Make it back-to-back titles for Jesse Mendez.
The Ohio State wrestler won his second straight NCAA championship at 141 pounds on Saturday. Mendez cemented his legacy as one of the program's all-time greats with the title, as he accompanies Kyle Snyder (2016, 2017 and 2018) and Logan Stieber (2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015) as the most recent wrestlers to win multiple national championships for the Buckeyes.
Had to double it
— NCAA Wrestling (@NCAAWrestling) March 23, 2025
(3) Jesse Mendez of @wrestlingbucks defeats (1) Brock Hardy of Nebraska with a 12-9 decision, securing his second national title. #NCAAWrestling pic.twitter.com/6ahoqjWqMx
Mendez, the No. 3 seed at 141 pounds, defeated No. 1 Brock Hardy (Nebraska) in the championship bout.
Hardy got out to an early 5-1 lead, but Mendez cut the lead to one with a three-point takedown at the very end of the first period. An escape from Hardy to start the second period increased his lead to two points, but Mendez took a 7-6 lead with his second takedown of the match. He followed that up with a four-point near fall, extending his lead to 11-6 by the end of the second period. Hardy notched a takedown late in the third period, but Mendez didn‘t surrender any other points in the final period, also winning the riding time point to secure a 12-9 victory.
2X#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/RM87yc19hB
— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) March 23, 2025
“I visualized this tournament 100 times. One of those times you’ve gotta visualize you going down big early. And I know I got the motor, I know I got the technique to do it. I just gotta believe in it, and that’s exactly what you saw,” Mendez told ESPN’s Quint Kessenich of how he turned the match around. “I’ve seen this play out exactly the way it did ... No matter the score, I’m gonna keep coming, I’m gonna keep coming, I’m gonna keep coming. That’s just the way I want to wrestle.”
To reach the championship, Mendez avenged two 4-2 losses to No. 2 Beau Bartlett (Penn State) in the regular season and Big Ten tournament semifinals. Mendez needed one tiebreaker period to beat Bartlett, securing a takedown in the second frame to advance to the title match.
#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/F6Ejzf2AYE
— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) March 22, 2025
"I'm not gonna give up, no matter what," Mendez told reporters after beating Bartlett. "I had six seconds, and I did it. There's no task too tall, and I just put my head down, and I got to do it, no matter what it is."
Before his rematch with Bartlett, Mendez secured three bonus point victories: a 21-5 technical fall against No. 30 Briar Priest (Pitt), an 11-2 major decision against No. 14 Sergio Lemley (Michigan) and a 17-5 major decision against No. 6 Vance VomBaur (Minnesota). Mendez's win over VomBaur made him a three-time All-American, following his national championship as a sophomore in 2024 and his sixth-place finish as a freshman in 2023.
Mendez joined Dylan D'Emilio as Ohio State's two All-Americans this season. D'Emilio earned his second All-American honor amid his fifth appearance at the NCAA Championship, beating No. 20 Koy Buesgens (NC State), No. 29 Jack Gioffre (Virginia) and No. 12 Ethan Stiles (Oregon State) before losing to No. 1 Caleb Henson (Virginia Tech). He earned one more win over Lachlan McNeil (North Carolina) before a second loss to No. 3 Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) in the third-place match.
Ohio State finished the meet with 51.5 points, tying Minnesota for fifth in the final team standings. Big Ten teams took five of the top six spots in the team standings as Penn State won its 13th national championship with 177 points while Nebraska finished second (117), Oklahoma State finished third (102.5) and Iowa finished fourth (81).
