CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — James Day and Titus Waters kept Wabash College in contention for top finishes Friday at the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Wrestling National Championship Tournament, with both Little Giants advancing to Saturday's All-America rounds at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse.
Day, the third seed at 133 pounds, won his first two matches of the tournament to reach Saturday's championship semifinals, while Waters battled back through the consolation bracket at heavyweight to guarantee an All-America finish. Jaylen Young also represented Wabash on the opening day of the national tournament at 174 pounds.
Day opened his tournament run with a strong performance in the opening championship round, defeating Wyatt Unser of Wisconsin–Eau Claire by an 8-1 decision. The Wabash senior controlled the bout from the outset, building a lead through steady offensive pressure and maintaining command through the final period.
In the quarterfinals, Day secured his spot in the national semifinals with an 11-7 decision over Patrick Mullen of Wartburg. The victory advanced the two-time All-American to Saturday's semifinal round, where he will face second-seeded Jake Craig of Southern Maine for the opportunity to compete for the national championship later Saturday evening.
Waters endured a difficult start to his heavyweight bracket before rallying with two dramatic victories in the consolation rounds to secure All-America honors. In the opening championship round, Waters dropped a tightly contested 3-2 decision to Andrew Vanscoy of Baldwin Wallace in the first tiebreaker period.
The sixth-seeded Little Giant responded quickly in the consolation bracket. Waters pinned Benjamin Katz of Springfield in just 57 seconds in his first consolation bout to remain alive in the tournament.
He followed that performance with another clutch victory in consolation round two, defeating Wyatt Smith of Coe by a 4-1 sudden victory decision. The win guaranteed Waters a place among the top eight finishers in the nation and a spot on the All-America podium.
Waters will continue his climb through the consolation bracket Saturday morning when he faces ninth-seeded Jonah Clark of Loras. With a victory, Waters could still finish as high as third place in the national standings.
Young competed for the Little Giants at 174 pounds. He opened the tournament with a 4-1 sudden victory win over Jack Hoffman of Ohio Northern in the preliminary round, scoring the decisive takedown in the extra period. Young moved into the championship bracket later in the session, where he was defeated by third-seeded Dustin Bohren of Loras by an 11-5 decision.
Young dropped an 8-3 decision to Joseph Bolduc of New England College in the consolation bout.
Wabash sits in 19th place in the team standings after the opening day of competition with 16.5 points. Wartburg leads the tournament field with 61.5 points, followed by Augsburg and Wisconsin–La Crosse tied for second with 54 points each. Roanoke stands fourth with 45.5 points, while New York University rounds out the top five with 41 points.
Saturday's final day of competition begins in Cedar Rapids with the All-America rounds in the morning session at 10 a.m. Central Time, followed by the national championship finals Saturday evening beginning at 7 p.m.
