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Despite returning on three All-Americans from 2025, this year's field at 157 lbs just might be the deepest and most exciting collection of talent in any weight class at NCAAs. Before conference weekend, this weight lacked a clear front, but PJ Duke's dominance at Big Tens has put him at the front of the pack. Wrestling fans won't want to miss any of the action at 157 lbs this year.
2026 NCAA Division 1 Rankings - 157 lbs Interactive Brackets on FloWrestling 2025 All-Americans 1st Place - Antrell Taylor, Nebraska 2nd Place - Joey Blaze, Purdue 3rd Place - Tyler Kasak, Penn State 4th Place - Trevor Chumbley, Northwestern 5th Place - Meyer Shapiro, Cornell 6th Place - Vinny Zerban, Iowa State 7th Place - Matty Bianchi, Little Rock 8th Place - Caleb Fish, Oklahoma State 2026 Top 8 Seeds 1) PJ Duke, Penn State 2) Antrell Taylor, Nebraska 3) Meyer Shapiro, Cornell 4) Kaleb Larkin, Arizona State 5) Landon Robideau, Oklahoma State 6) Jude Swisher, Penn 7) Kannon Webster, Illinois 8) Brandon Cannon, Ohio State The Favorite #1 PJ Duke, Penn State For most of the season, this weight class lacked a true favorite, but after Big Tens, Penn State true freshman PJ Duke has emerged as the man to beat at 157 lbs. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Duke has ascended to that status after just four and a half months of NCAA wrestling. After all, he made a Senior World team before he graduated from high school and brought home U20 World gold and U23 World bronze during the off season.
Duke's lone loss on the year 2-1 tiebreaker defeat at the hands of 2025 NCAA champ Antrell Taylor of Nebraska, but Duke avenged that loss by 12-4 major decision in the Big Ten finals. He also majored #8 Brandon Cannon at Big Tens and defeated #7 Kannon Webster 4-2. PJ Duke vs Antrell Taylor in the Big Ten Finals Throughout the season, Duke has racked up a 19-1 record with a 71.
43% bonus rate. His only regular season decision victories came over #11 Daniel Cardenas, Iowa's Jordan Williams, #17 Cam Catrabone, and teammate Joe Sealey. Contenders #2 Antrell Taylor, Nebraska #3 Kaleb Larkin, Arizona State #4 Landon Robideau, Oklahoma State #5 Vinny Zerban, Iowa State #6 Meyer Shapiro, Cornell #7 Kannon Webster, Illinois #8 Brandon Cannon, Ohio State #9 Ty Watters, West Virginia #11 Daniel Cardenas, Stanford Normally, it would be overkill to list nine contenders at a given weight class, but this 157 group is not normal.
The list starts with 2025 NCAA champ Antrell Taylor who had a bumpy start at National Duals where he took losses to Cannon and Rozynski but has been consistent against the best guys since then. He defeated Duke, Robideau, Webster, Catrabone, and Millard during the season and reached the Big Ten finals where he fell to Duke in their rematch. Highlights from Antrell Taylor & Meyer Shapiro's 2025 NCAA Semifinal ASU freshman Kaleb Larkin started the season at 149 lbs where he burst on the scene with a major over All-American Lachlan McNeil at National Duals and just one loss at the weight against Cornell's Jaxon Joy.
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