I remember how excited I was when I first found out that Matt Gentry was taking over as the head coach of the University of Chicago. I knew from that day forward the Maroons were going to see levels of success far beyond the horizon & that I'd be writing about various accomplishments season after season. Chicago put 6 on the award stand at Regional V & out of those 6, 5 were NCAA Division III qualifiers. Out of those 5 qualifiers, two earned All-American status.
We lose Sean Conway, who had an outstanding career for the Maroons. 103 wins, an NCAA D3 finalist in 2025 & a two-time Regional V finalist who won the title this year. Not to mention a three-time Pete Willson Invitational place-winner with 5th-8th-3rd finishes.
Gunnar Garriques, who I must admit I pronounced his name wrong for years up until I heard it pronounced correctly in Cedar Rapids. Gare-icks, and here I always thought it was gar-ree-quez. My apologies on that. He also closes out his stellar career. 5th-3rd-1st at Regional V, he earned All-American status of 4th, also making the finals of Pete Willson.
Back? Three sophomores looking to perhaps cement their history as some of the greatest Chicago Maroons of all time, a junior with something to prove & a senior looking for redemption after an injury plagued year.
 |
| 125 Matt Barlay |
3rd in Regional V & 6th at Pete Willson, Matt Barlay finished off the season one match shy of being an NCAA Division III All-American.
 |
| 149 M² |
The name is Maksim Mukhamedaliyev & I better learn to pronounced it, because we could be looking at the greatest Chicago wrestler ever in the making. He won 45 matches last year as a freshman. 45 matches as a freshman! There are wrestlers who won't earn 45 wins in their entire career! 4th in the D3 nation, he won titles at Trine, Concordia-Wisconsin, Al Hanke & Regional V. He was 3rd at Pete Willson.
 |
| 165 Nick Cheshier |
8th & 5th in Regional V thus far, Nick Cheshier heads into '26-'27 looking to earn his first trip to the NCAA D3 championships. He was an Al Hanke champion.
 |
| Jackson Davis 184 |
The Tennessee native had a great rookie season last year, that ended with a Regional V title. 32 wins in all, he was the runner-up at both Trine & Pete Willson, taking 3rd at Concordia-Wisconsin.
 |
| 133 Jackson Rustad |
6th & 7th in Regional V as a freshman & sophomore, injury kept Jackson Rustad from becoming a three-time place-winner & possible NCAA D3 qualifier last year. To give indication of what he's capable of, an 8-6 win over two-time D3 qualifier Conner Fiser.
No comments:
Post a Comment