Six Wrestlers Place at NCAA Regionals; Lions Take Ninth
The Penn State Behrend wrestling team finished ninth out of 20 teams at the 2026 NCAA Division III Regionals hosted by Ithaca this weekend.
ITHACA, NY – The Penn State Behrend wrestling team finished ninth out of 20 teams at the 2026 NCAA Division III Regionals hosted by Ithaca this weekend.
* The Lions had six wrestlers place at the NCAA Regionals
* Evan Whiteside and Rudy Brown placed fourth, Abe Keep and Amarfio Reynolds Jr. took sixth, while Cole Neil was seventh and Matthew Caldwell came in eighth
* Evan Whiteside (125) and Abe Keep (197) both advanced to the semifinals on day one before falling into the consolation bracket
* Whiteside registered two pins (5:39, 3:34) to go with a 16-9 decision in the quarterfinal to advance to the semifinals at 125
* The senior posted a 19-3 technical fall to get into the third-place bout
* At 197, Abe Keep advanced to the semifinal's thanks to a pin in 5:51 and a technical fall (22-3)
* Keep fell 5-2 in the to Ryan Galka of Ithaca to drop to the consolation semifinals and then placed sixth due to a medical forfeit
* Rudy Brown, wrestling at 149 posted a 4-2 record with three decision wins and then a pin in the consolation semifinals (6:51)
* In the third place match, Brown fell to A. Leonard of Oneonta by a small margin of 4-2
* Reynolds Jr. registered a 7-4 decision in the opening bout and then pinned Conner Kerwin of Wilkes in 6:31 before falling 6-5 in the quarterfinals
* Reynolds stayed alive in the consolation bracket with a 4-2 decision and then a 2:39 pinfall, before falling in the consolation semifinals
* Reynolds took sixth due to a medical forfeit
* At 141, Neil made it to the sixth-place match with a 3-2 record
* Neil defeated Richard Morales of Alfred State for seventh overall
* At 174, Anthony Salvini posted a 2-2 record, earning a pair of pins before falling in the consolation round
* Matt Caldwell led the Lions at 285, going 2-1 on day one. He posted a 6-4 win and then earned a triple-overtime victory, 3-2
* Caldwell fell in the quarterfinals and fought back to get a placing bout, falling 5-0 to Noah Berlin-Langston of Stevens Tech for eighth overall