KUTZTOWN, Pa. – As the first warm weather of 2026 creeps into the Lehigh Valley, six members of the Kutztown University wrestling team make their way into the frozen tundra of Sioux Falls, S.D., where they will compete in the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center on Friday, Mar. 13 and Saturday, Mar. 14.

Friday's opening session begins at 11 a.m., featuring the preliminaries and first-round competition. Session 2 begins at 6 p.m., which features the quarterfinal matches and the first two consolation rounds. Sessions 3 and 4 start at 11 a.m. and 8 p.m., respectively, on Saturday, as championship semifinals and consolation rounds will open the day, and championship finals will close out the event in the final session. Fans can purchase tickets through the NCAA site at the link above, as they are encouraged to do so in advance to limit long lines at the doors.

Following the Super Regionals a few weeks back, the Golden Bears (6-4 overall, No. 2 Super Region 1), who were ranked 21st in the March edition of the National Wrestling Coaches Association Division II Polls will see graduate student Cole Casilio (Wilcox, Pa./Johnsonburg), redshirt senior Dalton Gimbor (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg), senior Freddie Retter (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown), redshirt juniors Nic Allison (Lewistown, Pa./Mifflin County) and Wayne McIntyre (East Stroudsburg, Pa./East Stroudsburg North), and sophomore Joey Ortega (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson) donning the Maroon and Gold as they compete for the program's sixth national championship. An individual title would cement them in Kutztown lore as only three other KU grapplers have summited the podium.

Allison (16-7, 3rd at Super Regionals), the team's 125-pound grappler, will compete on the national stage for the first time after a strong performance in the Super Region 1 wrestleback bracket that featured two pins and a pair of technical falls.the Lewistown, Pa., native's year has been headlined by a second half hot stretch that he rode to a qualifying spot at nationals, one that he hopes to continue to ride to his first career All-American honor this weekend.

Ortega (12-6, 3rd at Super Regionals) grappled in a weight class with what turned out to be two of the top four wrestlers in the nation at 141 pounds. That didn't stop the Clark, N.J., native from using a pair of sudden victory decision victories to steal the third qualifying spot, one that he hopes to use to surprise people this upcoming weekend on the big stage.

Gimbor (21-3, Super Region Champion) enters the tournament as the fifth-seeded 174-pound grappler, the highest ranking in Super Region 1 after defeating Pitt-Johnstown's Ty Morrison (No. 7 in latest polls) by a 7-4 decision in the finals at the end of last month. With just three losses in one of his most successful campaigns in Kutztown, he will once again look to make a deep dive into the national tournament as he looks to bring home his second All-American honor.

Casilio (15-2, 3rd at Super Regionals) has made the most of his first season at Kutztown after departing from conference rival Gannon, and the graduate student managed to reach nationals after facing tough competition in his 184-pound bracket at the Super Region 1 Championships. His third-place finish takes the spotlight off of him for the moment, but his record on the year makes him a sneaky pick to go a long way in South Dakota.

McIntyre (20-3, 3rd at Super Regionals), a key omission from the national rankings, put on a dominant showing at regionals, using a trio of pins to ride to a third-place finish on the day. He looks to improve on his 20-win season and use the dominance that he has displayed on the mat all season long to secure his first All-American honor in his third full campaign at KU.

Retter (4-2, 2nd at Super Regionals), Kutztown's ranked heavyweight wrestler, returns to the spotlight with an added target on his back after a pair of upset victories in his brief collegiate wrestling career. Last season, the senior upset top-seeded Crew Howard via an 8-2 decision on the national stage, which he followed by securing All-America honors one bout later. The Quakertown High School product reestablished his dominance with another dominant win at Regionals, defeating fourth-ranked Isaiah Vance by fall to reach the championship match. With more eyes on the dual-sport athlete and heightened expectations with a national seeding assigned to him heading into the opening round, it will certainly be a sight to see the noise that will be made by KU's 285-pound grappler.

The NCAA DII National Championship this weekend is the final outing for 25th-year head wrestling coach Robert Fisher, who has seen plenty of success on the national stage. During his illustrious tenure as head of the KU wrestling program, he has had at least one All-American in 20 consecutive seasons, while his squads have garnered multiple All-American honors in nine seasons, including each of the past two. Last year's historic squad featured a program-record four student-athletes placed on the podium, two of which – Retter and Gimbor – are looking for repeat performances this season.

A season ago, six KU grapplers represented the Golden Bears, while four – the Gimbor brothers, Retter and now-graduate assistant coach Matthew Weinberg – collected All-America honors.

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NCAA DIVISION II NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
FRIDAY, MARCH 13 – SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 2026
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. | DENNY SANFORD PREMIER CENTER

#21 KUTZTOWN GRAPPLERS & FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS
125: Nic Allison (Lewistown, Pa./Mifflin County) (16-7, 3rd at Super Regionals) vs. #6 Devin Gomez (WCO)
141: Joey Ortega (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson) (12-6, 3rd at Super Regionals) vs. #5 Joseph Airola (UNK)
174: No. 5 Dalton Gimbor (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg) (21-3, Super Region Champion) vs. Maxwell Kiel (LAND)
184: Cole Casilio (Wilcox, Pa./Johnsonburg) (15-2, 3rd at Super Regionals) vs. Sullivan Ramos (UWP)
197: Wayne McIntyre (East Stroudsburg, Pa./East Stroudsburg North) (20-3, 3rd at Super Regionals) vs. Logan Kvien (MCK)
285: No. 5 Freddie Retter (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) (4-2, 2nd at Super Regionals) vs. Parker Bentley (WLU)