The NCAA announced on March 11 the full seeds and brackets for the 2026 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which will take place from March 19 to 21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Arizona State University is among only 16 schools nationwide to send seven or more wrestlers to this year’s tournament.
This announcement is significant as it highlights the strength of Arizona State’s wrestling program, with multiple athletes earning high seeds and automatic qualifications. Redshirt freshman Kaleb Larkin (157 pounds) and redshirt sophomore Nicco Ruiz (165 pounds), both recent Big 12 champions, lead the Sun Devils as No. 4 seeds in their respective weight classes. Freshman Kyler Larkin (133 pounds) and graduate David Szuba (heavyweight) also secured top-10 seeds at No. 5 and No. 10, respectively.
Other qualifiers include graduates Colton Hawks (197 pounds) and Cael Valencia (174 pounds), who earned their spots by finishing within the top seven at the Big 12 Championships. Redshirt freshman Pierson Manville (141 pounds) received an at-large bid, rounding out Arizona State’s contingent for Cleveland.
Opening-round matchups are set for Thursday, March 19, with all seven Sun Devils facing opponents from across the country. The tournament schedule includes preliminaries beginning at 9:00 a.m. MST on Thursday, followed by quarterfinals on Friday and championship finals on Saturday afternoon.
Arizona State has a history of success in wrestling, with its athletes winning a total of thirteen individual national titles since Curley Culp claimed heavyweight honors in 1967. Under head coach Zeke Jones, the program has consistently qualified wrestlers for postseason competition and achieved strong finishes at both conference and national levels.
Looking ahead to this year’s championships, Arizona State aims to build on its tradition of excellence as its wrestlers compete against some of the nation’s best.