MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Another action-packed day in Bacon Field House saw CJ Shea '25 win the regional championship at 165 and Hayden Myers '27 take third place at 141, ensuring both earn their first career appearance at the NCAA Championships. Six other Cardinals secured All-Region honors on Sunday as the Wesleyan wrestling team took fifth place out of 18 teams at the 2025 NCAA Division III Region I Championships.

• RESULTS

Shea, who came into the Regional as the #2 seed with a 30-1 record on the season, landed a 5-1 decision win over Chase Anestis of Plymouth State in the semifinal round, which at the time clinched the senior his first career appearance at Nationals. Later in the afternoon, wrestling for the 165 title, Shea handed the top-seed Jack Richardson of Johnson & Wales a 5-4 defeat after a crucial go-ahead takedown in the third period, becoming the first Cardinal to win a regional title since Marco Gaita '23 in 2020 and the first to do so in a weight class of less than 174 than 2010 (Dan Bloom '10 at 125). Shea was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Regional Championship (across all 10 weight classes) and is now a three-time All-Region wrestler, having placed seventh at 149 as a sophomore and fifth at 157 as a junior.
 
A year removed from finishing fourth at 141, Myers exacted some revenge as the sophomore shrugged off a semifinal round 4-1 decision defeat to James Rodriguez of Castleton before rebounding with a 2-1 decision win over Coast Guard's Dominic Moyer to set up a clash against Kyle Moore of Southern Maine with a trip to Nationals on the line. In that third-place bout, Myers trailed 9-4 heading into the third period where he came roaring back with an escape from bottom before landing a go-ahead takedown followed by a near fall that was the difference in a 13-9 decision and qualification-clinching win for Myers. This is the sophomore's first career appearance at Nationals and his second career All-Region honor.
 
Aris Dashiell '25 very nearly made it three Cardinals heading to Nationals but the senior was denied in overtime in the third-place bout at 197. Wrestling in the back draw from the start of the day, Dashiell opened with a pin of Western New England's Charles Maloy, setting up a clash with Spencer Fetrow of Roger Williams that went into a third overtime period before Dashiell landed the first takedown of the match, proving enough for a 4-2 win. Then in the third-place match against Haven Tatarek of Castleton, Dashiell went into what was his third overtime bout of the weekend, but Tatarek landed a match-winning takedown in the first overtime period to win it and the qualification spot into Nationals. Dashiell's fourth-place finish at 197 is good enough for his first career All-Region honor.
 
On debut at Regionals, Will Orso '26 had quite the weekend as the junior posted a 17-1 tech fall win over Michael Alfonso of Rhode Island College in his first match of the day at 285. Continuing in the back draw, Orso fell to Adolfo Betancur of Johnson & Wales but recovered and posted a win by pinfall in 4:06 in the fifth-place bout against Trinity's Emre Sensoy. Orso's fifth-place finish gives the junior All-Region honors after just joining the team in January 2025 for his first season competing collegiately.
 
Max Martinez '25 closed out his Wesleyan career with his second career All-Region selection. After landing a 7-3 decision win over Roger Williams' Shaun McLaughlin, Martinez clinched a sixth-place finish at 133 as the senior adds another All-Region honor to his career resume after first earning All-Region as a sophomore in 2025.
 
Ike Guttentag '26 also landed a sixth-place finish as the junior earned a pinfall victory in 3:33 against Western New England's James Linder, which proved enough for sixth-place at 149 and the first All-Region selection of his career.
 
Andrew Maiorini '25 and Ronnie Christolin '28 rounded out the All-Region honorees for Wesleyan. Maiorini earned three wins on the weekend to give him an eighth-place finish at 174, good enough for his second career All-Region nod. Christolin picked up two wins on Saturday, which proved enough for the first-year to earn eighth-place and All-Region honors at 157.
 
Shea and Myers have a little less than two weeks to prepare for the 2025 NCAA Division III Championships which will be held in Providence, Rhode Island from March 14-15.