Contact: Sam Fretto, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, sjfretto@noctrl.edu

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa (Jan. 10, 2026)- Making it to day two of the National Wrestling Coaches' Association (NWCA) National Duals, the North Central College men's wrestling team finished in eighth place, concluding the tournament with a 2-3 overall record inside the UNI-Dome on Saturday afternoon. 

The Cardinals kicked off the day facing UW-La Crosse and finished facing Coe College in their final dual of the tournament. 

North Central suffered a defeat to No. 3 UW-La Crosse 32-14 to begin day two in the consolation semifinals. Top-ranked Chip Guzman started the day off with a technical fall victory for North Central, defeating Aiden Slama 17-1 to give the Cardinals a 5-0 lead after the 125-pound match. No. 1-ranked Ethan Spacht followed that with a pinfall victory in the 133-pound bout over Wyatt Magolski in 2:06, putting North Central ahead 11-0. Xavier Villalobos wrestled for the Cardinals in the 141-pound match and fell to 12th-ranked Talan Schutte by a 6-2 decision, getting UW-La Crosse on the board and making the score 11-3. Kayle Bearson picked up a third victory for North Central in the dual, prevailing over Joe Penchi in the 149-pound match by a 4-1 decision.

With a 14-3 North Central lead, UW-La Crosse went on a run, winning the remaining six matches of the dual, first with Kolt Knaack defeating Tyler Starr at 157 pounds by a 4-0 decision. UW-La Crosse took the 16-14 lead, winning the following two bouts by technical fall. Tanner Gerber beat Mekhi Cave 17-0 at 165 pounds, and Jake Luce fell to Noah Leisgang 16-0 at 174 pounds. AJ Frescura, wrestling at 184 pounds, suffered an 11-0 major decision loss, while Casey Aikman (197) and Luke Chrisse (285) lost by pinfall to close out the dual against UW-La Crosse. 

The loss for North Central set up a rematch against #10 Coe College, who they beat in the opening round yesterday 25-15.

This time, the Cardinals were narrowly defeated by Coe, falling 20-18 in a dual that came down to the final match. Joey Sikorsky wrestled for North Central in the 125-pound bout, facing Kendall Kurtz. The high-scoring affair ended in favor of Kurtz by a 15-13 decision. Spacht picked up six points for the Cardinals, pinning Emmitt Newton in the 133-pound match in 2:21. At 141 pounds, Villalobos took on 13th-ranked Dresden Grimm and fell via a 17-0 technical fall, putting Coe back ahead 8-6. The following match, North Central retook the lead, 9-8, as Starr defeated Kael Kurtz in a 5-1 decision in the 149-pound bout. 

Coe took the next two matches by decision to open a 14-9 lead. Tagg Miller fell to Kael Scranton at 157 pounds by a 7-0 decision, and Cave faced No. 10-ranked Bo Koedam in the 165-pound match, where Cave came up short in a 4-0 decision. The Cardinals regained the momentum with Luce (174) and Frescura (184) each picking up a 10-6 decision victory and Aikman (197), whose match went to sudden victory, but he prevailed in a 12-9 finish. The final match at 285 pounds featured Aidan Trujillo and 15th-ranked Wyatt Smith, where Smith managed a pinfall victory, picking up six points and edging Coe past North Central 20-18.

Top ranked wrestlers Guzman and Spacht both went undefeated while freshmen Luce and Frescura had standout performances each picking up three wins over the course of the weekend. 

The Cardinals continue dual action as they get set to host Elmhurst University on Thursday, Jan. 15, with a 7 p.m. start inside Gregory Arena.