2026 REGIONAL ONE Preview for NCAA DIII (Sat Feb 28 & Sun March 1st))

 

125

Three ranked wrestlers here at 125 lbs. Doesn't leave a whole heck of a lot of room for anyone else does it? 31-5 on the year Drew Marchese enters his final Regional One championships having posted back-to-back 5th place finishes.  A four time Ithaca Invitational place-winner with finishes of 5th-3rd-3rd-2nd, he won the Ted Reese Invite & finished 4th at the North Central Invitational.  As to the competition here, he owns both a 1-0 & 5-3 decision over Nico Rivera. 

Speaking of Rivera, filling the shoes of a legend like Joziah Fry is one of the toughest thing this man will do in his collegiate career, but so far, so good.  The rookie has been impressive going 27-4, winning titles at both the Roger Williams Open & the Auggie Invite.  3rd at the New Standard.  Tech'd Nikko Beato the first time they met 21-5 & more recently upended him again 4-1


Beato a senior, has been 7th & 4th in these championships, 3rd at both the Roger Williams Open & the Wildcat Open. 

If there is a thief among those that these three will face this weekend, I believe it will Chris Hong.  19-5 on the year, he upset Beato to make the Roger Williams finals & has wrestled him close on other occasions.  

133

Gold & Silver are already spoken for in what should prove to be an excellent final here at 133 lbs.   Three-time NCAA DIII qualifier Jake Craig has been 2nd-3rd-2nd at Regionals, with 4th & 6th place All-American finishes in the D3 nation.  Ellis himself a Regional One runner-up last season, one match shy of All-American honors.  This season Ellis carries an 18-2 record, one of those wins being a 2-1 decision over Craig.  Titles won at Roger Williams & the Auggie Invite, he was 3rd at the New Standard. 

Craig's only loss in 29 matches is to Ellis & that was in the finals of the Roger Williams Open.  He owns titles of his own at both Doug Parker & Ted Reese.  Not to mention a 7-4 decision over Ellis. 

Bronze?  That's another story.  Bronze is up for grabs.  If I have to wager a pick, my pick is going to be Marvin Armistead.  While he does have some losses, he's been pretty consistent at a 15-4 record.  A 17-0 tech loss to Craig, he gave him a much more respectable 8-4 match as well. 

141

4th & 3rd in the Regional thus far & one match from being an NCAA D3 All-American last season, Hayden Myers is the head & shoulders above the rest favorite to win a title this weekend.  19-1 on the year he has titles at from both Doug Parker & R.I.T.   Strong gut feelings say that silver is going to go to Kyle Moore, 18-3 on the season & 4th in the Regional a year ago.  Bronze a bit more up for grabs, but JT1Wrestle's guess is going to be Dom Moyer, 18 wins on the season, 5th in the Regional a year ago. 

149

The Rankings have this pretty cut & dry.  Much like 141 lbs, 149 lbs has a clear favorite for this weekend's title.  I believe the two-time NCAA DIII qualifier really surprised himself by not making the national tournament last year & I do NOT think that'll be a problem for Nathan Fitt in 2026. 23-1 on the year, he has completely dominated his in-region competition. 10-1 over Seyfried & 18-3 over Ryan Currier.  Titles this year from both Roger Williams & the Wildcat Open.  

Seyfried & Currier have yet to meet this year, but it is likely to be our semi-final.  Seyfried has came painfully close to qualification the past two seasons with 5th & 4th regional finishes.  19-4 on the year, he won the R.I.T. title.  Currier currently stands at 17-6. 

Is there a thief among the 149 lbs'ers in Regional 1?  If there is, I think that someone is Ike Guttentag.  6th at Regionals last year he can wrestle well when he wants to. He gave Seyfried a 9-6 match earlier this year & it's not stretching the imagination too much to think he could pull off an upset. 

157

Why all three of these guys aren't ranked is beyond me.  I suppose when you have 126 programs (or more?) and only the top 20 per weight get ranked this is bound to happen.  Nevertheless we're looking at three very good wrestlers here & these are likely to be our three NCAA D3 qualifiers. 

Peter Kane if he isn't already is destined to become the Ephs greatest wrestler ever.  3rd-2nd-1st in the Regional, he's earned All-American honors of 7th-2nd-5th.  This year alone he's 26-1 on the year, with gold medals collected at RIT & Williams.  Owns four wins over Nate Camiscioli & a 14-5 major over Jake Woodburn. 

Speaking of Camiscioli & those four losses.  Only one of them has been ugly, an 8-0 major decision.  The others have been very close. 4-1, 2-1 & as a matter of fact a very recent 7-6 loss.   The Spartan has been 3rd & 2nd in the Regional the past two seasons.  I think what has killed him in the rankings is a few bad losses this year in his 26-10 record.  Nevertheless, with a 5-0 win over Woodburn, I do believe he's a finalist & I do believe he can give Kane an adequate challenge. 

Woodburn bronze a year ago, I predict bronze again. 

165

Oh boy, here we go!  Hate to say it, but one of these outstanding talents will be staying home this year.  The thing about it, I'm not sure how this is going to be seeded.  You'd think with a ranking well over 10 spots ahead of everyone else, Jack Richardson would be the odds on favorite. Here's the thing about it though...23-2 on the year, his two losses....current losses...are to both Holmes & Kearns.   Holmes upended the Wildcat in a recent 2-1 match & Kearns got him in a 4-3 tiebreaker?  How does this effect seeding?  Richardson tech'd Kearns earlier this season and he defeated Holmes 7-3.  2nd in the Regional last year, Richardson was one match shy of All-American honors. 

