NCAA DI Men’s Championship Wednesday Press Conference Highlights

CLEVELAND — Four student-athletes and four NCAA DI head coaches appeared in the NCAA DI Pre-Championship press conference in the Rocket Arena media workroom on Wednesday afternoon.

National champions Jesse Mendez (Ohio State), seeking his third title in 2026, and Levi Haines (Penn State), who is seeking his second crown, were joined by Iowa State’s top-seeded heavyweight Yonger Bastida and Ohio’s Sal Perrine, who grew up in Northeast Ohio.

Just minutes later, Ohio State’s Tom Ryan, Oklahoma State’s David Taylor, Oregon State’s Chris Pendleton and Kent State’s Josh Moore spoke to the media.

Below are some highlights of the Pre-Championship press conference, as the 2026 NCAA DI Men’s Wrestling Championship gets underway Thursday from Cleveland’s Rocket Arena with Session I beginning at 12 p.m. ET.

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Student-Athletes

Levi Haines (Penn State): “I think it’s been a good season. I’ve seen our team progress pretty well throughout the season. We have a lot of young guys in the lineup and they’ve been taking care of business and getting better. It’s been fun to watch those guys get better along with everybody else. And I think we’re right where we need to be headed here into the national championships.”

On not redshirting: “Similar to Jesse, my coaches and I just decided that at the time we just thought I was ready to go, and I knew they had my best interest in mind. So just listening to them. And I feel like at Penn State, if you can get in the lineup, you go wrestle. I felt really good about it. I trusted them and just getting better each time I step on the mat. That’s what I plan on doing this weekend, not too worried about finishing off my career with a national championship. Hopefully my career is a lot longer than just this weekend. I don’t really try to focus on that. Just focusing on being myself, I think, is what I’ll look back on and be that’s what I’m most proud of, is in those big moments that I was true to myself. And I feel like when you hit all those boxes, usually the winning takes care of itself.”

Jesse Mendez (Ohio State): “It’s been a really fun season. I’m excited to cap my career off in Cleveland. And we’ve had a really good year, a fun year. Just getting to see my guys go to work every day and continue to get better throughout the season. I think we’re ready to peak at the right time.”

On the Hodge Trophy and one-upping his coach J Jaggers: “Yeah, I just think with me and J’s relationship; we’re always trying to one-up each other. We’re always taking digs at each other, making fun of each other. If I just got something I could hang over his head that he can’t go back and change, that’s a win in my books.”

Yonger Bastida (Iowa State): “We’re ready, until the job is done, and we are just focused for what is coming, which is the tournament tomorrow. And for myself, I’m excited to be representing my school. It’s my last season. I’m excited about tomorrow.”

On wrestling heavyweight as opposed to 197 pounds: “It’s way better. I don’t have to cut weight which is hard; everybody knows that. Well, you know I feel way better at heavyweight. I’m stronger and faster, I would say, yeah. I feel like at heavyweight I’m at my best.”

Sal Perrine (Ohio): “I’m excited to represented Ohio and here in my hometown and rep it. Plan to have a better ending this weekend.”

On his hometown fanbase being present at the tournament: “I think it makes it pretty easy to go out and just let everything fly. It’s a big tournament. It can get to you at some point. But just letting it fly and just being yourself out there. It’s pretty easy when you have somebody supporting you from the back.”

Coaches

Tom Ryan (Ohio State): “It’s great to be in Cleveland, a hot bed of wrestling as we know. The state of Ohio, the sport is deeply rooted in the culture of the state. There’s four Division I programs. Obviously Coach Moore’s coaching one of them in the state of Ohio. We’ve got four native Buckeyes in our starting lineup. Of the 10 qualifiers, four of them wrestled in the state of Ohio. There’s 491 high schools that offer wrestling in this state. I believe there’s 36 student-athletes of the 330 that have qualified for the event that are Ohio native. It’s deeply rooted in the state here. We had a great year. We were 19-1, one of the best dual meet seasons we’ve had. Obviously as a staff, we value dual meets greatly. And couldn’t be more excited that we’re in Cleveland. Our four starters are all from this region, grew up in this area. So kind of a childhood dream to be competing for the national championships and you’re kind of in your backyard. So looking forward to the event.”

On how his past life experiences have prepared him to lead student-athletes on this stage: “I mean, apprenticeship, discipleship, mentorship is critically important in all of our lives. A lot of us get in our homes. I had a fantastic father and mother, great siblings. Had a great high school coach. Had a great college coach. I have a lot of great friends in the neighborhood that were great people that all participated in Division I sports. So you just pull from your experiences. Of course, when you’ve had some hardships like I’ve had in life, you realize you can’t do it alone. So what direction do you look? For me, I looked up. And that’s when I realized the reality of life, that there’s a greater being, there’s a God that loves us. And I think the ultimate apprenticeship is to look up and be what God has intended us to be. Growing up in Wantagh was a great place, and then being under Coach Gable and some of the mentors I’ve had in my life, been really fortunate. I’m really blessed. And I don’t say this lightly, because it’s very clichéish thing now to say praise God, but there is nothing in my life that could convince me that God’s not real and that he hasn’t had his hand in my life every step of the way.”

