NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Wesleyan wrestling team saw
Hayden Myers '27 roll to the 141-lb Region 1 Championship, highlighting the weekend for the Cardinals who placed sixth out of 19 teams at the 2026 NCAA Region 1 Championships. Five Cardinals earned All-Region honors while Wesleyan totaled 86.5 team points.
After taking third place at last year's Region 1 Championships, Myers dominated as the top seed this season, going 4-0 with two wins on Saturday and Sunday. Myers opened with back-to-back pins on Saturday, needing 1:17 to defeat Mason Medina of WPI in the opening round before taking down Michael Follo of WNE in 2:40. Myers landed a convincing 9-1 major decision win in the semifinal round against Isaac Quiles of Springfield, clinching his spot in the title match and a qualifying spot into the 2026 NCAA Division III Championships. Wrestling for the title against Kyle Moore of Southern Maine, Myers landed a third period takedown with 22 seconds left to seal a 4-1 title-winning decision victory. This is Myers' third career All-Region nod and first title. Combined with
CJ Shea's title-winning run last season, Myers' title marks the first time the Cardinals have had Regional Champion in back-to-back seasons since 2011-12.
Ike Guttentag '26 had to wade through a crowded 149-lb bracket, securing three straight convincing extra points wins to open the competition. Guttentag started with a pin in the opening round before landing back-to-back tech falls by a combined score of 33-2 to reach the semifinal round. Trailing 7-0 early, Guttentag battled back to a one-point match with a takedown late in the third period, but he couldn't land any more points and fell to Caleb Seyfried of Williams by a score of 8-7. In the back draw, Guttentag landed a 7-1 decision win to earn a spot in the third-place bout. With a trip to Nationals on the line, Guttentag couldn't get past Ty Stewart of Springfield who led 7-0 before landing a match-clinching pin. Guttentag closes out his career with back-to-back All-Region nods.
Chris Hong '27 earned All-Region honors for the first time, securing one win in the main draw before earning back-to-back wins in the back draw, including a 4-1 win over Chris Colon of Williams. Hong fell one match short of the third-place bout, losing to Charlie Pavis of WPI, but Hong finished on a high as he defeated Domenic Sousa of RIC in a 4-1 decision.
Two more first-time All-Region honorees included
Roman Martinez '27 at 184 and
Warren Little '27 at 197. Martinez landed a tech fall in the main draw before clinching All-Region with a 17-13 decision win in the back draw. Little advanced on a forfeit in the main draw and secured All-Region honors with a 7-1 decision win over Brayden Sohn of New England College. Both Martinez and Little finished in eighth place.
Kellen Horst '26 (165),
Ronnie Christolin '28 (157),
Taylor Tan '29 (133),
Akiva Lind '26 (165), and Michael DiOrio '29 (285) all won at least one match on Saturday and each finished just one win shy of securing All-Region honors.
Myers is set to compete in the NCAA Division III Championships held out in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 13-14.
