TULSA, Okla. — Utah Valley University junior Caleb Uhlenhopp punched his ticket to Cleveland by securing a top eight finish at the 2026 Big 12 Wrestling Championships on Friday. Three more Wolverine hopefuls will look to clinch their spots at the NCAA Championships at the BOK Center on Saturday.

That list includes David Evans, who won twice in Friday evening's second session and will wrestle in the consolation semifinals against No. 21 Max Peterson of North Dakota State for a spot in the third-place match. A win would guarantee Evans a spot in Cleveland while a loss would force him to win the fifth-place bout to officially clinch a berth with the Big 12 allotted five spots at 149 pounds.

The 174- and 141-pound spots both have seven allocations and Hudson Rogers and Haiden Drury will wrestle for the seventh guaranteed spot in each of their weight classes. Rogers will face Cael Valencia while Drury will go up against Pierson Manville, with both wrestlers hailing from Arizona State. Rogers later lost in sudden victory to Wyoming's Riley Davis (4-1) while Uhlenhopp dropped a 7-3 decision to Aidan Brenot of North Dakota State.

Uhlenhopp clinched his berth at Nationals following a 4-1 win in sudden victory over No. 19 Nick Fox of Northern Iowa. Rogers also earned an upset win with his 7-3 decision over No. 14 Jared Simma, also of Northern Iowa. Uhlenhopp is due to go against Zack Ryder of Oklahoma State, who battled through a shoulder injury to clinch his spot in Cleveland before taking a medical forfeit and being shut down for the tournament. Presumably, that should give Uhlenhopp seventh place and can become official on Saturday.

"We had a tough start to our day in the first round. However, I am glad the way our team responded after we challenged them. Caleb punched his ticket to the NCAA championships automatically. We have four other guys remaining tomorrow who are fighting for their spot in Cleveland. I expect us to have a good start out of the gate tomorrow. Go Wolverines!"

Kael Bennie, who picked up a convincing 11-1 major decision upset over No. 12 Evan Bates of Missouri in Friday's first session, came up just short in his bid for a top eight spot, falling 8-5 to No. 6 Bennett Berge (SDSU). Bennie wrestled California Baptist's Eli Sheeren in an extra match on Friday night and will compete for ninth place on Saturday. Both 184 and 197 pounds will have a ninth-place match to determine a +1 spot in the event a top eight finisher becomes unable to compete at the NCAA Championships.

Evans defeated Oklahoma's Hunter Hollingsworth in his first match of session two. He notched the first takedown at the 46-second mark of the first period before riding out Hollingworth the entirety of the second period. He pulled away with an escape and a takedown in the third to win in a 9-1 major decision.

He later defeated Willie McDougald of West Virginia in an 8-5 decision with a takedown in each of the first two periods to build a 7-2 lead. McDougald picked up a takedown in the third, but Evans held on for the 8-5 win.

Drury outlasted Missouri's Easton Hilton in his first match of the evening session. It was tied 1-1 in the third after both wrestlers picked up escapes when Drury got the decisive takedown with just 34 seconds left in the match. Hilton got a penalty point on a second stall call, but Drury held on 4-2. He later fell to No. 30 Carter Nogle of Air Force after a late takedown earned the cadet a 5-4 win and guaranteed him a spot in Cleveland.

Session II Results
133 | #30 Cale Seaton (SDSU) over Geronimo Rivera, dec. 4-1

141 | #15 Haiden Drury over Easton Hilton (MIZ), dec. 4-2
141 | #30 Carter Nogle (AFA) over #15 Haiden Drury, dec. 5-4

149 | #7 David Evans over Hunter Hollingsworth (OK), major dec. 9-1
149 | #7 David Evans over Willie McDougald (WVU), dec. 8-5

157 | Gavin Drexler (NDSU) over Mark Takara, major dec. 11-2

165 | Sloan Swan (WYO) over Zyon Trujillo, dec. 4-1

174 | Hudson Rogers over #14 Jared Simma (UNI), dec. 7-3
174 | Riley Davis (WYO) over Hudson Rogers, dec. 4-1 (SV-1)

184 | Caleb Uhlenhopp over #19 Nick Fox (UNI), dec. 4-1 (SV-1)
184 | #33 Aidan Brenot (NDSU) over Caleb Uhlenhopp, dec. 7-3

197 | #6 Bennett Berge over #28 Kael Bennie, dec. 8-5
197 | #28 Kael Bennie over Eli Sheeren (CBU), 13-7