Alongside Jax Forrest and Landon Robideau, Oklahoma State Wrestling’s freshman Sergio Vega showed his dominance at the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Following this, he reflected on his victory at the championships while expressing his gratitude to the program and his teammates.
He overpowered Iowa’s Nasir Bailey in the quarterfinal round with a decision by 4-1. In the semifinal round, Vega again won by decision against Brock Hardy of Nebraska to clinch a spot in the final round. The former Sunnyside High School wrestler bested Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez by decision 4-1 in the 141lbs category’s final to clinch his first national title and post a record of 24-0.
In a media interview following his win, Vega reflected on his successful run while highlighting his goal of repeating the feat three more times.
“I have watched my match a couple of times, and I think my favorite part is experiencing the time with my family, and that just gets me so excited to do it one more time, and I hope that I only get…. I hopefully have four of those moments in my life, so I hope I get four of them and I’m just super excited,” he said.
He also credited his team for building his confidence and believing in him.
“I think just my coaches and my teammates, they help me a lot building the confidence. When I first got the confidence, I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t believe that I could win a national title, but since the begining they believed I could, and just during the season, it was like I could get these wins, and I started believing in myself. Now that I look back, I’m grateful that I did. I probably wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t have self-belief, and self-belief is the most important part,” he added.
Jax Forrest and Landon Robideau clinched the national titles in the 133 lbs and 157lbs categories, respectively.
Sergio Vega Sends A Strong Message To Doubters After Clinching His First National Championships Title
With his victory at the 2026 NCAA Championships, Sergio Vega became the first undefeated true freshman national champion since Cornell College’s Dick Hauser and Lowell Lange, Iowa’s Joe Scarpello, and Oklahoma State’s Dick Hutton, all of whom achieved the feat in 1947.
After achieving this extraordinary feat, he sent a strong message to the critics, while reflecting on his transformative journey.
“I’m a national champion,” Vega said. “Last year, I was at home on my couch eating food, being a little fatty, watching them scrap it out on that arena, or that mat, and now I was up there wrestling. And it’s just been an honor to keep [showing] doubting people, because they’ve been down me all year, and I love proving people wrong. So I’m going to keep trying to do that.”
Vega will be honored with The Hammer Award, presented by Amateur Wrestling News to the winner of the most competitive weight class during the NCAA Tournament.
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