University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Pitt
NCAA Championship
Eight Wrestlers Learn Seeds, First-Round Matchups for NCAA Championships
3/11/2026 8:59:00 PM | Wrestling
PITTSBURGH – Eight members of the Pitt wrestling program their seeds and first-round opponents Wednesday night following the release of the brackets for the 2026 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
Pitt will send eight wrestlers to compete at the national tournament for the second consecutive season, set for March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. The Panthers earned five automatic qualifiers at the ACC Wrestling Championships before adding three at-large selections to round out the group. The eight qualifiers match last season's total for the most under head coach Keith Gavin.
At 125 pounds, No. 29 Tyler Chappell will open the tournament against No. 4 Sheldon Seymour of Lehigh. Kade Brown earned the No. 28 seed at 149 pounds and will face No. 5 Koy Buesgens of NC State in the opening round.
Dylan Evans will represent Pitt at 157 pounds as the No. 27 seed, drawing No. 6 Jude Swisher of Penn in the first round. At 165 pounds, No. 31 Jared Keslar will take on No. 2 Joey Blaze of Purdue.
No. 23 Luca Augustine will face No. 10 Myles Takats of Bucknell in the opening round at 174 pounds, while No. 26 Chase Kranitz will meet No. 7 Angelo Ferrari of Iowa at 184.
Mac Stout enters the tournament as the No. 10 seed at 197 pounds and will square off against No. 23 Mikey Squires of Binghamton. At heavyweight, No. 20 Dayton Pitzer will open his tournament against No. 13 Spencer Lanosga of Navy.
All matches will be streamed on ESPN channels with live results and scoring available online via TrackWrestling. Updated brackets will be available online in the NCAA Wrestling Media Hub and NCAA.com.
2026 NCAA Qualifiers First Round Match Ups:
125: No. 29 Tyler Chappell (Pitt) vs. No. 4 Sheldon Seymour (Lehigh)
149: No. 28 Kade Brown (Pitt) vs. No. 5 Koy Buesgens (NC State)
157: No. 27 Dylan Evans (Pitt) vs. No. 6 Jude Swisher (Penn)
165: No. 31 Jared Keslar (Pitt) vs. No. 2 Joey Blaze (Purdue)
174: No. 23 Luca Augustine (Pitt) vs. No. 10 Myles Takats (Bucknell)
184: No. 26 Chase Kranitz (Pitt) vs. No. 7 Angelo Ferrari (Iowa)
197: No. 10 Mac Stout (Pitt) vs. No. 23 Mikey Squires (Binghamton)
285: No. 20 Dayton Pitzer (Pitt) vs. No. 13 Spencer Lanosga (Navy)
Players Mentioned
