Max McEnelly

Photo by: Austin Janning

Photo by: Brad Rempel

Photo by: Aaron Morekin

Photo by: Bjorn Franke

Class:
Redshirt Sophomore
Hometown:
Waconia, Minn.
High School:
Waconia HS
Position:
184 lbs.

CAREER HONORS AND AWARDS

2026 NCAA National Champion at 184 pounds
2x All-American (2025 (3rd place), '26 (1st place)
2x national qualifier at NCAA Championships (2025, '26)
2025 Big Ten Freshman of the Year
2x All-Big Ten Second Team honoree (2025, '26)
1x Big Ten Wrestler of the Week
2x Big Ten Freshman of the Week
Named Freshman of the Year and winner of the All-American Award at the 2025 team banquet
2025 CSC Academic All-District Selection
2x NWCA Scholar All-American (2025, '26)
2x Academic All-Big Ten honoree (2025, '26)
Won gold at U20 World Championships in summer of 2025
2025 U20 U.S. Open Champion at 86 kg
Third place at 2024 U.S. Open (U20, 86 kg)

2025-26: REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE (184 LBS) - Match List

National champion at 184 pounds, the school's first ever at the weight and first individual national title overall for the program since 2022
- Went 5-0 as the No. 3 seed to win his first national title, beating No. 1 Rocco Welsh of Penn State, 4-3
- Defeated No. 7 seed Angelo Ferrari of Iowa in the semis in a 2-2 decision via tiebreakers (18 seconds of riding time)
- Topped No. 8 seed Eddie Neitenbach of Wyoming in the quarterfinals, 8-6
- Bested No. 14 seed Jaden Bullock from Virginia Tech in the the Round of 32, 12-6
- Opened the tournament with a 22-6 (4:00) tech fall of Bucknell's No. 3 seed Tyler Bienus
Finalist at the Big Ten Championships as the No. 2 seed; opened with a tech fall win over No. 18 Shane Cartagena-Walsh of Rutgers and reached the finals via injury default by Nebraska's Silas Allred
- Loss was in tiebreakers, 2-1, to top-ranked Rocco Welsh of Penn State
Recorded a 19-4 tech fall at 3:32 against Michigan State's Ryan Boucher
Tallied a 19-4 (3:22) tech fall against Maryland's Sepanta Ahanj-Elias
Majored Rutgers' No. 21 Shane Cartagena-Walsh, 15-7
Prevailed over Iowa's Gabe Arnold in sudden victory, 4-1
Posted a 21-6 tech fall of Wisconsin's David Malin in just 2:31 in a dual against Wisconsin
Knocked off No. 5 Dylan Fishback in overtime, 4-1, in a dual versus Ohio State
Scored a 4-1, sudden-victory win over No. 9 Silas Allred of Nebraska
Earned 9-3 decision over Illinois' No. 33 Chris Moore
Posted a 22-6 (6:58) tech fall over No. 14 Aidan Brenot in a dual against North Dakota State
Majored No. 32 Brock DelSignore of Little Rock, 12-4
Recorded a 20-5 (5:42) tech fall over SDSU's Brock Fettig in a dual matchup
Went 4-1 at the National Duals Invitational, including three wins over ranked opponents; posted two tech fall wins over No. 22 Jaden Bullock of Virginia Tech and also beat No. 7 Dylan Fishback of Ohio State in overtime
- Lone loss came to No. 8 Aeoden Sinclair of Missouri, 6-3, marking the first loss in the regular season and dual loss for McEnelly
Posted two tech falls to win the Bison Open
Tied for fifth in the country in tech fall wins (12)
Led the team in overall win percentage (.923, 24-2), bonus point rate (.577), dominance (3.65 net team points per match), tech fall wins (12), dual wins (15), dual team points scored (63), Big Ten wins (8), Big Ten win percentage (1.000, 8-0), dual team points scored in B1G matches (31), ranked wins (15) and win percentage against ranked opponents (.882, 15-2)
Tied for the team lead in bonus point wins (15), dual matches wrestled (16) and Big Ten matches wrestled (8)
Second on the roster in dual win percentage (.938, 15-1; best of anyone with more than two duals wrestled)
Third on the team in overall wins (24)
Tied for fifth on the Gophers in matches against ranked opponents (17)
NWCA Scholar All-American
Academic All-Big Ten honoree

