Minneapolis, Minn. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team captured the 2025 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Region VII Regional Saturday night at Augsburg University's (Minn.) Melby Hall. 

The Eagles finished with 192.5 team points while Augsburg (Minn.) placed second with 186.0. UW-Eau Claire finished third with 144.5 points. A total of 16 teams competed. It is UWL's first regional championship after recording eight second-place finishes in school history (2014, 2016-20, 2023-24). The NCAA Division III Regional Championships started in 2013. 

Nine UWL wrestlers advanced to the NCAA Division III Championships scheduled for March 14-15 in Providence, Rhode Island.

UWL won four individual weight classes Saturday, including Quintin Wolbert (125-pounds), Tanner Gerber (165), Ben Kawczynski (197) and Michael Douglas (285). The Eagles' Sam Lorenz (141) and Marcus Orlandoni (184) placed second while Wyatt Magolski (133), Tyler Goebel (157) and Eddie Simes (174) finished third to qualify for the national championships. Josh Cherba (149) finished fourth on Saturday. 

The four individual regional titles for UWL are the most in single-season school history. The Eagles won three individual championships in 2020 and 2024. 

Thirty wrestlers, the top-three finishers in each of the 10 weight classes, advance to the national championships.

Douglas, Goebel and Kawczynski will advance to their third NCAA Division III Championship while Lorenz and Orlandoni make their second trip. Douglas is a two-time NCAA Division III All-America, finishing eighth in 2023 and second in 2024. Goebel placed second at 149-pounds last year to earn All-America accolades with Kawczynski earning All-America honors after an eighth-place finish in 2024.

Gerber, Magolski, Simes and Wolbert will be making their first trip to the NCAA Division III Championships. 

Wolbert won the individual title Saturday at 125-pounds, finishing 4-0 at the regional. In Saturday's semifinals, Wolbert won by major decision (16-5) over Wyatt Kaczrowski of Augsburg (Minn.). He defeated Thomas Turner of Pacific University (Ore.) by fall (2:21) in the championship match. He beat Andrew Cain of Lakeland University (Wis.) by fall (1:13) in his opening match on Friday and Thomas Holmquist of St. John's University (Minn.) by fall (4:09) over in the quarterfinals.

Gerber won the 165-pound division with a 4-0 record. He advanced to the championship match with a technical fall (19-2) win over Preston Carlisle of UW-Eau Claire. Gerber won the title with a decision (6-4) over Cooper Willis of Augsburg (Minn.). Gerber won both his matches on Friday by technical fall, defeating Ryan Bergman of UW-Oshkosh in the first round (16-0) and Jack Patting of Augustana College (Ill.) in the quarterfinals (17-2).

Gerber was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the conclusion of the championships.

Kawczynski and Douglas also went 4-0 to capture the regional crown. At 197-pounds, Kawczynski defeated Parker Venz of Augsburg (Minn.) by decision (4-1) in the championship match after beating Jacob Badger of Augustana (Ill.) by decision (4-1) in the semifinals. Kawczynski won both his matches on Friday by technical fall. He defeated Romeo Hernandez of Pacific (Ore.) in the first round (17-0) D.J. Myles of St. John's (Minn.) in the quarterfinals (16-1).

Douglas advanced to the NCAA III Championships at 285-pounds with a major decision (14-3) over Josh Woodrey of Augustana (Ill.) in the title match. He won by decision (4-2) over Tyler Raway of Augsburg (Minn.) in the semifinals on Saturday. Douglas defeated Colin Duren of MSOE (Wis.) by fall (1:38) in the opening round and Garrett Olbrich of Pacific (Ore.) by decision (7-2) in the quarterfinals.

Lorenz secured his bid to the NCAA III Championships with a second-place finish at 141-pound on Saturday. He earned a win by decision (4-2) over Cole Becker of Augsburg (Minn.) in the semifinals before having to forfeit to Ty Bisek of Concordia College-Moorehead (Minn.) in the title match. Lorenz defeated Lucas Schanen of Lakeland (Wis.) by fall (1:38) in his first match of the regional and won by decision (6-0) over Finn Bloomquist of UW-Eau Claire in the quarterfinals. 

At 184-pounds, Orlandoni also placed second with a 3-1 mark. In his semifinal match-up on Saturday, Orlandoni won by major decision (13-3) over Easton Hull of UW-Stevens Point. He dropped the championship match by decision (5-3) to Brandt Bombard of Augsburg (Minn.). On Friday, Orlandoni won both his matches by technical fall, defeating Zach Hunter of St. John's (Minn.) in his opening match (22-5) and Clay DeBaillie of Augustana (Ill.) in the quarterfinals (24-9).

Magolski went 4-1 at 133-pounds to place third overall. After a loss by decision (5-4) to Brody Toledo of UW-Oshkosh in the semifinals, Magolski came back to win by decision (5-2) over Travis Moelter of UW-Eau Claire in the consolation semifinal and won by decision (5-1) over Connor Krueger of St. John's (Minn.) in the third-place match to earn a bid to the national meet. Magolski won by fall (2:49) over Sam Deyro of Augustana (Ill.) in his opening match of the regional and defeated Krueger by decision (7-3) in the quarterfinals.
 
Goebel earned three wins on Saturday to come back to take third-place at 157-pounds. Going 5-1 overall in the regional, Goebel won by major decision (10-2) over Landon Church of UW-Eau Claire in the third-place match. He won by technical fall (15-0) over Alexander McPhee of Concordia Moorhead (Minn.) in the third round of consolation action and by decision (2-1) over Augsburg's (Minn.) Karsen Otis in the consolation semifinals. Goebel went 2-1 on Friday, opening with a win by technical fall (15-0) over MSOE's (Wis.) Michael Smith in the first round before losing by sudden victory (4-1) to Michael Macias of Augustana (Ill.) in the quarterfinals. He won by technical fall (17-2) over Austin Abitua of Aurora University (Ill.) in the consolation second round.

Simes finished 3-1 in the regional at 174-pounds to advance to the NCAA Division III Championships. After losing by decision (4-3) to Seth Goetzinger of Augsburg (Minn.) in the semifinals on Saturday, he defeated Zach Pribyl of Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.) by major decision (15-3) in the consolation semifinals. Simes took third with a major decision (11-0) over Carson Trotzer of UW-Stevens Point. He received a first round bye on Friday before winning by fall (4:15) over Fulton Stround of Lakeland (Wis.) in the quarterfinals. 

Cherba placed fourth at 149-pounds with a 3-2 record. He lost by decision (4-0) to Matt Randolph of Augsburg (Minn.) in the semifinals, but came back with a major decision (13-0) ove rJesse Burg of Lakeland (Wis.) in the consolation semifinals. Cherba dropped the third-place match by fall (5:30) to Zach Sato of UW-Eau Claire. In Friday's action, Cherba won by technical fall (16-1) over Trent DuMont of UW-Platteville in the first round and by decision (10-4) over Ashton Massaro of Aurora (Ill.) in the quarterfinals.