bibee has by far the most hits allowed. Opposing teams are batting .316 against the right hander.

Despite this, the Orioles don’t have the pitching advantage. Chris Bassitt will toe the rubber for his fourth start of the season as he holds a 9.00 ERA across 11.0 innings. He hasn’t lasted more than 4.2 innings and has allowed at least six hits in each outing.

Advertisement

Between these two struggling pitchers, offenses may be on fire. That said, both teams have mediocre offense thus far.

Orioles vs. Guardians Pick, Best Bet

Neither of these pitchers gives me much confidence, and with that, it’s hard to bet on either team. A poor start puts a team in a hole sometimes impossible to climb out of. Rather than putting faith into either side, I’m betting against the pitching staffs.

All offense, all the time on Friday. Over. Over. Over.

Best Bet: Over eight runs (-110)



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending