CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Wabash College wrestler James Day finished as the national runner-up at 133 pounds, while teammate Titus Waters secured a seventh-place finish at heavyweight Saturday at the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Wrestling Championship Tournament held at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse.
Day, the tournament's third seed at 133 pounds, reached the championship bout with a dominant 12-1 major decision over second-seeded Jake Craig of University of Southern Maine in Saturday morning's semifinal.

Day took control late in the opening period, scoring a takedown in the final minute to build a 3-0 lead heading into the second period. Starting from the down position to begin the period, Day escaped within the first seven seconds to extend the lead to 4-0 before adding another takedown to move in front 7-0. Craig earned an escape with 49 seconds remaining in the period to cut the margin to 7-1.
The third period began in the neutral position, where Day continued to dictate the pace of the match. He received a point on a stalling call against Craig with 1:07 remaining, then secured another takedown four seconds later to push the lead to 11-1. Day controlled the remainder of the match and added a riding-time point to complete the 12-1 major decision and advance to the national championship match.

Day faced top-seeded Garrett Totten of The College of New Jersey in the 133-pound title bout Saturday evening. Totten scored the first points of the match with a takedown 33 seconds into the opening period. Day quickly responded with an escape eight seconds later to trim the deficit to 3-1 by the end of the first period.
The second period produced no scoring after Day started in the bottom position and prevented Totten from adding to his advantage.
Totten began the third period on the bottom and escaped immediately to extend the lead to 4-1. He added a takedown with 14 seconds remaining in the match and secured the riding-time point at the conclusion of the bout for an 8-1 victory.

Day's runner-up finish earned him his third career All-America honor. He previously placed third at 125 pounds at the 2024 national championships and finished fourth at 133 pounds in 2025.
At heavyweight, Waters — the sixth seed at 285 pounds — opened Saturday's competition in the consolation quarterfinals against ninth-seeded Jonah Clark of Loras College. Clark secured a fall 2:37 into the match, sending Waters to the seventh-place bout.
 

Waters rebounded in the placement match with a 7-4 victory over eighth-seeded Mohamed Abdelatty of Ursinus College to claim seventh place and earn All-America honors.
After a scoreless opening period, Waters started the second period in the down position and escaped with 1:42 remaining to take a 1-0 lead. He followed with a takedown at the 1:25 mark to extend the advantage to 4-0. Abdelatty escaped with 51 seconds left in the period, but Waters answered with another takedown with 31 seconds remaining to move ahead 7-1 heading into the final period.

Abdelatty chose the top position to start the third period and picked up two stalling penalty points against Waters before adding a riding-time point at the end of the bout. Waters held on for the 7-4 decision to finish seventh in the national tournament, earning All-America honors for the first time in his career.

Wabash finished with 25.5 team points to place 19th overall in the 68-team field. Wartburg College claimed the national title with 110 points, followed by University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (68.0) and Augsburg University (67.5). New York University placed fourth with 65.5 points, and The College of New Jersey finished fifth with 58.5.