CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Three Williams College wrestlers have advanced through the first day of competition at the NCAA National Championship meet in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with the team putting in an excellent showing at the event.
Jamie Evarts, Peter Kane, and Caleb Seyfried will be competing on Saturday in Cedar Rapids, already guaranteed of their All-American status as Top 8 finishers, while Henry Forte, Gage Wiggins, and Zach Borzio fought hard on the first day but saw their seasons come to an end.
Kane is the only Eph still in contention to win the event, as he won both his matches on Friday. The #1 seed in the 157 pound weight class opened by pinning Jaryn Hartranft of Wilkes in 3:28, and then earned a 3-1 decision over Karson Otis of perennial powerhouse Augsburg. On Saturday, Kane will face #5 seed Liam Flanagan of Washington & Lee for a spot in the final.
At the 149 pound weight class, #11 seed Caleb Seyfried opened with a loss to the #6 seed from Central (Iowa), Cade Siebrecht, via a tight 6-4 decision, but the senior rebounded with a pair of wins in the consolation bracket, first topping Jason Giordano of TCNJ in a 5-3 decision, then upset #4 seed Cole Handlovic of Stevens in 7-4 decision. He will face Maksim Mukhamedaliyev of Chicago on Saturday.
Evarts had a similar path, dropping his opening match to Hunter Moore of Roanoke in a sudden victory decision, but bouncing back to win against Jackson Davis of Chicago in a 13-3 major decision and Sean Malenfant of Alfred State in an 8-4 decision. He takes on #10 seed Easton Hull of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Saturday.
At 174 pounds, first-year Gage Wiggins opened with a win over Konrad Parker of Ithaca in an extremely tight match via overtime, but then faced #1 seed Hunter Mays of TCNJ and pushed the favorite to the limit but dropped an 11-7 decision. He then dropped a tight 3-0 decision to Thomas West of Baldwin Wallace to end his outstanding first season.
Henry Forte had a pair of difficult matches in the 165 weight class, losing to Keegan Demarest of Messiah and then Carter Davis of Penn Tech in a tight 8-5 decision. Zach Borzio at 197 also faced tough opposition, dropping matches to Carson Licastri of Oneonta and Mateo Casillias of Millikin. The two juniors had excellent years and will look to return in 2027.
Session III starts at 10:00 a.m. CT with the finals at 7:00 p.m. CT on an exciting day in Cedar Rapids.