2024-25: REDSHIRT FRESHMAN (184 LBS) - Match List

Finished third at NCAA Championships to earn first All-America honors of his career
- As the No. 3 seed, posted a tech fall over No. 30 Colin Fegley of Lock Haven, major decision against Oklahoma's No. 14 DJ Parker and a decision against Cornell's No. 6 Chris Foca
- Lost in the semifinals to defending national champ Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa in overtime but responded with wins over No. 8 Jaxon Smith of Maryland in the consolation semifinals and No. 4 Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State in the third-place match
- The third-place finish was the best by a Gopher at 184 pounds since Roger Kish also took third in 2007
Named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-Big Ten
Placed second at the Big Ten Championships; beat No. 16 Shane Cartagena-Walsh of Rutgers by tech fall in the quarterfinals and majored No. 12 Edmond Ruth of Illinois in the semifinals
- Took No. 1 Carter Starocci to overtime in an 8-5 loss in the title match in first career loss
Secured a 4-1, overtime win over Iowa's No. 8 Gabe Arnold
Carded a 20-4 (5:39) tech fall against Purdue's Orlando Cruz
At Ohio State, majored No. 19 Ryder Rogotzke, 15-5, to clinch the dual victory for Minnesota
Majored No. 18 Shane Cartagena-Walsh of Rutgers, 18-4
Earned a 19-4 (6:17) tech fall over Northwestern's John Halvorsen
Posted a 22-6 (4:25) tech fall of Wisconsin's Dylan Russo
Outlasted No. 20 Jaden Bullock in overtime, 4-1, in the Michigan dual
Knocked off No. 6 Silas Allred by major decision, 16-6, in a dual at Nebraska
Won the Cougar Clash with all three wins coming by bonus points; tech falled opponents in the quarters and semis and posted a major decision in the finals
Upset No. 4 Bennett Berge with a 9-6 overtime victory in a dual at South Dakota State to sweep Big Ten Wrestler and Freshman of the Week honors
Scored a tech fall, 19-4 (3:13), against Conor Maslanek in the Campbell dual
Recorded a 22-7 (5:12) tech fall over Aidan Brenot in the North Dakota State dual
Topped Logan Deacetis by tech fall, 24-8 (4:52), in the Bucknell dual
Won Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors after dominating the Mountaineer Invite with a 3-0 record with all three wins coming by tech fall, to win the 184-pound crown; outscored opponents, 61-14
Tied for third in the nation in tech fall wins (13)
Led the team in tech fall wins, bonus point victories (18) and dual wins (12)
Tied for the team lead in dual win percentage (1.000, 12-0), Big Ten dual wins (8), Big Ten dual win percentage (1.000, 8-0)
Finished second on the roster in bonus point rate (.704), ranked wins (13), win percentage vs. ranked opponents (.867, 13-2), dual team points scored (51) and Big Ten dual team points scored (33); tied for second in major decisions (6)
Came in third on the team in overall wins (25), overall win percentage (.926, 25-2) and team points per match (3.74)
Tied for fifth on the team in matches wrestled (27)
Named Freshman of the Year and winner of the All-American Award at the team banquet
CSC Academic All-District Selection
NWCA Scholar All-American
Academic All-Big Ten selection

2023-24: FRESHMAN (184 LBS) - Match List

Made dual debut with a 3-2 upset of No. 22 Brian Soldano (Rutgers), scoring the winning points on a takedown at the buzzer (1/27)
Named co-champion at the Soldier Salute with teammate Isaiah Salazar; went 3-0 including a win by fall and a 12-8 decision over No. 29 Aaron Ayzerov of Columbia
Captured Cougar Clash title at 184 pounds with a 4-0 mark, highlighted by two tech falls and a major decision, outscoring opponents 70-21
Won Daktronics Open at 184 pounds with a 3-0 record, including a pair of tech falls, outscoring opponents 44-12
Made collegiate debut with Bison Open title at 184 pounds; went 4-0 with all wins by tech fall and outscored opponents 80-20
Led the Gophers in win percentage (1.000, 15-0) and wins by tech fall (8)
Tied for the team lead in win percentage against ranked opponents (1.000, 2-0)
Was also one of four on the roster to be undefeated in duals (1-0) and Big Ten duals (1-0)

HIGH SCHOOL

Four-time Minnesota state champion for Waconia high school at three different weight classes
Star Tribune's 2022-23 Metro Wrestler of the Year and winner of the 2023 MWCA Mr. Minnesota High School Wrestler Award
Posted a nearly perfect 181-1 record in has last four years of prep action
The pound-for-pound best wrestler in the state of Minnesota according to TheGuillotine and ranked as the No. 8 recruit in MatScouts' Class of 2023 Big Board.
Also highly accomplished in freestyle, becoming a Fargo national champion in 2021 and a U17 World bronze medalist in 2022 at 92-kilograms

PERSONAL

Parents are Bret and Kari McEnelly
Siblings are Karli, Chloe and Sam
Dad, Bret, played football at Minnesota-Duluth
Sister, Chloe, played hockey at St. Thomas, and brother, Sam, is a redshirt junior wrestler at Augustana
Majoring in business and marketing education

YEAR	OVERALL W-L	DUAL W-L	B1G W-L	PINS	TFs	MDs	B1G FINISH	NCAA FINISH
2023-24	15-0	1-0	1-0	1-0	8-0	1-0	---	---
2024-25	25-2	12-0	8-0	0-0	13-0	6-0	2nd	3rd
2025-26	24-2	15-1	8-0	0-0	12-0	2-0	2nd	1st
CAREER	49-4	27-1	16-0	0-0	25-0	8-0	---	NCAA Champ; 2x AA; 2x NQ