Desmond Pleasant and Cody Walsh Advance to the Second Day of the NCAA Wrestling Championships

Thursday, March 19

Cleveland, Ohio

12 p.m.

Drexel University

NCAA Championships Day 1

Desmond Pleasant and Cody Walsh Advance to the Second Day of the NCAA Wrestling Championships

3/19/2026 11:26:00 PM | Wrestling

CLEVELAND — Cody Walsh and Desmond Pleasant picked up wins in the first round of consolations Thursday night, keeping their NCAA Championships journeys alive and advancing to day two of the tournament. It marks the first time the Dragons will have competitors wrestling into the second day since the 2022–23 season. Nate Schon dropped a pair of matches on the day, bringing his tournament run to a close.

Drexel is tied for 30th overall in the team standings, with Dragon Little Rock, North Carolina, Northern Iowa and Oregon State all scoring four points overall. Penn States leads the way with 40.5.

Pleasant started his NCAA Championship campaign with a close battle against Virginia Tech's No. 2 seed, Eddie Ventresca. The Piscataway, N.J., native gave up an early takedown to Ventresca and trailed 3-1 after the first. After falling behind 7-2 in the third, Pleasant battled back with an escape and a late takedown. Despite the late push, he came up just short in an 8-6 decision.

The redshirt senior avenged his early-season loss to Cal Poly's Koda Holeman, sealing a 7-4 decision win with a late takedown. Pleasant scored first, building a 3-0 lead after the opening three minutes. Koleman responded with a takedown of his own to cut the deficit to 4-3 heading into the final period. With the bout tied 4-4 Pleasant defended a shot, turning it into a takedown of his own to take the 7-4 victory.

Walsh opened the tournament with a 12-2 major decision victory over VMI's Ryan Vigil in the wrestle-in match. The redshirt senior took a 4-1 lead into the final period, getting a takedown and four back points on his way to the win. He fell to No. 1 seeded Mitchell Mesenbring of Penn State in the first championship round by a technical fall, 21-5.

He bounced back with a dominant performance in the first consolation round over Illinois's No. 17 seeded Braeden Scoles. Walsh opened the bout with a takedown in the opening seconds, avoiding a pin and getting four near falls of his own to take a 7-0 advantage after the first. He stayed on the attack the next two rounds, adding a takedown in the second and two reversal points in the third on way to a 14-4 major decision.

Schon faced Minnesota's No. 14 seed Koy Hopke in the first round, falling in an 11–7 decision. Schon started strong, scoring two takedowns to take a 6–2 advantage after the first period. Hopke responded with a takedown to even the bout up at 6-6 after two periods. Schon avoided a pin early in the first, getting the escape to retake the a 7-6 lead, but Hopke scored another takedown in the final minute on way to a 11-7 win.

Schon's NCAA Championship campaign came to an end in the first round of the consolations. Schons fell to Utah Valley's Jack Forbes by a 18-5 major decision.
Action from Cleveland will continue tomorrow at Noon.

Desmond Pleasant, 125lbs — (1-1)
Champ Round 1: No. 2 Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech) def. Pleasant, Dec. 8-6
Consolation Round 1: Pleasant def. Koda Holeman (Cal Poly), Dec. 7-4

Cody Walsh, 165lbs — (2-1)
Wrestle-In: Walsh def. No. 33 Ryan Vigil (VMI), MD 12-2
Champ Round 1: No. 1 Mitchell Mesenbrink (Penn State) def. Walsh, TF 21-5
Consolation Round 1: Walsh vs. Braeden Scoles (Illinois)

Nate Schon, 285lbs — (0-2)
Champ Round 1: No. 14 Koy Hopke (Minnesota) def. Schon, Dec. 11-7
Consolation Round 1: Schon vs. Jack Forbes (Utah Valley)