UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — Wabash College crowned three individual champions and recorded seven top-eight finishes Saturday at the NCAA Division III Region V Tournament hosted by John Carroll University at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.
James Day (133 pounds),
Jaylen Young (174 pounds), and
Titus Waters (285 pounds) each earned automatic berths to the NCAA Division III National Wrestling Championships with their regional titles. Day will compete at nationals for the fourth consecutive season and previously earned All-America honors in 2024 and 2025. Young secured the first national tournament appearance of his career with his championship performance, while Waters claimed the Region V heavyweight crown for the second straight year to punch his return ticket to nationals.
The Little Giants finished fourth in the 17-team field with 123.0 points. Wisconsin-Whitewater won the regional title with 163.0 points, followed by North Central (145.0) and Chicago (136.5). Wabash placed ahead of host John Carroll (108.0) and tied programs Case Western Reserve and Millikin (106.0 each) to secure a top-four team finish.
Day captured the 133-pound championship with a 4-1 decision over John Carroll's Ty Daugherty in the semifinals before earning the title by injury default at 6:01 against North Central's Ethan Spacht in the first-place match.
Young secured the 174-pound crown by defeating North Central's Jake Luce 10-4 in the semifinals before winning the championship by medical forfeit over Wisconsin-Whitewater's Jermaine Butler.
Waters completed Wabash's trio of champions at heavyweight. He edged Millikin's Leno Campbell 5-4 in the semifinals and controlled the title bout with an 8-1 decision over Alma's Cayden Bell.
At 125 pounds,
Andrew Punzalan finished fourth. Punzalan opened Saturday with an 18-1 technical fall in 6:56 against Trine's Kaden Golder in the consolation bracket. He followed with a 4-1 decision over Adrian's Adrian Rosas in the consolation semifinals before dropping a narrow 7-6 decision to Chicago's Matthew Barlay in the third-place match.
Zach Huckaby earned a fourth-place finish at 184 pounds. Huckaby dropped a 15-1 major decision in the semifinals to North Central's Casey Aikman before edging John Carroll's Wills Bronson 2-1 in the consolation semifinals. He was pinned in sudden victory at 6:34 by Case Western Reserve's Mathew Gummere in the third-place bout.
Andrew Ross placed fifth at 157 pounds. Ross earned a 7-4 decision over Albion's Jayden Lewis in consolation action, then fell 6-1 to Case Western Reserve's Thomas Wagner in the consolation semifinals. He rebounded with a 13-1 major decision against Millikin's Michael Hutchison in the fifth-place match.
Cooper McCloy claimed seventh place at 165 pounds. After a 16-10 loss to Olivet's Juwan Vines in consolation action, McCloy responded with a fall in 6:23 over Case Western Reserve's Marty Landes in the seventh-place match.
The NCAA Division III National Wrestling Championships will take place March 13-14 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