David Taylor (Oklahoma State): “It’s been a great season. We have a young team, and it’s been really fun to see these guys progress throughout the season, starting with — we had a tough start with the National Duals, and our guys faced some adversity. It’s been really cool to see them persevere through that and really have themselves prepared for the national tournament. The national tournament, this is most exciting tournament in the world. We’re grateful to be here and excited to compete.”

On chasing Penn State: “I think what are we doing the sport for? We’re trying to prepare for the national tournament. We’re trying to have 10 national champions. You’re trying to be national champions as a team. That’s the pinnacle of what you’re doing. There’s always going to be obstacles in the way. What are those obstacles going to be? They’re going to change. It’s a moving target. What we can focus on is helping our guys, like Coach (Ryan) said, be the best versions of themselves. That’s the most important thing. I’m not laser focused on one individual or one individual program, I’m focused on helping my guys be the best that they possibly can be, giving them the abilities to succeed. I think the biggest thing is, when these kids come to school, hold them to a high standard. We as a staff hold these guys to a high standard, the standard that they set for themselves. We sit down at the end of the year and they tell us what they want. In the recruiting process, these kids tell us what they want. Okay, well, then we’re going to help you do those things. And that’s competition. We want to compete at the highest level. That’s what we’re signing up to do. We want to do something that’s exciting, competing at the national tournament that’s exciting. Competing in a competitive team race, that’s exciting. That’s what drives people to become better versions of themselves. And I think that’s what we’re looking forward to. And it’s what we can do. It’s what we can control. It’s our thoughts and emotions. That’s the most important thing. And that’s what we’re focused on as a program.”

Chris Pendleton (Oregon State): “I think we’re really excited to be here, like David said. I think we’re probably the team that traveled the farthest. If we can get it on the West Coast once or twice every 10 years, I’d appreciate that. Had a lot of uncertainties coming into the season. We weren’t anticipating losing an All-American. But I’m very proud how the team responded and how they progressed through the year, and I think they’re peaking at the right time.”

On NCAAs potentially coming to the West Coast: “Wrestling … I’ve been all over the world — the arena is warm. We’re excited here. It’s a beautiful arena. Like Tom and David said, this is one of the hotbeds of wrestling and we’re excited about it. Would we like to get it other places on the West Coast? Sure, it would be great. We’ve got a lot of factors to consider. But we tried really hard to get it at ASU. When we got to go down to the Suns Arena and really dive into everything, there’s a lot more that goes into hosting a tournament than the casual fan or even coach would even guess at. Hopefully, in the future, we can revisit some of the things. I’d love to see us go back to 2020 and that idea of the Superdome, revisiting that a little bit. But if it happened for us, I wouldn’t complain.”

Josh Moore (Kent State): “So just took over Kent State eight months ago. It was my mission and vision to kind of rebuild our program, really get connected with the community. A lot of the guys know the story of Cleveland State. I was the head coach there seven years. Unfortunately, they decided to cut the program last year. I was lucky to land on my feet at Kent State where I coached before. And we have a pretty good history, a top 25 program for four or five years straight, back when I was an assistant coach. We had a national champ in Dustin Kilgore. 2018, we had a gentleman, Kyle Conel, kind of shocked the world and took third in the country. So we have got a really good history at Kent. Just our mission to build it back up by getting out in the community, getting people connected, getting people involved and telling our story.”

On seeing his former Cleveland State student-athletes find success at their new schools: “It makes me extremely proud just keeping in touch with those guys. Cleveland State was a tough place to recruit to. We had three scholarships. We recruited some really great kids and set them up for success. Some of them didn’t have the success they wanted at Cleveland State, but at their next stop, they kind of found that with guys like Doug Terry, and Joey Lyons was an All-American at Gannon. Shane Cook was an All-American NAIA. Dylan Layton, national qualifier for Rider. Just to see these guys continue to wrestle, that was my biggest concern, A, are these guys not going to be given another opportunity to compete and do what they love? So, I mean, those guys are my guys. They came to a lot of the Kent State duals. We’ve kept in touch, and it’s just great to see those guys be successful. As we knew they would be, just the toughest thing was them not wanting to leave their brothers and their teammates at Cleveland State. Like I said, we didn’t have much, but we had each other. We had a good coaching staff, good support system, and we had a lot of fun. And I think we did a lot with what we had. To see them go on and come home with All-American titles and national titles — whether it’s Division I, Division II or NAIA — it’s still really impressive, this sports stuff at any level. And those guys proved they can overcome adversity and some heartbreak and continue to truck on, and that’s what this sport is all about.”