MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Wesleyan men's crew saw four Cardinals named Empacher-IRCA All-Americans, as announced by the IRA on Thursday afternoon. In addition,
Eli Smirin '26 earned the 2026 Novice Award, given to the athlete who started their rowing career in college and became a top tier athlete within their program and in the sport of men's collegiate rowing.
The All-American honorees included three First Team selections in
Nelson Bellows '26,
Pierce Buckner-Wolfson '26, and coxswain
Asher Israel '26 while Smirin was a Second Team All-American selection. Bellows and Buckner-Wolfson each earn their second career All-American nod while Smirin and Israel make history together, becoming the first two three-time All-Americans in program history.
Bellows makes the First Team All-American list for the first time in his career as he was previously named Second Team All-American as a sophomore in 2023-24. Buckner-Wolfson is a two-time First Team selection as he was named a First Team All-American during Wesleyan's National Championship winning season in 2023-24. Smirin closes out his career with three straight All-American nods, earning Second Team honors as a sophomore before being named First Team All-American in his junior and senior seasons. Israel was a Second Team All-American as a first-year in 2022-23, First Team selection in 2023-24, and now a First Team selection once again as a senior.
All four have been key figures on the Varsity 8 for Wesleyan all throughout their careers, leading the team to the program's first-ever National Title in 2024 while the Cardinals also finished as National Runner-Up twice in the past four seasons (2023, 2026). This past spring saw Wesleyan win four straight regattas to open the calendar including a triumph over Williams on April 18 to claim the Little Three Championship. Wesleyan's V8 finished runner-up at the New England Championships before capturing first in a thrilling finish at the National Invitational, earning a win in that race for the second time in three years while also taking home the NESCAC Championship for the second time in program history.
Then in the IRA National Championship out in California, Wesleyan's V8 advanced to the Grand Final and locked up with Trinity in a near photo finish as the Cardinals finished just 0.15 seconds behind the Bantams to finish as the National Runner-Up.
Smirin takes home the IRCA Novice Award, given to the athlete across all divisions of men's collegiate rowing who come into collegiate rowing with no prior experience, yet become a top tier athlete in the sport. Smirin stepped into the Freeman Athletic Center to learn about rowing in the fall of 2022 and went on to become a three-time All-American over his four years at Wesleyan, growing into one of the top talents in program history.