Henry Forte, Holmes & Kearns in relation to one another? Forte owns a 10-6 decision over Holmes.  Holmes owns a 17-2 tech & a 7-1 decision over Kearns.  Kearns owns 7-1, 4-2 & 4-3 wins over Holmes.   Kearns 5th at Regionals last season, both Forte & Holmes have 7th place Regional finishes on their resumes. 

174

Injuries may have gotten the best of Jacob Deguire last year, but that is NOT the case in '25-'26! The Pride is 20-0 on the year, looking poised to win a Regional title! He'll have some good competition though.  He stuck Gage Wiggins in exactly a minute, but should the two meet again, I don't think it'll be that easy second go round.  He also had a close match with Shane Reitsma, 4-2. 

Wiggins, a true freshman for the Ephs is thus far having an outstanding year. Few blemishes in a 24-3 record.  Reitsma, who spent the bulk of his career at Rider, currently owns a 19-6 record. 

Darkhorse among these talents? You betcha.  All three of these guys better be on their toes if they draw Aiden Faria this weekend. The senior, former Kent State Golden Flash is currently 18-4 on the year.  He has back-to-back Pete Willson 4th place finishes & he'll have his sights set on qualification. 

184

*NOTE* - I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression here.  This is not the NAIA where teams can send more than one wrestler at a weight class.  Here in NCAA D3 it is only one wrestler per weight, per team.  I simply include Gabe Monroe because while I'm pretty sure USCGA wrestles Caden Stout here, I'm letting you know they'd still have a qualifier contender in Monroe.  Monroe 3rd at last year's Regional, won Ted Reese earlier this season & he has wins over Evarts (9-5), Miller (4-1) & McLaughlin (4-1).  Not to mention, he gave Myles Leonard a 5-4 match. 

Now to assess the weight....

Honestly, this is the kind of weight class that I find a lot of fun as a wrestling fan, that drives me nuts as a wrestling journalist. 12-0 on the year & a pinner, Leonard makes a strong case for the *1 seed.  Stuck Evarts at the 3:40 mark & stuck Miller at 3:53. 

Evarts is the returning Regional champion. 24-3 on the year, he's also called himself champion at R.I.T, Williams & the Wildcat Open. Nearly teching Miller 14-2, he nearly teched McLaughlin 15-3 & he stuck Stout in 2:27. 

Miller was 2nd to Stout's 3rd at the Wildcat Open, plus he owns a 22-4 tech over McLaughlin.  Stout owns a 15-0 tech over McLaughlin. 

So why even mention McLaughlin's name among the other four?  Because that's the kind of wrestler that he is.  You see results like these & you count the guy out. So what does he do? He turns around & goes into sudden victory with Leonard.  Or he majors Monroe 11-3.   An Ithaca Invitational champion, a Ted Reese runner-up & 3rd at the North Central Invite.  Crazy things are going to happen this weekend & that's right up McLaughlin's alley. 

197

You know upsets can happen & they already have, but I do think we're going to see a final here between Josh Negron & Nick Rogers.  The two have met three times already this season, with Negron winning 2-1 & 5-0 decisions, Vs a 9-6 s.v. for Rogers.  Overall Negron is 33-10 on the year, a Wildcat Open champ & a North Central Invite runner-up.  Rogers, an NCAA D3 qualifier last season, is 12-5 on the year. 

No guarantee that either make the finals though.  Rodriguez took Rogers into sudden victory earlier this year & even more noteworthy, Borzio recently upset Negron 2-1!  So we could very well see upsets & see one of these two or even maybe both in the finals! If not, I say Rodriguez & Borzio go to war for that 3rd and final spot on the ship that sails to nationals! 

HWT

I said earlier that Peter Kane was well on his way to establishing himself as the greatest wrestler to ever come out of Williams.  Can I say the same for Carl DiGiorgio? Well, it's gonna be hard to outdo two-time National champ Chase Randall, but my gawd give me anyone closer.  DiGiorgio 2nd-1st-1st in the Regional, has also been 7th-3rd-2nd in the D3 nation.  24-0 on the year, titles won at Roger Williams, Doug Parker, Ted Reese & The Wildcat Open. 

To shoot you straight, Adolfo Betancur hasn't had the year I thought he would. His 11-7 record really surprises me, but I don't think that'll matter much here.  As far as I'm concerned I believe that Ben Katz is the third best wrestler at HWT in this regional.  Betancur is 7-0 against him.  Back-to-back bronze medal showings in the Regional, Betancur was 6th in the D3 nation a year ago. 

Katz owns both 7th & 4th place Regional finishes in his career.  23-5 on the year & a Ithaca Invitational champion, he's my pick for bronze. 

*NOTE* - I'm writing this under the presumption that Evan Day will NOT be wrestling in these championships. Only 6 matches on the year, and no indication that he is injured, I'm taking it as a "year off" for the Spartan.  If for some reason he does wrestle this weekend, without a doubt qualifier material.  He was 2nd at last year's Regionals & he does own two victories over Betancur.