New London, Conn. – March 1, 2026 – For the first time in program history, the Springfield College wrestling team won the NCAA Division III Region I Championship title and saw a program record six student-athletes punch their tickets to the 2026 NCAA Division III National Championships this afternoon on the campus of the US Coast Guard Academy.
Springfield took the top spot with 170.5 points and was followed by Williams College (155 points), Coast Guard (152.5 points), Castleton (144.5 points) and JWU (144 points). This is Springfield’s first NCAA regional crown, however, from 1997-2011, Springfield hoisted ten New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Team Championships.
At the conclusion of the meet, Jacob Deguire (Schenectady, N.Y.) earned the honor for most pins in the tournament with five, Jason Holder was named as the NCAA Division III Region I Coach of the Year and his staff of William Hughes and Ryan Peters earned Assistant Coaching Staff of the Year accolades.
In addition to the six who punched their tickets to nationals, nine of Springfield’s ten wrestlers earned All-Region accolades following today’s meet. Moving on to compete in Iowa in March are Esuar Ordonez (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) at 133, Ty Stewart (Dracut, Mass.) at 149, Ryan Kozdra (Mahwah, N.J.) at 157, Deguire at 174, Nick Rogers (Watertown, N.Y.) at 197 and Ben Katz (Medford, N.Y.) at 285. Additionally, Isaac Quiles (East Hartford, Conn.), Gabe Thomasson (Norton, Mass.) and Myles Leonard (Waldwick, N.J.) took home all-region nods for placing in the top-eight this weekend.
The NCAA qualifiers for Springfield are the most in a single year in program history and the most since the Pride sent four to nationals in 2020, however, that championship was canceled due to the pandemic. The six qualifier for Springfield also rank first in the region alongside Williams and Coast Guard and rank fifth most in Division III this season. In total 13 schools from across the nation will send six or more wrestlers to NCAA’s in two weeks.
Four Springfield wrestlers went 3-0 on the day and came out of the wrestlebacks to place third in the region and qualify for NCAA’s. At 149, Stewart, who entered unseeded, pinned seventh-seeded Shane Moore and then earned a 4-0 decision over Nate Fitt, the nation’s seventh-ranked wrestler to reach the third place match. He then pinned Ike Guttentage of Wesleyan in the third period to reach the NCAA championships for the first time.
At 157, Kozdra started his day with a 13-2 major decision over fifth-seeded Matthew Rodriguez of Western New England before toppling second-seeded and No. 13 nationally-ranked Nate Camiscoli of Castleton, 11-10. Then in the third place bout, pinned Avery Carl of Bridgewater State in under a minute to reach nationals for the first time in his career.
Deguire, who was the top seed at 174 and ranked third nationally, pinned fourth-seeded Mason Gourley of Coast Guard and No. 15 nationally-ranked Aidan Faria of Rhode Island College to reach the third place match where he earned a 7-1 decision over sixth-seeded Joseph Baker of Castleton punching his nationals ticket for the third time.
Rogers bounced back from an overtime loss to third-seeded Zach Borzio of Williams in his first bout of the day with a 9-1 major decision over fourth-seeded Anthoney Fernandez of JWU and a 5-1 decision over 197 top seed and No. 14 nationally-ranked Josh Negron of Castleton earning a spot at nationals for the second straight season.
At 285, Katz took down second-seeded Adolfo Betancur of JWU 8-0 to automatically qualify for NCAA’s. He then bowed out of the championship bout following a first period injury. Katz will appear at nationals for the first time in his career.
Ordonez bounced back from a 10-8 decision loss to second-seeded and No. 14 nationally-ranked Marvin Armistead of Coast Guard before earning an 8-3 decision in the wrestleback over Carver Moyer of Norwich. Then with seven seconds left in the third period of the third place match, Ordonez pinned fifth-seeded Matthew Carrozza of Trinity to qualify for NCAA’s for the first time.
Quiles went 1-2 on day two of regional and picked up a pin over eighth-seeded Tyler Stubbs of Williams in under a minute to reach the third place match where he ultimately fell by decision, 4-2.
Thomasson wrapped up his debut at NCAA regionals in eighth place overall holding his seed at 165. Thomasson fell 14-9 by decision to Chases Anestis of Plymouth State and 12-9 by decision to sixth-seeded Teghan McConnel of Western New England.
Leonard wrapped up the highlights for the Pride at 184 as he bounced back after a semifinal loss with a pin of sixth-seeded Justin Nieroda of Roger Williams. He ultimately fell by decision in the third place match wrapping up an incredible career for the Pride.
The NCAA will officially release qualifiers tomorrow and then its first edition of brackets on Friday. The National Championships will begin in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 13.
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