University of Minnesota Athletics
Thursday, March 19
Cleveland, OH
6:00 PM
University of Minnesota
vs
NCAA Championships - Session II
Players Mentioned
285 lbs.
/ Wrestling
184 lbs.
/ Wrestling
157 lbs.
/ Wrestling
165 lbs.
/ Wrestling
125 lbs.
/ Wrestling
141 lbs.
/ Wrestling
Gopher Trio Headed to Quarterfinals of NCAA Championships
3/19/2026 10:32:00 PM | Wrestling
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Minnesota is sending three wrestlers to the quarterfinals of the 2026 NCAA Championships, and three more are still alive in the pursuit of All-America status as Session II concluded Thursday night inside Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
Thursday's performances resulted in 12.5 points for the Golden Gophers, tying them for 13th place with Wyoming. Penn State leads the team standings with 40.5 points followed by Nebraska (27.0) and Iowa (25.5). Minnesota is one of 11 teams to have three quarterfinalists.
Senior Jore Volk advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in his career with a 2-0 shutout of No. 11 Tyler Klinsky from Rider. Scoreless through the first period, the sixth-seeded Volk escaped after just seven seconds and led 1-0 going to the third. Volk then proceeded to ride out Klinsky for the entire third period, securing his fifth shutout of the season.
Volk will take on No. 14 Jacob Moran of Indiana in Friday morning's quarterfinals matchup.
On his quest to become a three-time All-American, redshirt senior Vance VomBaur reached the 141-pound quarterfinals for the third straight season as he posted an 8-3, comeback win over No. 24 Nash Singleton from Oregon State. It was Singleton who got on the board first with the opening takedown, but it was all VomBaur from there. He closed out the opening period with an escape and takedown, then followed by starting the second period with another escape and takedown to follow. Down 8-3, Singleton chose neutral but VomBaur's defense held up and kept the Beaver off the board.
In the quarterfinals, VomBaur will face top-seeded Jesse Mendez of Ohio State. The two have met twice already this season with the Buckeye winning both.
A 12-6 decision at 184 pounds sent No. 3 seed Max McEnelly back to the quarterfinals after he defeated No. 14 Jaden Bullock of Virginia Tech. McEnelly was hot out of the gate with a pair of first-period takedowns to lead 6-1. An escape from McEnelly was the only scoring in the second period, while the lead grew to 11-2 in the third after a stall point, escape from Bullock and a final takedown from McEnelly. Bullock got one of his own but it was too little, too late.
McEnelly will square off with No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach of Wyoming.
Three Gophers took their first losses in the evening session.
At 157 pounds, No. 21 Charlie Millard was stopped by No. 5 Landon Robideau of Oklahoma State, 7-3. After a scoreless first period, Robideau broke the match open in the second period with a pair of takedowns. Trailing 7-1 going to the third, Millard got one point for an escape and one for stalling, but it still dropped him to the consolations. He'll take on No. 27 Dylan Evans of Pittsburgh in the second round of consolations.
The match at 165 pounds went to tiebreakers, but No. 13 Andrew Sparks lost a 2-1 decision to No. 4 Nicco Ruiz from Arizona State. Both wrestlers logged escapes in regulation and that's where the score stayed until Ruiz escaped after 13 seconds. In Sparks' turn on bottom, he was unable to escape and dropped to the consolations. Sparks has drawn No. 30 Thomas Snipes as his next opponent. Sparks defeated him in their opening match of last season's NCAA Championships, while Snipes picked up a win this season over Sparks in the finals of the Southeast Open.
At heavyweight, No. 14 Koy Hopke was handed his first tech loss of the season when No. 3 seed and reigning Big Ten champion Taye Ghadiali of Michigan defeated him, 15-0, at the 5:33 mark. Hopke will now look to make a run on the backside of the bracket, starting with No. 13 Spencer Lanosga of Navy.
Session III gets underway Friday at 11 a.m. CT. ESPNU will have the television coverage, while ESPN+ will have mat-specific streams.
Minnesota Results through Session II
125
First Round: #6 Jore Volk dec. #27 Brady Roark (South Dakota State), 8-2
Round of 16: #6 Jore Volk dec. #11 Tyler Klinsky (Rider), 2-0
141
First Round: #8 Vance VomBaur MD #25 Tom Crook (Virginia Tech), 14-2
Round of 16: #8 Vance VomBaur dec. #24 Nash Singleton (Oregon State), 8-3
157
First Round: #21 Charlie Millard dec. #12 Vinny Zerban (Iowa State), 12-6
Round of 16: #5 Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) dec. #21 Charlie Millard, 7-3
165
First Round: #13 Andrew Sparks MD #20 Ty Whalen (Princeton), 10-1
Round of 16: #4 Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State) dec. #13 Andrew Sparks, 2-1 TB1
184
First Round: #3 Max McEnelly TF #30 Tyler Bienus (Bucknell), 22-6 (4:00)
Round of 16: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #14 Jaden Bullock (Virginia Tech), 12-6
285
First Round: #14 Koy Hopke dec. #19 Nate Schon (Drexel), 11-7
Round of 16: #3 Taye Ghadiali (Michigan) TF #14 Koy Hopke, 15-0 (5:33)
Thursday's performances resulted in 12.5 points for the Golden Gophers, tying them for 13th place with Wyoming. Penn State leads the team standings with 40.5 points followed by Nebraska (27.0) and Iowa (25.5). Minnesota is one of 11 teams to have three quarterfinalists.
