University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, March 20
Cleveland, OH
7:00 PM
University of Minnesota
vs
NCAA Championships - Session IV
Players Mentioned
285 lbs.
/ Wrestling
184 lbs.
/ Wrestling
157 lbs.
/ Wrestling
165 lbs.
/ Wrestling
285 lbs.
/ Wrestling
125 lbs.
/ Wrestling
141 lbs.
/ Wrestling
Photo by: Austin Janning
McEnelly Headed to National Championship Match
3/20/2026 11:01:00 PM | Wrestling
Sparks and Volk Grab All-America Honors
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Minnesota redshirt sophomore Max McEnelly will wrestle for his first national title Saturday night after posting a semifinal victory in Session IV of the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships Friday in Cleveland.
In addition, Andrew Sparks and Jore Volk will both wrestle for podium spots after winning their Blood Round matches to claim All-America status. It's the second straight season and seventh time in 10 seasons under head coach Brandon Eggum that the Gophers had at least three All-Americans.
With a 2-2 decision via tiebreakers over No. 7 Angelo Ferrari of Iowa, McEnelly will now look to become Minnesota's first national champion since heavyweight Gable Steveson in 2022 and the program's first ever at 184 pounds. The last finalist at the weight for the Gophers was Roger Kish in 2006. In tomorrow night's finals, McEnelly will match up with No. 1 Rocco Welsh of Penn State in a rematch of this year's Big Ten Championship that Welsh won in tiebreakers, 2-1.
As a team, the Gophers are in ninth place with 39.5 points, while Penn State sits atop the leaderboard with 153.0 points followed by Oklahoma State (111.5) and Nebraska (90.5).
In the semifinal match with Ferrari, both wrestlers logged escapes in regulation and no one scored in sudden victory. McEnelly started on bottom in the tiebreakers and escaped after seven seconds. In his turn on top, McEnelly rode Ferrari for 25 seconds to give him the tiebreaker of 18 seconds of riding time.
The Blood Round saw the Gophers win in two of their three matches.
At 125 pounds, No. 6 Jore Volk dispatched No. 17 Jett Strickenberger of West Virginia, 7-2, to claim the second All-America honors of his career, adding to a seventh-place finish in 2024 at Wyoming. He's the first Gopher All-American at 125 since Patrick McKee in 2022. Against Strickenberger, Volk opened the scoring as he capped off a wild scramble to get the opening takedown. The lead was 4-0 after two periods and Volk put the match away with an ankle-pick takedown in the third.
He moved on to the consolation quarterfinals where he suffered a 4-1, overtime loss to No. 12 Vincent Robinson of North Carolina State, the defending national champion at the weight. Both had escapes in regulation before a sudden-victory takedown sent Volk to tomorrow's seventh-place match against Rider's No. 11 Tyler Klinsky, whom Volk beat 2-0 in the second round of the championships.
After winning two matches in Session III to reach the Blood Round, sixth-year senior Andrew Sparks won two more in Session IV to vault himself into the consolation semifinals. The All-America honors are the first of his career and the first at the weight for a Gopher since Danny Zilverberg in 2014. The 13th-ranked Sparks will face No. 12 Cesar Alvan of Columbia for a chance at reaching the third-place match.
Sparks got there with a pair of impressive victories, starting with an 8-7 decision over No. 10 Will Denny of North Carolina State. Both wrestlers had takedowns and escapes in the first period and both later added escapes to make it 5-5 midway through the third period. That's when Sparks picked up and dropped Denny for the decisive takedown. Moving on to the consolation quarterfinals, Sparks improved to 4-0 lifetime and 3-0 this season against Ohio State's No. 16 Paddy Gallagher with a 10-2 major decision. The match was all Sparks as he led 3-0 after the first period and 7-0 through two.
For the first time in his three career trips to the Blood Round, No. 8 Vance VomBaur was handed a defeat. In a matchup with No. 11 CJ Composto of Penn, who entered as a two-time All-American like VomBaur, the first period was scoreless. VomBaur pulled ahead 1-0 after two periods and Composto started down in the last period. An escape tied the match at 1-1 and Composto pulled ahead on a takedown with 45 seconds to go. VomBaur escaped and got a point for stalling, but Composto prevailed 4-3. VomBaur, who has already announced plans to return for a sixth season at Minnesota, finished the season 23-8.
Session V gets underway Saturday morning at 10 a.m. CT. ESPNU will have the television coverage, while ESPN+ will have mat-specific streams.
Minnesota Results through Session IV
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
Quarterfinals: #14 Jacob Moran (Indiana) dec. #6 Jore Volk, 5-4
Blood Round: #6 Jore Volk dec. #17 Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia), 7-2
Consolation Quarterfinals: #12 Vincent Robinson (NC State) dec. #6 Jore Volk, 4-1 SV1
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
Quarterfinals: #1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) MD #8 Vance VomBaur, 16-4
Blood Round: #11 CJ Composto (Penn) dec. #8 Vance VomBaur, 4-3
Did not place: 2-2 record
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
Consolation - R2: #27 Dylan Evans (Pitt) dec. #21 Charlie Millard, 4-2
Did not place: 1-2 record
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
Consolation - R2: #13 Andrew Sparks dec. #30 Thomas Snipes (The Citadel), 7-2
Consolation - R3: #13 Andrew Sparks dec. #5 LaDarion Lockett (Oklahoma State), 10-3
Blood Round: #13 Andrew Sparks dec. #10 Will Denny (NC State), 8-7
Consolation Quarterfinals: #13 Andrew Sparks MD #16 Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State), 10-2
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
Quarterfinals: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #6 Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming), 8-6
Semifinals: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #7 Angelo Ferrari (Iowa), 2-2 TB2
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)
Consolation - R2: #14 Koy Hopke dec. #13 Spencer Lanosga (Navy), 2-0
Consolation - R3: #12 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) MD #14 Koy Hopke, 13-1
Did not place: 2-2 record
In addition, Andrew Sparks and Jore Volk will both wrestle for podium spots after winning their Blood Round matches to claim All-America status. It's the second straight season and seventh time in 10 seasons under head coach Brandon Eggum that the Gophers had at least three All-Americans.
