The National Collegiate Athletic Association has unveiled the brackets and seedings for the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Wrestling Championships, set for March 13–14 at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids. The championship will be hosted by the American Rivers Conference alongside Cedar Rapids Tourism.
The Wartburg College men's wrestling program qualified nine individuals for the first time since 2018:
Brett Birchman (125),
Patrick Mullen (133),
Kade Blume (141),
Caleb Olson (149),
Charlie Dojan (157),
Mike Slade (174),
Kasey Ross (184),
Cal Dorota (197), and
Mitchell Williamson (HWT).
Since 1995, either Wartburg or Augsburg has claimed the Division III national championship, with the Knights pursuing their 17th national title this weekend.
For more information, visit the NCAA.com championship homepage.
LAST TIME OUT
Wartburg claimed its fifth-straight regional title in Region VI, amassing 210.5 team points – the Knights' team-point total ranked as the third highest across all NCAA Division III regionals this year.
Head coach
Eric Keller collected his fifth NWCA Region Coach of the Year award, while the Wartburg coaching staff earned Region VI Staff of the Year honors. The Knights crowned five regional champions, led by Birchman, Blume, Ross, Dorota, and Williamson – marked the programs highest total since the 2017-18 season, when they had seven champs.
LAST SEASON AT NCAA DIII CHAMPIONSHIPS
Wartburg secured its 16th national title with 83.5 points, sharing the championship with Johnson & Wales as co-champions.
Massoma Endene and
Mitchell Williamson captured individual titles at 197 and 285 pounds, becoming the 51st and 52nd NCAA national champions in program history. Williamson's heavyweight crown marked the program's first since Bowen Wileman in 2011 and just the third heavyweight national champion in Wartburg history.
INDIVIDUAL SEEDING/SEASON RECORDS
FRIDAY, MARCH 13 - SESSION I & II
Session I
8 a.m. – Doors Open for Spectators
9:35 a.m. – Opening Ceremonies Video
10 a.m. – Preliminary Rounds One and Two (Six Mats), Consolation First Round (Six Mats)
3 p.m. – End of Session I
Session II
4 p.m. – Doors Open for Spectators
5 p.m. – Championship Quarterfinals (Three Mats), Consolation Second and Third Rounds (Three Mats)
10 p.m. – End of Session II
SATURDAY, MARCH 14 – SESSIONS III & IV
Session III
8 a.m. – Doors Open for Spectators
10 a.m. – Championship Semifinals (Two Mats) and Consolation Quarterfinals (Two Mats, Consolation Semifinals (Four Mats), Consolation Matches for 3rd, 5th, and 7th (Three Mats)
3 p.m. – End of Session III
Session IV
5:30 p.m. – Doors Open for Spectators
6:30 p.m. – Parade of All-Americans
7 p.m. – Finals (One Mat)
9 p.m. – Awards Presentation immediately following completion of all wrestling for teams and final two matches. Individual weight class awards will be presented between finals matches.
**The renamed Alliant Energy Powerhouse (formerly the U.S. Cellular Center) was the host for the 2022 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship and will serve as the host again in 2026. The Alliant Energy Powerhouse has been the host for the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships in 2008-09-10, 2013-14-16, and was set to host in 2020 before the pandemic also canceled it. Cedar Rapids Tourism and VenuWorks, which operates Alliant Energy Powerhouse, partnered with the conference to put on the wrestling events. The A-R-C looks forward to bringing back the Division III Wrestling Championships to Cedar Rapids in 2026.
