WICHITA, Kan. — RV Dakota Wesleyan Men’s Wrestling saw three athletes compete at the 2026 NAIA Men’s Wrestling National Championships, hosted at the Heartland Credit Union Arena.
The first of the three to qualify was Kipp Cordes, who made it to the tournament at 133 following a third-place finish at the GPAC Championships. Cordes fell in the opening round to the 13th-seeded Alex Tabor of Lindsey Wilson after a close 5-3 decision battle. His follow-up match on the backside of the bracket against Kai Carson of Eastern Oregon would also be a back-and-forth affair, but Cordes was able to turn Carson in the final 35 seconds of the match to record a thrilling pinfall victory. The final match of his tournament run was a gritty 4-3 loss to the third-seeded Matthew Terrence of Doane, and even in his defeats, Cordes was able to end the season on a high note by going toe-to-toe against some of the country’s top wrestlers.
Teagan Foreman competed in the 174-pound bracket after earning an at-large bid following his fourth-place finish at the GPAC Championships. His path through the bracket was similar to Cordes’s, as he would fall in his opening contest in a close 2-1 battle against No. 7 Weston Melvin of Cumberlands, but would also be able to rebound on the backside of the bracket with a 13-11 decision win over Joseph Lashuay of Cornerstone in an offensive scrap. Foreman’s run at the tournament came to a close as the ninth-seeded Leonardo Galasso was able to double Foreman’s points in a bout that would end in a 22-11 major decision. Foreman showed excellent poise at the biggest stage of his collegiate career and represented the Tigers well.
The final member of the three-man lineup was Jagger Tyler, fresh off a GPAC Championship at the 174-pound weight class, who came into the tournament as the 12th-seeded wrestler in the bracket. He was able to begin his tournament run with a win after a dominant 11-2 major decision victory over Jeivan Ross of Marian, but would fall to the backside of the bracket after narrowly losing by a 5-4 decision to No. 5 Reese Jones of Life. Jagger responded by rattling off three consecutive wins to claw his way into placing, which included tough and technically sound 9-6, 8-6, and 4-3 decision victories.
To get into placing and earn All-American status, Tyler was able to knock off the seventh-seeded Weston Melvin, who had defeated his teammate earlier in the tournament. Tyler would fall in his following match, 11-8, to Life’s Konlin Weaver, but because of his placement, would have one more match to determine seventh place in the 174-pound bracket. He faced No. 8 Shadrick Slone and put up a solid fight but was not able to outpace the Campbellsville wrestler, falling 10-3 in his final contest of the season. Still, with his four wins, Jagger was able to put himself into elite company, both in the national rankings and in Dakota Wesleyan history.
Tyler’s remarkable finish marks the 23rd All-American distinction in DWU Men’s Wrestling history, and the 18th overall individual to earn such honors. As a team, the Tigers earned 34th place out of 63 represented schools with 9.5 team points.