Breaking down the at-large DI NCAA men's wrestling qualifiers

Two hundred and eighty-eight athletes qualified for the 2026 DI men's wrestling tournament via their respective conference tournaments over the weekend. Those who fell just short of an automatic bid had to wait until Tuesday to learn their fate.

Here are the final 42 names who punched their ticket to Cleveland, along with what we know about each. 

First, a breakdown of at-large qualifiers by team: 

Now, the analysis: 

Pittsburgh and Princeton lead the way with three wild card athletes

The Pittsburgh Panthers finished fifth in the ACC but will bring eight athletes to Cleveland, a testament to the team's tough schedule, strong regular-season performances and the depth of the conference. The Princeton Tigers, meanwhile, add three to their NCAA roster, bringing their total to five representatives out of the growing, tough Ivy League conference.

Next Stop: Cleveland 🏆

— Pitt Wrestling (@Pitt_WRES)

Of all six of these at-large qualifiers across both teams, Luca Augustine (174 pounds) holds the highest rank at No. 17 in Intermat's latest rankings and is in the best position to compete for All-American honors as a wild card entry. In his career with the Panthers, Augustine has qualified for the tournament in all four years that he's started, finishing as high as the Round of 12 last season. His 1-2 performance at ACCs this year does not represent Augustine's potential against the best guys in his weight class across the country, as he's beaten All-American Matty Singleton earlier this year and has career wins over All-American Jackson Turley and Danny Wask. Bracket position and individual matchups will matter for Augustine. He's someone who can compete with podium threats but could also take an unexpected loss. The 174-pound weight class has eight returning All-Americans in the mix, so Augustine can't take one match off if he wants to keep himself in contention for the podium. 

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Teammates Dylan Evans (157 pounds) and Jared Keslar (165 pounds) will join Augustine in Cleveland for their second appearance at NCAAs. Evans went 1-2 last year at nationalswhile Keslar dropped both of his matches. The good news for both athletes is that they can keep matches close — neither gave up bonus in any of their ACC tournament bouts. Evans, who is currently ranked No. 24 in Intermat, and Kesler, who is ranked No. 32, as well as Augustine, join fellow Panthers Tyler Chappell, Kade Brown, Chase Kranitz, All-American Mac Stout and ACC runner-up Dayton Pitzer on the quest to bring individual hardware back to the Keystone State. 

Amongst the Tigers, Elijah Rivera (149 pounds) is the most experienced of the crew now in his third season with the Tigers. He finished in the Round of 16 last season and has wins this season over Jacob Frost and Lachlan McNeil at 149 pounds. Rivera's 2-2 performance at the Ivy League championships wasn't enough for the auto-bid, but as the No. 19 guy at the weight according to Intermat's most recent rankings, Rivera should still be in a good position to match his performance from last year in Cleveland. 

YEAR ✌️ FOR RIVERA 🎟️👊

 Eligh Rivera gets an at-large spot and is headed to nationals for the second-consecutive year!

— Princeton Wrestling (@tigerwrestling)

Teammates Holden Garcia and Matt Martino (141 pounds) earned their first bid to NCAAs with their at-large spots, with Garcia (174 pounds) coming in at No. 26 in the latest Intermat ranking and Martino sitting outside of Intermat's Top 33 because of his 14-15 record, though Martino does have a win over two-time All-American CJ Composto of Penn by fall that certainly helped his case and could help his seed. 

The last All-American for the Tigers was NCAA champion Patrick Glory in 2024, and one of this year's Tigers would no doubt love to add their name to that list. Navigating a path to the podium from an at-large spot is never easy, but anyone with a seed has a shot, and, due to the wildcards, five Tigers will be in the hunt. 

