SALEM, Ore. – For the first time in program history, the No. 23-ranked Corban University Men's Wrestling team will host the Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Championship Tournament, which is scheduled to begin this upcoming weekend at the Salem Armory Auditorium at the Marion County Fairgrounds. Warriors' head coach Nolan Harris has entered the maximum 12 student-athletes allowed by the CCC into this year's tournament, providing the hometown crowd with plenty of Navy and Gold singlets to support over the two-day championship tournament.
"We're excited to be hosting the CCC Championships at the Salem Armory this weekend," Harris stated when asked to discuss the upcoming conference championships in the Warriors' own backyard. "Our guys have been training hard, training smart, and are excited for the opportunity to compete at home. The CCC is one of the toughest conferences in the country, and this will undoubtedly be reflected in how competitive each weight class will be throughout the tournament. There will be upsets throughout the tournament, and we hope to be on the giving and not receiving end of those. Ultimately, we're approaching this as a qualifier for the national championship tournament in March, and the goal is to advance as many guys as possible. Our team has been blessed to compete against some of the NAIA's best in preparation for this year's postseason run."
Of the 11 teams competing in this year's CCC Championship tourney, six finished the 2025-26 regular season ranked within the NAIA Men's Wrestling Coaches' Top 25 poll, including the Navy and Gold who finished in a two-way tie for 23rd with fellow conference member Eastern Oregon University. The No. 6-ranked Raiders of Southern Oregon University are the early favorites to repeat as conference team champions, with No. 9-ranked Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), No. 12-ranked University of Providence, and No. 19-ranked Arizona Christian University joining forces with the Warriors and Mountaineers all hoping to upend the Raiders' back-to-back title hopeful campaign. Four more of the programs competing in Salem this weekend received votes in the final NAIA coaches' poll but were not among the top 25 squads, with Montana State University-Northern, Simpson University, Westcliff University, and The Evergreen State College all receiving various number of votes.
The NAIA announced the 2026 National Championship weight class allocations per conference earlier this month, where the CCC once again led the entire national scene with 47 total automatic qualifier spots available in this year's championship tourney. The weight class automatic qualifying allocations for this year's CCC tournament are as follows: 125lbs – 6, 133lbs – 3, 141lbs – 6, 149lbs – 4, 157lbs – 6, 165lbs – 4, 174lbs – 6, 184lbs – 3, 197lbs – 4, and 285lbs – 5.
Harris submitted one grappler at 125lbs, 157lbs, 165lbs, 184lbs, 197lbs, and 285lbs, the 141, 149, and 174-weight classes are doubled up in Warrior representation, and the already marginal 133-weight class will go without a Corban competitor. With 118 total competitors submitted by CCC head coaches for an average of nearly 11 wrestlers per team, the conference fell just 14 submissions shy of the absolute maximum number of entries possible for the 2026 championships.
Of the 12 tournament submissions for Harris, four of his Warriors will enter the two-day event donning national rankings in the final NAIA coaches' poll, two of which hail from the same weight class while the other duo represents the highest ranked individuals for the Corban men's wrestling program. Redshirt senior Antonio Garcia (20-1) enters as tourney as the No. 2-ranked 285lb grappler across the country, while junior Isaiah Twait (24-3) looks to repeat as an NAIA All-American thanks to his No. 5-overall ranking. Meanwhile, seniors Jr Downing (25-5) and Bo Davis (21-7) will begin competition within the 149-weight class as the No. 20 and No. 23-ranked wrestlers in the country, respectively.
In addition to the four nationally ranked Warriors, two more members of the Navy and Gold are looking to rejoin the national contending circle after having received votes in their respective weight classes at some point in 2025-26 while also representing returners to the program that have also qualified for the NAIA National Championships in years past. Seniors Brayden Boyd (13-11) and Blake Runion (20-6) will both have an opportunity to prove the national voters wrong and earn one of the six automatic qualifier positions up for grabs within their respective weight class brackets of 125lbs and 141lbs.
Also competing for the Dubs this weekend and looking to earn All-Conference, individual weight class titles, and/or automatic berths to the 2026 NAIA National Championships include: freshman Mason Thynes (14-14 overall record at 141lbs), junior Gus Menne (14-20 overall record at 157lbs), redshirt sophomore Jesse Rubio (15-9 overall record at 165lbs), redshirt sophomore Andres Nicacio (7-5 overall record at 174lbs), sophomore Armando Nicacio (10-7 overall record at 174lbs), and senior Asaiah Kamplain (25-9 overall record at 197lbs).
Day one of the CCC Championships begins on Friday at 12pm, with day two scheduled to begin earlier at 10am following a long opening day of elimination bracket and championship bracket results. All three mats on day one and both mats on day two will have their own unique Urban Edge Network (UEN) livestream links, which can be found on the CCC UEN site by clicking HERE. Live result users can also follow along on TrackWrestling by clicking HERE.
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