Ben Davino

Benjamin Adam Davino (born July 24, 2006) is an American freestyle and folkstyle wrestler who competes at 61 kilograms and 133 pounds. In freestyle, he was the US National runner-up in 2026.

In folkstyle, Davino was an NCAA Division I National runner-up as well as the Big Ten champion as a 19-year-old redshirt-freshman in 2025–2026, out of the Ohio State University.

Career

High school Born and raised in the state of Illinois, Davino started wrestling at the age of six, and went on to attend St. Charles East High School. With a record of 181–1, he racked up four 3A state titles by the end of his career. Nationally, Davino was one of the top-ranked high schoolers, winning folkstyle tournaments such as Super 32 and Ironman, as well as freestyle tournaments such as the US Fargo National Championships and the U17 US World Team Trials. At the 2023 U17 World Championships, Davino fell in the quarterfinals.

In 2023, Davino, a three-time state champion at the time, committed to the Ohio State University, and graduated in 2023–2024.

Ohio State University

2024–2025 Davino wore a redshirt during his first season in college and compiled a 19–1 record, claiming crowns from the Clarion Open and the Franklin & Marshall Open and posting a 4–0 mark in dual meets.

Davino then made his senior freestyle debut in April 2025, at the US Open National Championships. He notably defeated NCAA champion Nico Megaludis, World silver medalist Daton Fix and four-time All-American Austin DeSanto, though falling to U17 World silver medalist Jax Forrest and U17 World champion Marcus Blaze to place fourth.

2025–2026 During his freshman campaign, Davino went 24–1 during regular season, before capturing the Big Ten Conference title and avenging his lone loss to Penn State's Marcus Blaze in the finals. At the NCAA tournament, he made his way into the finals as the second-seed with notable wins over returning NCAA champion from Illinois Lucas Byrd and once again over Blaze. In the finals, Davino was defeated by U23 World champion Jax Forrest from Oklahoma State.

Davino went back to freestyle action in April 2026, making his way onto the US Open National finals after defeating Austin DeSanto for a second time and Jax Forrest in a rematch from the NCAA finals. In the first-place match, he was defeated by Marcus Blaze by a score of four points to one to claim the silver medal.

In May, Davino competed at the US World Team Trials Challenge, in a second attempt to qualify for Final X. He took out NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello on points to set up a rematch with Forrest, where he was in the wrong end of a technical fall to place second.

2026–2027 Returning to freestyle wrestling, Davino was scheduled to face RAF Bantamweight Champion Austin DeSanto for the championship. However, for undisclosed reasons, the bout was removed and he instead faced four-time European champion from Armenia Arsen Harutyunyan on July 18, 2026 at RAF 11, falling on points. Next, he competed at RAF 12, losing to World Champion from Japan Masanosuke Ono on points.

Freestyle record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event Location Loss 9–6

Cleveland, Ohio Loss 9–5

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Loss

Newark, New Jersey Loss 9–4

Louisville, Kentucky Win 9–3

Loss 8–3

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 8–2

Win 7–2

Win 6–2

Win 5–2

Loss 4–2

Las Vegas, Nevada Win 4–1

Loss 3–1

Win 3–0

Win 2–0

Win 1–0

NCAA record

Res. Record Opponent Score Date Event

Loss 29–2 Jax Forrest

Win 28–1 Marcus Blaze

Win 27–1 Lucas Byrd

Win 26–1 Tyler Knox

Win 25–1 Gable Strickland

Stats Season Year School Rank Weigh Class Record Win Bonus 2026 Freshman

2 (2nd)

31–2 93.93% 60.61% 2025 Redshirt – 18–1 94.74% 65.00%