York, Neb.—Spire wrestling hit the road running in 2026 as they traveled to York, Nebraska to take on the Panthers on a Sunday afternoon dual on January 4
th, 2026. The 18
th ranked USM men held nothing back and began the new year incredibly strong with a dominant 53-0 shut out over YU.
Top 12 ranked
Brody Gee (125lb-weight class) made quick work of his trip up North, winning by tech fall in just under one minute. The 8
th ranked wrestler in all of NAIA,
Roman De La Cruz (133), was also successful by way of major decision, 19-5 over Holguin for the Panthers.
Spire wrestlers
Ryan Buccat (149) and freshman
Graham Kilpper (165) won their respective matches by decision 4-0 for Buccat and Kilpper by tech fall in two minutes and twenty seconds over Watts of York.
Michael Ager (174) won by fall over Caleb Davis and to round out the Spire matches for the afternoon was
Orinn Hubbard (184) with a fifty-one second fall over Mingle. Weight classes 141, 157, 197, and 285 were all open for York, so USM athletes
Caden Gallet,
Josey Jernegan,
Gabe Chesbro, and
Devin Lolar all won by forfeit.
Up next, the Spire men will be back on the road this Friday January 9
th as they travel to Marshall, Missouri and battle at the Missouri Valley Duals at 9:00 a.m.
To stay up to date on all NAIA individual rankings, please follow along at
The Open Mat.