CLEVELAND — Rocket Arena, the home of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, is no stranger to upsets. Nearly 10 years after LeBron James helped stage an improbable Finals comeback over the Golden State Warriors, the famous venue played host this week to even athletic performances that further shocked the sports world.
Through the first two days of the 2026 NCAA Division I Wrestling National Championships, there were a record 56 upsets from the Round of 32 to the quarterfinal round. Right in the middle of the action was former Pitman High standout and current University of Oklahoma redshirt senior Juan Mora.
Mora, a 2021 state champion and All-American with the Pride, already made school history as the first school alumnus to ever qualify for the NCAA Championships. “Tank,” as he has been nicknamed since his time in Turlock, added to his resume by pulling off a pair of wins to start Thursday’s 285-pound, heavyweight championship bracket.
Mora opened the tournament with a 4-3 decision over No. 12 Braxton Amos of Wisconsin, then knocked off No. 5 Nick Feldman of Ohio State with a 4-2 decision in the Round of 16.
The Sooner’s run eventually came to an end with two Friday losses, the first in the quarterfinal against former national champion AJ Ferrari of Nebraska and then in the consolation bracket to Arizona State’s David Szuba.
Against Amos, Mora took a 3-1 lead heading into the second period with an early takedown. Amos scored two points on escapes, but Mora maintained his lead with an escape in the opening seconds of the third period. Amos was awarded his third point of the match after Mora was penalized for stalling, but the seven seconds remaining proved to be too little time.
An early second-period escape and ensuing takedown was the difference for Mora against Feldman, securing his team-high 21st win of the season. He said the key to pulling out the win was “not feeling sorry for myself, going out there and staying true to the competitor I want to be, who I've been made to be, no matter who I wrestle.”
“I'm going to wrestle the match I want to wrestle,” Mora said in an interview with his former Pitman coaches Adam and Cody Vasconcellos. “It's all about that first 30 seconds. You got to make your opponent wrestle the way you want to wrestle that match.
“Man, it feels good. it's all part of the plan, though. I know my coaches have expected me from day one to get these wins, but I'm just very fortunate, very happy I'm able to go out there and do it the right way. Glad to earn those matches… I haven't been given anything in my whole career.”
Facing No. 4 Ferrari in Friday’s quarterfinal, Mora was trailing almost immediately, getting taken down within the first 40 seconds of action. Mora responded with an escape before the whistle and scored the last two points by way of stalling infractions called on Ferrari. The two embraced after battle by sharing a prayer at center mat.
In the consolation against No. 10 Szuba, neither wrestler was able to generate offense through the first period. The scoreless tie was broken early in the second when Szuba escaped. Mora responded with an escape of his own in the third but was soon taken down. Another escape with 27 seconds on the clock was not enough.
Despite his run coming to an end, Mora was one of nine wrestlers from California to advance to this year’s national quarterfinals, the most of any state in the country.
Mora punched his ticket to the tournament at last week’s Big 12 Championships. For the second straight year, his postseason fate came down to the third round of consolations. He made good on his latest opportunity, Facing Air Force's Rylan Kuhn, Mora outpaced the true freshman for an 8-6 victory to punch his ticket to Cleveland.
— University of Oklahoma Athletics Communications contributed to this report.