With a 2-2 decision via tiebreakers over No. 7 Angelo Ferrari of Iowa, McEnelly will now look to become Minnesota's first national champion since heavyweight Gable Steveson in 2022 and the program's first ever at 184 pounds. The last finalist at the weight for the Gophers was Roger Kish in 2006. In tomorrow night's finals, McEnelly will match up with No. 1 Rocco Welsh of Penn State in a rematch of this year's Big Ten Championship that Welsh won in tiebreakers, 2-1.
As a team, the Gophers are in ninth place with 39.5 points, while Penn State sits atop the leaderboard with 153.0 points followed by Oklahoma State (111.5) and Nebraska (90.5).
In the semifinal match with Ferrari, both wrestlers logged escapes in regulation and no one scored in sudden victory. McEnelly started on bottom in the tiebreakers and escaped after seven seconds. In his turn on top, McEnelly rode Ferrari for 25 seconds to give him the tiebreaker of 18 seconds of riding time.
The Blood Round saw the Gophers win in two of their three matches.
At 125 pounds, No. 6 Jore Volk dispatched No. 17 Jett Strickenberger of West Virginia, 7-2, to claim the second All-America honors of his career, adding to a seventh-place finish in 2024 at Wyoming. He's the first Gopher All-American at 125 since Patrick McKee in 2022. Against Strickenberger, Volk opened the scoring as he capped off a wild scramble to get the opening takedown. The lead was 4-0 after two periods and Volk put the match away with an ankle-pick takedown in the third.
He moved on to the consolation quarterfinals where he suffered a 4-1, overtime loss to No. 12 Vincent Robinson of North Carolina State, the defending national champion at the weight. Both had escapes in regulation before a sudden-victory takedown sent Volk to tomorrow's seventh-place match against Rider's No. 11 Tyler Klinsky, whom Volk beat 2-0 in the second round of the championships.
After winning two matches in Session III to reach the Blood Round, sixth-year senior Andrew Sparks won two more in Session IV to vault himself into the consolation semifinals. The All-America honors are the first of his career and the first at the weight for a Gopher since Danny Zilverberg in 2014. The 13th-ranked Sparks will face No. 12 Cesar Alvan of Columbia for a chance at reaching the third-place match.
Sparks got there with a pair of impressive victories, starting with an 8-7 decision over No. 10 Will Denny of North Carolina State. Both wrestlers had takedowns and escapes in the first period and both later added escapes to make it 5-5 midway through the third period. That's when Sparks picked up and dropped Denny for the decisive takedown. Moving on to the consolation quarterfinals, Sparks improved to 4-0 lifetime and 3-0 this season against Ohio State's No. 16 Paddy Gallagher with a 10-2 major decision. The match was all Sparks as he led 3-0 after the first period and 7-0 through two.
For the first time in his three career trips to the Blood Round, No. 8 Vance VomBaur was handed a defeat. In a matchup with No. 11 CJ Composto of Penn, who entered as a two-time All-American like VomBaur, the first period was scoreless. VomBaur pulled ahead 1-0 after two periods and Composto started down in the last period. An escape tied the match at 1-1 and Composto pulled ahead on a takedown with 45 seconds to go. VomBaur escaped and got a point for stalling, but Composto prevailed 4-3. VomBaur, who has already announced plans to return for a sixth season at Minnesota, finished the season 23-8.
Session V gets underway Saturday morning at 10 a.m. CT. ESPNU will have the television coverage, while ESPN+ will have mat-specific streams.
Minnesota Results through Session IV
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
Quarterfinals: #14 Jacob Moran (Indiana) dec. #6 Jore Volk, 5-4
Blood Round: #6 Jore Volk dec. #17 Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia), 7-2
Consolation Quarterfinals: #12 Vincent Robinson (NC State) dec. #6 Jore Volk, 4-1 SV1
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
Quarterfinals: #1 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) MD #8 Vance VomBaur, 16-4
Blood Round: #11 CJ Composto (Penn) dec. #8 Vance VomBaur, 4-3
Did not place: 2-2 record
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
Consolation - R2: #27 Dylan Evans (Pitt) dec. #21 Charlie Millard, 4-2
Did not place: 1-2 record
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
Consolation - R2: #13 Andrew Sparks dec. #30 Thomas Snipes (The Citadel), 7-2
Consolation - R3: #13 Andrew Sparks dec. #5 LaDarion Lockett (Oklahoma State), 10-3
Blood Round: #13 Andrew Sparks dec. #10 Will Denny (NC State), 8-7
Consolation Quarterfinals: #13 Andrew Sparks MD #16 Paddy Gallagher (Ohio State), 10-2
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
Quarterfinals: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #6 Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming), 8-6
Semifinals: #3 Max McEnelly dec. #7 Angelo Ferrari (Iowa), 2-2 TB2
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)
Consolation - R2: #14 Koy Hopke dec. #13 Spencer Lanosga (Navy), 2-0
Consolation - R3: #12 Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) MD #14 Koy Hopke, 13-1
Did not place: 2-2 record
ESPN Postgame: Max McEnelly
Saturday, March 21
Highlights: Max McEnelly Advances to Finals
Friday, March 20
Gopher Round Table: Wrestling
Wednesday, March 11
Highlights: Big Ten Wrestling Session II
Saturday, March 07