First Time Ever! Oklahoma State First to Have Three Freshman Champions in NCAA Wrestling

(This story was contributed to by Oklahoma State University Athletic Media Relations and Sean Maguire from Cleveland, Ohio and the site of the NCAA Championships.) 

CLEVELAND, Ohio – First ever, that’s hard to do in 98-years of staging wrestling championships. Oklahoma State did it. In order, on Saturday night in the finals,  Sergio Vega, Landon Robideau and Jax Forrest won individual titles at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships Saturday, making Oklahoma State the first team in history to record three freshman champions in one year at the national tournament. 

All true freshmen, they claimed titles at 141, 157 and 133 pounds, respectively. It was just the third time a team has recorded multiple freshman champions, as Cornell College had two true freshmen win in 1947 and Penn State had a true freshman and redshirt freshman win in 2017.

"We had an awesome tournament," coach David Taylor said. "It's not something you're typically proud of (getting second place), but it's a stepping stone. You think about the progress we've made with a lot of young guys in the lineup, so it's a pretty awesome season. I'm super proud of the guys, our organization, fans and supporters. All that to say, we're going to keep getting better."

Bruce Waterfield/OSU Athletics

Three National Champions and eight All-Americans for a strong NCAA 2^nd place finish, second most points ever for a team runner-up. 

Nobody could have predicted that. Mine were good on the number of All-Americans as the Cowboys had eight and I predicted eight, but three freshman champions, almost unbelievable.

No Cowboy contributed more than Forrest's 26 team points, which broke Pat Smith's 1990 program freshman record of 25 points (applying the current scoring model).

Vega and Forrest, who finished the season at 24-0 and 18-0, respectively, became the first true freshmen since 1947 to complete undefeated championship seasons.

Only four others in history have accomplished the feat, and all of them occurred in 1947 when many true freshmen who were already into their twenties competed after returning from World War II. None of that group, consisting of then-Oklahoma A&M's Dick Hutton, Iowa's Joe Scarpello, and Dick Hauser and Lowell Lange of Cornell College, won more than 15 matches.

Vega was the first Cowboy to claim his title, facing two-time defending NCAA champion, top-seeded and undefeated Jesse Mendez of Ohio State in the opening bout of the night.

Each wrestler scored an escape in regulation, and they took a 1-1 tie into sudden victory. Mendez got to a leg with less than thirty seconds remaining in the extra time, but Vega countered as he's done all season to score a takedown with 22 seconds left and secure his national title.

The win cemented a 24-0 season for the true freshman, who did not allow a single takedown all season.

“That was awesome,” Vega said. “It hit me right away. It took them a while to call the takedown. It was awesome. I've never had a moment like that in my life.”

Fifth-seeded Robideau was the next Cowboy on the mat, facing defending NCAA champion and three-time All-American Antrell Taylor of Nebraska. Robideau opened the scoring with a two-point nearfall 25 seconds into the second period, then added an escape and stalling point in the third. He then held off several late shots from Taylor to secure a 4-2 decision and became OSU's second true freshman national champion of the night.

Robideau, who has now avenged both of his season losses in this tournament, wraps up his season with a 21 -2 overall record.

“I was just super thankful,” Robideau said. “First, I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. After that, I saw my teammates there supporting me. I saw my mom and my brother, and I thought of all the hard work I'd put in to get to that point. Having them there matside, supporting me, means a lot.”

Forrest, who was still in high school for the first semester of this season, wrestled in the main event to close out the tournament. He faced No. 2 Ben Davino of Ohio State in what many considered the final match of the most challenging weight class in country.

Trailing 1-0 heading into the final period, Forrest used an escape, takedown and more than two minutes of riding time to secure a 5-2 win and cap his historic run.

“It was surreal,” Forrest said. “I've dreamed of this day for a long time. I saw it happening slowly over the weekend and over the year faster than I thought. It was awesome. Unlike any other feeling that I've ever had.”

OSU redshirt freshman Cody Merrill also wrestled in the finals at 197 pounds. The seventh-seeded Merrill, who was the third-lowest seeded wrestler among the 20 finalists, faced undefeated and top-seeded Josh Barr of Penn State for his shot at the title. Merrill kept it close and was on the attack to tie the score in the final 30 seconds but was unable to score as he dropped a 6-3 decision to finish second.

Including tonight's results, he is one of just 15 freshmen in Oklahoma State history to finish in the top two at the national tournament. He wraps up his season with a record of 21-5.

OSU's three individual winners give the Cowboys 148 NCAA individual champions, eight freshman champions and five true freshman champions. OSU also has 500 All-America honors in its wrestling history.

As a team, the Cowboys have now finished second or better in 48 of the 95 NCAA Championships that have been held.