MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota’s Max McEnelly added another accolade to his standout redshirt sophomore season when he was named an Academic All-American by the College Sports Communicators (CSC) on Wednesday.
The 2026 national champion at 184 pounds, McEnelly was named to CSC’s At-Large Third Team for his academic success. He becomes the sixth Gopher wrestler to become an Academic All-American and the first since Isaiah Salazar was also a third-team honoree in 2024. McEnelly’s recognition is the eighth in program history, as Michael Kroells and Brett Pfarr were both two-time winners in 2016 and 2017.
To be considered for Academic All-America honors, nominees must meet the following criteria:
- Be at least a sophomore academically and athletically and must be enrolled at their institution at the time of nomination either as undergraduates or graduate students.
- Have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale), while a graduate student-athlete must have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) as both an undergraduate and a grad student unless they are in their first semester as a graduate student and don’t have an established graduate GPA.
- Have also competed in a certain number of games/matches/tournaments this year, depending on the sport.
En route to his championship, McEnelly finished the 2025-26 season with a 24-2 record, including a 15-1 record in duals, a perfect 8-0 mark during the Big Ten regular season and a 15-2 record versus ranked competition. Twelve of his 24 victories were by tech fall and two more came by major decision. He became the 19th different Gopher to win a national title, and it was the 25th individual championship overall in program history. McEnelly was the first Gopher to win a national title at 184 pounds, and he captured the first title overall for the program since Gable Steveson went back-to-back at heavyweight in 2021-22.
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