Leavenworth, Kan.—Another Spire wrestling season has come to a bittersweet yet successful end. The gauntlet that is collegiate wrestling is a journey of extremes and the No. 18 ranked Spires journey ended on the national stage yet again under the helm of Chuck Kearney and assistants Gabriel Blough and Riley Jaramillo and Head Athletic Trainer/Director of Operations, Raeann Bromert.

The Spires posted dominant performance after dominant performance this season, finishing the regular season undefeated in the KCAC. In a program known for producing champions, our athletes consistency, toughness, and depth in the roster from reigning KCAC Wrestler of the Year, Brody Gee, and veterans Gabe Chesbro, Roman De LaCruz, and Josey Jernegan to freshman standouts Ryan Buccat, Bobby Burke, and Graham Kilpper, truly set USM apart week after week and help develop the championship-level standard that Coach Kearney and his staff demands.

With this remarkable run, the Spire men clinched their second straight KCAC regular season champions, cementing their place as one of the top programs in the conference and reflecting the discipline and direction under coach Kearney's tenure to go along with the nose to the grindstone mentality of the athletes.

USM's commitment to excellence this season shined bright at the KCAC Men's Wrestling Championships as all twelve Spire wrestlers who competed placed in the top five. Brody Gee (125lb.), Roman De La Cruz (133lb.), Gabe Chesbro (197lb.), Graham Kilpper (165lb.), and Josey Jernegan (157lb.) would all take home the top spot in their respective weight classes with only the national stage left to conquer on their 2025-26 season.

They say all good things must come to an end, but it was a tough one to watch the Spires season officially end on day two in Wichita at the 69^th Annual Men's Wrestling National Championship. Brody Gee, Roman De La Cruz, Josey Jernegan, Graham Kilpper, Michael Ager, and Gabe Chesbro would all punch their ticket to nationals to represent everything they've accomplished this year and the battle still ahead.

The No. 2 seeded Brody Gee continued on his successful campaign and added to his growing list of pins this year surpassing 70 pins in his final collegiate season. Brody made quick work of his first match, winning by fall in fifty-six seconds over Lindstrom of Bismarck State and would promptly follow this up with another pin in round two over Trevor Hisey of Indiana Tech to wrap up day one.

Roman De La Cruz would earn the No. 14 seed in the national tournament and would follow suit with a winning day one of his own. Roman would kick off session one with a win by major decision (13-4) over Reeves of Georgetown followed up by a hard-earned win by decision (6-5) in the second session over the No. 3 seed in the tournament, Matthew Terrence of Doane.

Josey Jernegan would work his way to the No. 10 seed going into the big weekend, showing his dominance with a 7-1 win by decision over Freeman of Rio Grande in his first-round match of the morning and would rack up a quick win by disqualification over Stepherson of Southern Oregon, sending him on to day two.

True freshman Graham Kilpper would go 1-2 in his very first post-season appearance. Graham would be defeated by tech fall (4-19) in his first match of the day to Lomeli of Oklahoma City. However, he would impressively bounce back with a pin in a gritty come from behind finish over the No. 10 seeded Price of Concordia University. He would wrap up his freshman season with a loss by decision (1-7) to Vladic of Providence.

Junior Michael Ager would have a challenging tournament appearance, facing two hard-fought losses. Ager would first be defeated by decision (5-7) to No. 5 Jones of Life University and would fight hard, but fall to Ross of Marian in his final outing of the day, concluding his season.

Senior leader and No. 16 seeded Gabe Chesbro would finish the evening and subsequently his season at 1-2 on the day, starting off strong with a win by decision over Riner of Reinhardt. However, he would face a tough battle in his second match facing off against the No. 1 seed Kouekabakilaho of Grand View and would unfortunately be defeated by major decision 1-11. Gabe's final match of the first session would prove challenging as well. After a battle with familiar foe Davidson of Friends University, Gabe would lose by decision 0-1 to put an end to his post season run.

Day two would spell the end of the Spires post season run with Brody, Roman, and Josey all facing losses in the evening sessions.

Gee would be defeated by TF 20-4 to No. 10 Pacheco of Friends University after a tough battle through three periods in the quarterfinal round. The second period would be crucial as Pacheco earned 7 points to Brody's 2, effectively closing the door for a comeback by Gee. Brody would again face defeat in the consolation round, losing by major decision (3-16) in what started out as a back-and-forth battle to Jesse Lewis of Wayland Baptist. Lewis would rack up eleven points in the final period and this would subsequently end Brody's incredibly successful season.

Roman would face a similar story to his day. He would put up a fight starting with a quick take down against No. 6 seeded Luke Rioux of Indiana Tech, but fell by major decision with a final tally of 5-14. In the consolation round, De La Cruz would be matched up against No. 16 seed Zuunbayan of Missouri Valley College. Roman would get down quick in the first period 1-3 and sadly never recover. De La Cruz would be defeated by major decision with a final tally of 3-19, bringing his post season run to a close.

Josey would face an aggressive No. 2 seeded Padilla of Life University in the quarterfinal round last night. Padilla would get up 7-1 over Josey in the first period and wouldn't look back as Jernegan was defeated by a final score of 2-13. Josey's consolation round would tell a similar story for the 157lb.-er. Josey would get down quick 1-7 to No. 12 Cayleb Atkins of Friends University and wouldn't recover, not scoring in the second period and getting two points in the third that just wouldn't be enough. Jernegan would fall by major decision 3-15, putting an end to his exciting season.

A handful of Spires would end their 2025-26 season ranked among the top in the nation, many of whom throughout the year would never once slip from that elite list. Brody Gee would end his senior season ranked No. 9 nationally in the 125lb. weight class. Roman De La Cruz ended his year at No. 14 in the 133lb. weight-class. Josey Jernegan earned himself a No. 11 ranking to end his junior year and Gabe Chesbro finished at No. 17. Incredible accomplishments for our already talented group.

The University of Saint Mary is incredibly proud of Coach Kearney and his team for their outstanding accomplishments during the 2025–26 wrestling season. Wrestling is a sport like no other, their grueling commitment to excellence has brought great recognition to the program and the entire Spire community. With such a strong foundation in place, USM is excited to see what the team will achieve in the seasons to come.