Shawver and Binachi keep their All-American hopes alive again

Rutgers' Dylan Shawver (133 pounds) and Little Rock's Matty Bianchi (165 pounds) needed wild card slots to compete at nationals in their final seasons after finishing just shy of the allocation spots at Big Tens and Pac 12s, respectively. Shawver finished ninth in a weight class that took 8 athletes in the Big Ten, and Bianchi went 1-1 at Pac-12s when only the winner qualified. The most recent Intermat standings have Shawver ranked No. 23 and Bianchi ranked No. 7, the same place he finished last season at NCAAs. Shawver has also finished as high as seventh in his career, but ended his season last year in the Blood Round. 

BIG TEN REWIND: Here's how Shawver won his conference title in 2024

When Shawver's on, he can compete with the best in the country, and his wins over All-Americans Kai Orine, Anthony Noto, Braeden Davis and Zan Fugitt last season prove that. He also has a career win over 2026 Big Ten champion Ben Davino from that same season. Shawver's power makes him dangerous, and while his wild card will likely put him in a tough spot in a deep bracket, look for him to be a bracket buster. He's also part of a Rutgers squad that is sending nine athletes and peaking at the right time, so vibes are good for the Scarlet Knights heading into the most important three days in March. 

While Shawver has had an unpredictable year and holds a 20-11 record, Bianchi's story is different. He's been unstoppable this season, dropping only to freshman sensation LaDarion Lockett of Oklahoma State and then to Anthony Berg of Cal Poly in the Pac-12 tournament in a performance that looks like an anomaly against the rest of his record. Bianchi's success helped him become the first Little Rock athlete to earn Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year, and now he'll look to become just the second Little Rock wrestler in program history to earn a second All-American honor, potentially joining 197-pound teammate Stephen Little on that list.

2025 Pac-12 Champion Matty Bianchi is the 2026 Pac-12 Wrestling Scholar-Athlete of the Year! ⭐

📰➡️

Watch him & his teammates compete for the 2026 conference crown starting at 12:30pm PT today on x

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12)

The 165-pound weight is top-heavy with reigning champ Mitchell Mesenbrink leading the way, followed by NCAA finalist Michael Caliendo of Iowa, returning NCAA finalist Joey Blaze of Purdue, Lockett of Oklahoma State and Big 12 champ Nicco Ruiz of Arizona State. Binachi is a comfortable Top 8 pick, but he can't drop any funky matches. If he wrestles steadily and to seed, he's a safe All-American contender, even though he needed a wild card to have this shot. 

Nebraska and Iowa State complete their NCAA lineups with one wild card spot each 

Only four teams qualified all ten athletes straight from the conference tournaments, but wildcard spots for Chance Lamer (149 pounds) and Vinny Zerban (157 pounds) of Nebraska and Iowa State, respectively, allow the Huskers and the Cyclones to complete their rosters and bring all ten athletes to NCAAs. 

ALL TEN ATHLETES: Complete profiles and predictions for Penn State, Nebraska, Iowa State, Virginia Tech, Ohio State and Oklahoma State 

Zerban needed a wild card after medically forfeiting out of Big 12s following his win over Daishun Powe of Northern Colorado. If Zerban is healthy, he can compete for a title, but an injured Zerban complicates that prediction. Even with his countable medical forfeit in the Big 12 tournament, Zerban still boasts a 15-4 record with wins over All-American Ty Watters and Daniel Cardenas. For Iowa State to compete for a team trophy, the Cyclones will likely need some production out of Zerban. 

Chance Lamer is a similar essential element in a Husker lineup that will come to Cleveland looking for a similar performance to its runner-up finish last season. At 149 pounds, Lamer doesn't have the same kind of signature wins this year that Zerban has up at 157 pounds, but he's kept nearly all of his matches close. Lamer is the kind of athlete who could scare the leaders of the weight like Shayne Van Ness and keep bouts competitive against almost anyone. The trick for him will be finding a way to win some of those tie-breaker or one-point matches that he's lost to guys like Ryder Block of Iowa and Ethan Stiles of Ohio State.