WICHITA, Kan. – The 2026 NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championships officially kicks off on Thursday, March 5th at the Hartman Arena and runs through Saturday, March 7th, where five members of the No. 23-ranked Corban University Men's Wrestling program will be looking to join seven Warriors who have earned All-American honors since their inaugural season back in 2019. Last year, the program set records with three All-American honorees and the first individual national champion in school history, with two of those All-Americans making their return to the national stage this week in southern Kansas.
To view the NAIA's release containing the complete brackets for this week's national tournament, click HERE.
Four of the five Warriors competing this week earned automatic berths to the national championships via the 2026 Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) Tournament, while the fifth was selected for an at-large berth in his weight class after falling one placement shy of an automatic berth in the CCC tourney. Five national qualifiers are the third most in a single year for the Navy and Gold, keeping their streak of sending at least one grappler to the national tournament in every season since their initial 2019-20 season of competition.
Senior Blake Runion (22-10) of the 141-weight class will have the lengthiest climb of any Warrior this week, as he qualified via an at-large berth and will immediately matchup with the No. 2-ranked wrestler, Caden McCrary of Reinhardt University, in the opening round. The 141lb weight class is one of the deepest among the ten at the national tournament, and Runion will need to bring his A-game if he wants to keep his senior season alive and contend for All-American accolades and a national title.
One of three nationally seeded wrestlers for the Dubs entering this week's tourney is senior Jr Downing (29-6) at 149lbs, where he clinched the final national seed at 16th overall following All-Conference finish at the CCC Championships. He'll meet Joshua Zeman of St. Ambrose University in the first round and barring an upset, will have to face the No. 1-seed for 149lbs in Kaden Fetterolf from Oklahoma City University the very next session.
The Warriors' top seeded grappler in Wichita this week will be represented by junior Isaiah Twait (26-4) of the 184-weight class, where he enters as the No. 5-seed among an extremely diverse bracket. He'll match up with Marian University's Noah Hollendonner in the first round of nationals, with a possible rematch against No. 4-seeded Adrian Chavez-Morales from Southern Oregon University on deck for a possible quarterfinal bout. Chavez-Morales claimed both head-to-head results against Twait this season, yet both were concluded via injury default and medical forfeit, giving Twait all the reinforcement for a legitimate battle of the CCC's best if he wants to replicate his All-American finish from last year.
Senior Asaiah Kamplain (28-11) took advantage of the numerous true placement matches throughout the CCC Tournament by claiming the final automatic bid at 197lbs, providing him with one of the highest unseeded bracket placements possible with an opening round matchup against No. 15-seeded Ashton Boswell of Campbellsville University. Both Kamplain and Boswell have already clashed this season back at the NWCA National Duals, where Boswell clinched a 4:07 pin of Kamplain. However, Kamplain has reversed tides since that matchup, with over half of his 28 victories occurring between today and that fall to Boswell.
Finally, Warrior heavyweight and No. 6-seeded Antonio Garcia (23-3) will have an opportunity to right the ship after accepting two of his three losses on the season at the CCC Championships, where both No. 8-seeded Shane Mattson of Montana State University-Northern and No. 5-seeded Nico Rodriguez of Eastern Oregon University clinched sudden victory overtime wins against the Salem native. Garcia clinched his first All-American finish in 2025 via a 7th place national finish, and will have the opportunity to repeat that feat once again this year should he handle business in the opening round against Indiana Tech's Ian Clifford.
Members of Warrior Nation looking to watch the national tournament online can do so by visiting the Urban Edge Network and finding one of the many mat cameras available for this week's tourney. Live results will continue to be accessible through TrackWrestling by clicking HERE. Tickets for the event can be purchased through Ticketmaster.
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