Wrestling | 3/13/2026 8:56:00 PM

NCAA III Championships Website

Cedar Rapids, Iowa – The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse wrestling team is tied for second after the first day of competition at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships Friday night at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse.

The Eagles have 54.0 team points, tied with Augsburg University (Minn.) for second. Wartburg College (Iowa) leads with 61.5 points. Roanoke College (Va.) is fourth with 45.5 points and New York University fifth with 41.0.

The College of New Jersey is sixth (35.5) while Baldwin-Wallace College (Ohio) is seventh (30.5) and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Conn.) eighth (28.5). Loras College (Iowa) and Williams College (Mass.) are tied for ninth (24.5). A total of 68 teams are competing.

Five UWL wrestlers earned NCAA Division III All-America honors on Friday with four advancing to the semifinals.

The Eagles' Tanner Gerber (165-pounds), Noah Leisgang (174), Tate Flege (184) and Markos Mihalopoulos (285) will all compete in Saturday's semifinals while Joe Penchi (157) advanced to the second day of competition to earn All-America awards.

Gerber picked up his second career NCAA III All-America accolade in as many appearances at 165-pounds. He finished third at 165-pound a year ago.

The third-seed, Gerber, opened this year's tournament with a technical fall (16-1, 6:27) over Carter Davis of Pennsylvania College of Technology in the first round. He advanced to the semifinals with a win (6-1) over sixth-seeded Keegan Demarest of Messiah College (Pa.) in the quarterfinals. Gerber faces seventh-seeded Brayden Peet of UW-Whitewater in the semifinals. Gerber is now 32-3 this season and 8-1 in his two-year national career.

Leisgang earned his third career NCAA III All-America honor on Friday, including his first at 174-pounds. He earned All-America awards with a third-place finish at 165-pounds in 2023 and was second at 165 in 2024.

Seeded second at this year's championships, Leisgang opened with a win by decision (4-1) over Nick Alexander of Augsburg (Minn.) in the first match. He then earned a decision (16-11) over 10^th-seeded Xavier Preston of Roanoke (Va.) in the quarterfinals. Leisgang, now 9-2 all-time in the national tournament and 19-0 this season, faces sixth-seeded Bryce McDonough of Luther College (Iowa) in Saturday's semifinals.

UWL's Flege at 184-pounds, making his first trip to the national tournament, is the fourth-seed and opened the NCAA III Championships with a win by fall (1:03) over 13^th-seeded Casey Aikman of North Central College (Ill.) in the first round. He won by major decision (15-4) over fifth-seeded Sean Malenfant of Alfred State College (N.Y.) in the quarterfinals and faces top-seeded Ganon Smith of Elizabethtown College (Pa.) in Saturday's semifinals. 

Flege is now 27-2 on the season after Friday's two wins.

Mihalopoulos won his first two matches in Friday's opening session at 285-pounds, earning a decision (8-2) over 13^th-seeded Nicholas Cook of Roanoke (Va.) in the preliminary round and decision (4-1) over fourth-seeded Carter Stack of Washington & Lee College (Va.) in the round of 16.

Now 23-8 on the season, Mihalopoulos defeated Wyatt Smith of Coe College (Iowa) by decision (4-1) in Friday's quarterfinals. He is making his first appearance in the NCAA III Championships. Mihalopoulos faces top-seeded Mitch Williamson of Wartburg (Iowa) in the semifinals.

Penchi earned All-America accolades at 157-pounds, going 3-1 on the day. Making his first national appearance, Penchi lost by decision (7-4) to 13^th-seed Londen Murphy of Ohio Northern in preliminary round before winning by major decision (14-1) over 15^th-seeded Braden Kmak of Ursinus College (Pa.) in the consolation preliminaries.

He won by decision (10-5) over 10^th-seed Thane McCoy of Wilmington College (Ohio) in the consolation round and advanced with a decision (4-1) over Karsen Otis of Augsburg (Minn.). Penchi is now 27-14, including 8-6 at 149-pounds and 19-8 at 157. He faces fourth-seeded Eric Kinkaid of Loras College (Iowa) on Saturday.

At 141-pounds, Marcus McIntyre went 2-2 on Friday. He won by sudden victory (15-12) over 12^th-seed Andrew Schoen of Ursinus (Pa.) in the preliminary round before losing by major decision (14-5) to fifth-seeded Isaias Torres of Ithaca College (N.Y.) in the round of 16.

In his first career national appearance, McIntyre won by decision (12-7) over Kyle Moore of the University of Southern Maine in the consolation round. He was eliminated after losing by technical fall (21-5, 5:13) to sixth-seeded Pierre Baldwin of Central College (Iowa). McIntyre finishes 27-10 overall.

Tyler Dormanen, seeded seventh at 197-pounds, went 1-2 in the tournament. He advanced to the quarterfinals after 10^th-seeded Gunnar Garriques of the University of Chicago (Ill.) was disqualified. Dormanen lost by decision (4-2) to second-seed Josh Stahl of York College (Pa.) in the quarterfinals and by decision (4-1) to eighth-seed Joseph Petrella of Baldwin-Wallace College (Ohio) in the consolation round.

In his first appearance at the NCAA III Championships, Dormanen finishes 21-6 this season.

The Eagles' Quintin Wolbert went 0-2 at 125-pounds on Friday. Making his second national appearance, Wolbert, the 10^th-seed lost by decision (6-4) to seventh-seed Mason Jones of Manchester College (Ind.) in the first round and by decision (11-9) to 12^th-seed Aidan Gruenenfelder of Loras College (Iowa) in the consolation preliminaries.

Wolbert finishes the season at 14-6, including 11-3 at 125-pounds and 3-3 at 133. He went 1-2 at 125-pounds at the 2025 NCAA Division III Championships.

The championships continue with second and final day action on Saturday, March 14 starting at 10 a.m.