CLEVELAND, Ohio – After earning the only at-large bid within the Southern Conference, The Citadel cadet-athlete Thomas Snipes initiates his return journey to the NCAA Wrestling Championships as the No. 30 overall seed within the 165 lbs division, launching the three-day, double-elimination tournament Thursday afternoon at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

The NCAA Wrestling Championships are slated for complete broadcast coverage via ESPN / ESPN2 / ESPNU / ESPN+.

As the No. 30 seed, Snipes (22-7) will initially square off against Iowa's third-slotted Mikey Caliendo (18-4) -- the B1G runner-up -- in the 165 lbs opening round.

A native of Simpsonville, S.C., Snipes currently owns a 22-7 overall record following a 7-1 run within Southern Conference regular-season play, earning the No. 1 overall seed at the league championship on March 6-7 along with All-Southern Conference honors. The redshirt junior reached the national tournament a season ago after claiming the 2025 Southern Conference 165 lbs individual title, and now serves as the first repeat NCAA qualifier for the Bulldogs since Michael McAleavy achieved the same feat in 2021 and 2022.


2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships
Thursday, March 19 - Saturday, March 21
Rocket Arena | Cleveland, Ohio
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS CENTRAL

BROADCAST
Thursday, March 19 | ESPN2 / ESPN
SESSION ONE -- WATCH | SESSION TWO -- WATCH
LIVE STATS

Friday, March 20 | ESPNU / ESPN2
SESSION THREE -- WATCH | SESSION FOUR -- WATCH
LIVE STATS

Saturday, March 21 | ESPNU / ESPN
SESSION FIVE -- WATCH | SESSION SIX -- WATCH
LIVE STATS