ORANGE CITY, Iowa — RV Dakota Wrestling Men's Wrestling competed at the 2026 GPAC Championships over the course of two days.
The Tigers saw success in early rounds, sending six individuals to the semifinals of their respective brackets after the first day of competition. At the light end of the lineup, Tukker Boe would record a loss to his teammate following a first-round bye, while Kipp Cordes would first have to face Ikuhaiakalani Akina of Waldorf, recording a pinfall in 1:48. Cordes's win over Boe set up a day-two opening match against Paul Ruff of Concordia. Ian Metz and Landon Flogstad represented the Tigers at 141, with Metz making it to the semifinal round following a quick 1:02 pinfall in his opening contest and a subsequent 17-1 technical fall, while Flogstad would only need one win on the day to make it to the semifinals after a late pinfall against Evan Fuchs of Briar Cliff. Tyson Johnson was able to ride two byes to the semifinals with a lined-up match against Cal Price of Concordia, and Gavin Braun won his quarterfinal match by a 5-1 decision to advance on the topside of the bracket.
At 165, Jackson Remmers opened up his tournament run with a 1:09 pinfall before falling to the backside of the bracket in a 5-1 decision loss, and was matched by Teagan Foreman at 174, who also split his first matches, moving on following a 9-5 decision win over Ethan Gregg of Briar Cliff. Jagger Tyler would join Foreman in the 174-pound bracket and would record a pinfall against Esteban Sedano of Hastings following a bye to cruise to the semifinals. At 184, Jaxon Quail and Lane Miller would both lose their opening contests, resulting in a matchup on the backside of the bracket between the teammates that saw Quail take the win in sudden victory, 14-11. Cole Hennings rounded out the team's lineup at 285 and lost his opening contest following a first-round bye.
Day two saw some individuals have to claw through the backside of their bracket, still earning placement finishes in the process, while Tyler stayed on the top side of 174, working his way to a championship bout following a 4-0 decision victory in his semifinal matchup against Braedyn Rakes of Morningside. In the 174-pound championship bout, Tyler would face Jake Prudek of Doane in what was an incredibly close contest, with a scoreless first period setting the precedent for how crucial each point was going to be. Tyler grabbed the initial advantage with an escape from the bottom, but was not able to keep Prudek down at the beginning of the third period, leading to a scramble in the final minute of the match to find an offensive crease. Jagger recorded a swift takedown with 35 seconds remaining and helped Prudek down to claim a 4-1 decision win, and claim the GPAC Championship at 174 pounds. Tyler's win also earned him a spot at the NAIA National Championship Tournament. Cordes would be the only other Tiger to earn his way to the National Tournament, as, even after losing his semifinal matchup, he was able to rebound with a 3:45 pinfall and 7-3 decision win to claim third place in the 133-pound bracket.
Boe was not able to carry any momentum into day two, falling in his second compeition of the tournament to end his season. Metz would be the other Tiger to finish in the top three of his bracket following back-to-back wins after a close 5-3 decision loss in the semifinals, and would win his placement match in dominant 14-1 fashion against Josue Munoz of Morningside. His teammate in the same 141-pound bracket, Flogstad, was not able to rebound following his semifinal loss, but would still claim sixth place in the bracket. Johnson wrapped up his collegiate career with a fourth-place finish after a 12-6 decision win against Trystan Berry of Briar Cliff sent him to the placement match, and Braun was able to close a successful freshman campaign at 157 after rebounding from his semifinal loss by claiming a 6:09 pinfall over Cade Braun of Northwestern, leading to a fourth-place finish of his own. Remmers would not find a placement spot at 165, but did record one more win against Cannon Carey of Concordia in a dramatic 4-3 bout. Foreman ran the backside of the 174 bracket with a 6:18 pinfall and 9-7 decision victory to work his way into placing, claiming fourth overall. To round out the full team's performance, Quail would finish in sixth place at 184, while C. Hennings earned fifth at 285 after ending the season in a 4-2 decision win over Eli Criblez of Doane. The team's third-place finish, with 104.5 total points, is the program's best finish at the GPAC Men's Wrestling Championships in 13 years, finishing only behind nationally-ranked Doane and Concordia on the team scoreboard.
DWU Men's Wrestling will wrap up the 2026 season at the NAIA National Championships in Wichita, Kansas, starting on March 5th. See the full 2025-26 schedule here.