By Brian Reinhardt
USA Wrestling

The Friday night excitement at the NCAA Championships is unmatched; many die-hard wrestling fans say the session is their favorite of the three days of action.

Yes, on Saturday night, 10 national champions are crowned, but the Friday night lead-up is what gets the packed arena buzzing.

The ‘dog bone’ is set up. Six mats of action: the two middle mats host the semifinals at the same time for each weight class, and the four outside mats feature wrestlers fighting off elimination in the consolation rounds.

The name says it all: the Blood Round. The Friday night session begins with total exhilaration and pure heartbreak on the same mat after seven minutes. The winner is an All-American and moves on, while the loser is done and walks off the mat knowing they fell one match short of reaching the podium.

Looking back at last year’s NCAA Championships brackets in Cleveland, here is one wrestler per weight class who fell in the Blood Round but has much higher expectations entering the 2026-27 campaign, which gets underway in a couple of weeks.

125 pounds: Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech) 

At the 2026 NCAA Championships, Eddie Ventresca was the #2 seed. After back-to-back decisions, he was upset in the quarterfinals by eventual finalist #10 seed Marc-Anthony McGowan of Princeton, 3-2 in ride outs. In the Blood Round, he was eliminated in OT by long-time ACC rival and 2025 national champion Vince Robinson of NC State, 4-1.

Ventresca enters his final campaign already with a long list of accomplishments. A career 125-pounder, he earned All-American honors in both 2025 (5th) and 2023 (7th) and has three NCAAs trips overall. He was also the ACC champion in each of the last two years.

Preseason FloWrestling Ranking: 5th

133 pounds: Kyler Larkin (Arizona State) 

At the 2026 NCAA Championships, Kyler Larkin was the #5 seed. He scored two straight bonus-point wins, then fell to #4 seed Aaron Seidel of Virginia Tech, 16-1. He was eliminated in the Blood Round by Stanford’s Tyler Knox, 5-4.

After his freshman season at 133 pounds last year, Larkin is expected to move up two weight classes to 149 for his second season at Arizona State. The son of Eric Larkin, a national champion and Hodge Trophy winner at Arizona State, Kyler was nearly perfect at 15-1 during the regular season, with the lone loss a medical forfeit at the Cliff Keen.

Preseason FloWrestling Ranking: 14th (at 149 pounds)

141 pounds: Vince Cornella (Cornell) 

At the 2026 NCAA Championships, Vince Cornella was the #6 seed. He opened with two straight major decisions to move into the quarterfinals. He fell to #3 seed Brock Hardy of Nebraska, 5-3. In the Blood Round, #18 seed Carter Nogle of Air Force upset him by fall.

Cornella missed both the 2024 and 2025 NCAAs before returning last year. In 2024, he qualified for the NCAAs but missed the tournament due to injury. He sat out the entire next season recovering and returned to the Big Red lineup last year, when he won an Ivy League championship.

Preseason FloWrestling Ranking: 7th

149 pounds: Jaxon Joy (Cornell) 

At the 2026 NCAA Championships, Jaxon Joy was the #2 seed and entered the NCAAs with just a single loss. After two wins, he fell to eventual NCAA champion Aden Valencia of Stanford in the quarterfinals, 12-9. In the Blood Round, #4 seed Virginia Tech’s Collin Gaj eliminated him, 7-2.

Joy announced his presence as a freshman last year with his showing at the Cliff Keen Invite. He was named the Outstanding Wrestler after a tech fall in the semifinals and a pin in the final. He added an Ivy League title before the NCAAs.

Preseason FloWrestling Ranking: 5th

157: Daniel Cardenas (Stanford) 

At the 2026 NCAA Championships, Daniel Cardenas was the #9 seed. He won his opening bout, but fell to #8 seed Brandon Cannon of Ohio State, 8-7, in the second round. After posting two bonus-point wins in the Wrestlebacks, he was eliminated in the Blood Round by #3 seed Meyer Shapiro of Cornell, 4-1.

Cardenas enters his final season at Stanford. He started his career with a Pac-12 championship and was named Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year back in 2023. The following year, he earned All-American honors with a fourth-place showing. He redshirted in 2025 and returned to the Cardinal lineup last year to claim the ACC title.

Preseason FloWrestling Ranking: 11th

165: Will Denny (NC State) 

At the 2026 NCAA Championships, Will Denny was the #10 seed. He won his first two bouts to move into the quarterfinals. He fell to the #2 seed Joey Blaze of Purdue, 4-3. In the Blood Round, Andrew Sparks of Minnesota eliminated him, 8-7.

After winning three state titles in Illinois, Denny burst onto the collegiate scene as a true freshman last year. He went 15-2 in duals, including a perfect 6-0 in ACC action. Heading into the postseason, he recorded 13 consecutive wins from December through the end of the dual season.

Preseason FloWrestling Ranking: 10th

174: Simon Ruiz (Cornell) 

At the 2026 NCAA Championships, Simon Ruiz entered the tournament as the #2 seed and undefeated. After opening with a tech fall, he was upset by #15 seed Danny Wesk of Navy, 9-5. He posted back-to-back bonus-point wins to reach the Blood Round of the NCAA Championships, where #4 seed Carson Kharchla of Ohio State defeated him, 5-3.

Ruiz was a 2025 All-American with a fifth-place finish as a freshman and was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Year. As a sophomore last year, he won a second straight Ivy League title at 174 pounds.

Preseason FloWrestling Ranking: 8th

184: Brian Soldano (Oklahoma) 

At the 2026 NCAA Championships, Brian Soldano was the #20 seed. He reached the quarterfinals with back-to-back 4-1 wins, including a victory over #4 seed James Conway of Franklin & Marshall. He fell in the quarterfinals to eventual All-American Brock Mantanona of Michigan, via fall. In the Blood Round, he lost in extra time to American’s Caleb Campos, 9-6.

Soldano spent his first three collegiate seasons at Rutgers, qualifying for the NCAAs in 2023 and 2024. Last year was his first year in Norman, as he went to the NCAAs for the third time in his career. He reached as high as #10 in the national rankings and beat nine ranked opponents.

Preseason FloWrestling Ranking: 9th

197: Remy Cotton (Rutgers) 

At the 2026 NCAA Championships, Remy Cotton was the #15 seed. After an opening-round win, he knocked off the #2 seed, Rocky Elam of Missouri, 12-4 by major decision in one of opening day's biggest upsets. He fell to eventual NCAA finalist Cody Merrill of Oklahoma State, 8-3, in the quarterfinals and was eliminated in the Blood Round by Gabe Arnold of Iowa, 4-3.

Cotton spent his first two collegiate seasons at Michigan State, qualifying for the NCAAs in 2025. He transferred to Rutgers last season and went to NCAAs for the second straight year. He was 11-3 in duals, including 7-1 in Big Ten action.

Preseason FloWrestling Ranking: 12th

285: Braxton Amos (Wisconsin) 

At the 2026 NCAA Championships, Braxton Amos was the #12 seed. He lost in the first round but came back to win three straight matches and reach the Blood Round. He was eliminated by Iowa’s Ben Kueter, 5-2.

A former Wrestling USA High School Wrestler of the Year, Amos enters his final season of eligibility at Wisconsin. He began his collegiate journey at 197 pounds and earned back-to-back NCAA bids in 2023 and 2024. After two years out of collegiate action, Amos returned to the Badgers’ lineup last year at heavyweight. During his 2024 Olympic redshirt year, he competed in Greco-Roman at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Preseason FloWrestling Ranking: 6th