NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Wabash College produced seven top-six individual finishers and placed sixth overall at the 2025 North Central College Invitational on Saturday, scoring 79.5 points in a 17-team field at North Central College.
Wabash turned in its strongest performance at 125 pounds, where
Andrew Punzalan advanced to the championship bout to finish second and score 18.5 team points. Punzalan opened the tournament with a first-round bye, then rolled to a 16-0 technical fall over Juan Villa of Elmhurst in the second championship round. He followed with a 10-1 major decision over Augsburg's Treynor Curtin in the quarterfinals before pinning Coe's Brayden Parke at 1:53 of the semifinal. Punzalan came up just short of the title, falling by pin at 2:39 to North Central's Christian Guzman in the finals.
Isaac Ash added another podium finish at 125 pounds by placing fifth and scoring 14.0 points. Ash began the day with a pin of Elmhurst's Matt Nguyen in 1:24 and a 20-3 technical fall over Augsburg's Tyler Chenevert. After a quarterfinal loss by technical fall to Parke, Ash rebounded with a 4-3 decision over Curtin before dropping a consolation bout to Castleton's Andrew Marchese. He secured fifth place via medical forfeit against Wisconsin–Whitewater's Brady Phelps.
Wabash placed two wrestlers in the top five at 184 pounds.
Michael Taheny finished second and led the Little Giants with 20.0 points. Taheny pinned Albion's Race Eckles in 4:28 and Baldwin Wallace's Remington Bauer in 1:22 before sticking Olivet's Jack Ward just 23 seconds into the quarterfinals. He advanced to the finals with a 19-13 decision over Castleton's Desmond McLaughlin, then fell by pin at 4:44 to Augsburg's Brandt Bombard in the championship match.
Zach Huckaby placed fifth at 184 pounds, scoring 11.5 points. Huckaby opened with a 2-0 decision over Aurora's Alton Mullinax and a pin of Concordia Wisconsin's Kyle Sorensen at 3:56. After a sudden-victory quarterfinal loss to Wisconsin–Whitewater's RJ Samuels, Huckaby rebounded with an 11-2 major decision over Coe's Justin Wirtz, dropped a sudden-victory bout to McLaughlin, and closed the tournament with a 10-4 decision over Samuels in the fifth-place match.
James Day placed fourth at 133 pounds, contributing 10.5 points to the team total. Day received a bye before earning an 11-4 decision over Coe's Emmitt Newton and an 8-3 decision against North Central's Xavier Villalobos to reach the semifinals. He was edged 5-2 by Coe's Brody Neighbor, then responded with a 9-5 consolation win over Wisconsin–Whitewater's Jordan Rasof. Day finished fourth after falling by pin to Augsburg's Chance Suddeth at 6:45 in the third-place match.
At 165 pounds,
Cooper McCloy finished sixth with 9.5 points. McCloy opened with a pin of Elmhurst's Charles Gross at 2:40 and followed with a 6-3 decision over North Central's Mekhi Cave. He dropped a quarterfinal bout to Wisconsin–Whitewater's Brayden Peet by major decision, then stayed alive with a 12-4 major decision over North Central's Harrison Konder. McCloy was stopped by Coe's Bo Koedam via technical fall and placed sixth following a forfeit in the fifth-place bout.
Jaylen Young earned a sixth-place finish at 174 pounds, scoring 8.5 points. Young opened with an 18-2 technical fall over North Central's Jared Gumila and a 14-13 decision against Augsburg's Apollo Ashby. He advanced to the semifinals with a 7-3 decision over Castleton's Joseph Baker before dropping a sudden-victory semifinal, 8-5, to Carthage's Christian Gilbert. Young fell to North Central's Jake Luce by major decision in the consolation round.
Augsburg claimed the team championship with 178.5 points, followed by Coe (130.0), North Central (105.5), Castleton (101.0) and Wisconsin–Whitewater (96.0). Baldwin Wallace finished seventh with 70.5 points.
Wabash wrestles Marian University – Ancilla on Friday, January 2, in a dual meet to open the 2026 portion of the season.
