After qualifying all ten wrestlers for the Division II National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana for the second time in school history, the UNK wrestling team won their fifth team national championship and their first since 2022.
UNK dominated the scoring, and wrapped up the team title before the individual championship matches took place. The Lopers tallied 115 points, which was 52 more than the second place finisher. Their margin of victory is the sixth best in the national meet all time.
While the Lopers won the team title, UNK had no individual winners. The Lopers had eight All-Americans, which are awarded to anyone who finishes in the top eight. Out of the eight All-Americans, UNK had three runner up finishers. Sixth-year Nick James at 149 pounds, redshirt senior Jacob Deal at 174 pounds and redshirt sophomore Zach Ourada at 125 pounds all finished as the runner up in their weight classes. James had returned to wrestling after serving the beginning part of the year as a coach.
Other top eight finishers featured redshirt junior Hector Serratos at 133 pounds who finished in fifth place, redshirt sophomore Joseph Airola finished in fourth place at 141 pounds, redshirt senior Jacari Deal was an eighth place finisher at 184 pounds, redshirt junior Jackson Kinsella placed third at 197 pounds and redshirt junior heavyweight Crew Howard fought back after losing his first round matchup and finished in fourth place.
It is the first All-American honors for Serratos, Airola, Jacobi and Jacari Deal. It is the second All-American honor for Ourada, Kinsella and Howard. James finished his season earning his fourth All-American honor.