Senior Jore Volk advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in his career with a 2-0 shutout of No. 11 Tyler Klinsky from Rider. Scoreless through the first period, the sixth-seeded Volk escaped after just seven seconds and led 1-0 going to the third. Volk then proceeded to ride out Klinsky for the entire third period, securing his fifth shutout of the season.
Volk will take on No. 14 Jacob Moran of Indiana in Friday morning's quarterfinals matchup.
On his quest to become a three-time All-American, redshirt senior Vance VomBaur reached the 141-pound quarterfinals for the third straight season as he posted an 8-3, comeback win over No. 24 Nash Singleton from Oregon State. It was Singleton who got on the board first with the opening takedown, but it was all VomBaur from there. He closed out the opening period with an escape and takedown, then followed by starting the second period with another escape and takedown to follow. Down 8-3, Singleton chose neutral but VomBaur's defense held up and kept the Beaver off the board.
In the quarterfinals, VomBaur will face top-seeded Jesse Mendez of Ohio State. The two have met twice already this season with the Buckeye winning both.
A 12-6 decision at 184 pounds sent No. 3 seed Max McEnelly back to the quarterfinals after he defeated No. 14 Jaden Bullock of Virginia Tech. McEnelly was hot out of the gate with a pair of first-period takedowns to lead 6-1. An escape from McEnelly was the only scoring in the second period, while the lead grew to 11-2 in the third after a stall point, escape from Bullock and a final takedown from McEnelly. Bullock got one of his own but it was too little, too late.
McEnelly will square off with No. 6 Eddie Neitenbach of Wyoming.
Three Gophers took their first losses in the evening session.
At 157 pounds, No. 21 Charlie Millard was stopped by No. 5 Landon Robideau of Oklahoma State, 7-3. After a scoreless first period, Robideau broke the match open in the second period with a pair of takedowns. Trailing 7-1 going to the third, Millard got one point for an escape and one for stalling, but it still dropped him to the consolations. He'll take on No. 27 Dylan Evans of Pittsburgh in the second round of consolations.
The match at 165 pounds went to tiebreakers, but No. 13 Andrew Sparks lost a 2-1 decision to No. 4 Nicco Ruiz from Arizona State. Both wrestlers logged escapes in regulation and that's where the score stayed until Ruiz escaped after 13 seconds. In Sparks' turn on bottom, he was unable to escape and dropped to the consolations. Sparks has drawn No. 30 Thomas Snipes as his next opponent. Sparks defeated him in their opening match of last season's NCAA Championships, while Snipes picked up a win this season over Sparks in the finals of the Southeast Open.
At heavyweight, No. 14 Koy Hopke was handed his first tech loss of the season when No. 3 seed and reigning Big Ten champion Taye Ghadiali of Michigan defeated him, 15-0, at the 5:33 mark. Hopke will now look to make a run on the backside of the bracket, starting with No. 13 Spencer Lanosga of Navy.
Session III gets underway Friday at 11 a.m. CT. ESPNU will have the television coverage, while ESPN+ will have mat-specific streams.
Minnesota Results through Session II
125
First Round: #6 Jore Volk dec. #27 Brady Roark (South Dakota State), 8-2
Round of 16: #6 Jore Volk dec. #11 Tyler Klinsky (Rider), 2-0
141
First Round: #8 Vance VomBaur MD #25 Tom Crook (Virginia Tech), 14-2
Round of 16: #8 Vance VomBaur dec. #24 Nash Singleton (Oregon State), 8-3
157
First Round: #21 Charlie Millard dec. #12 Vinny Zerban (Iowa State), 12-6
Round of 16: #5 Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) dec. #21 Charlie Millard, 7-3
165
First Round: #13 Andrew Sparks MD #20 Ty Whalen (Princeton), 10-1
Round of 16: #4 Nicco Ruiz (Arizona State) dec. #13 Andrew Sparks, 2-1 TB1
184
First Round: #3 Max McEnelly TF #30 Tyler Bienus (Bucknell), 22-6 (4:00)
Round of 16: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #14 Jaden Bullock (Virginia Tech), 12-6
285
First Round: #14 Koy Hopke dec. #19 Nate Schon (Drexel), 11-7
Round of 16: #3 Taye Ghadiali (Michigan) TF #14 Koy Hopke, 15-0 (5:33)
Gopher Round Table: Wrestling
Wednesday, March 11
Highlights: Big Ten Wrestling Session II
Saturday, March 07
Highlights: Big Ten Wrestling Session I
Saturday, March 07
Cinematic Recap: Gophers Smash the Spartans on Senior Day
Thursday, February 19