Council Bluffs, IA – The defending national champion Indian Hills Men's Wrestling squad is set for the 2026 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, IA this weekend.

DETAILS: 2026 NJCAA Wrestling National Championships

Council Bluffs, IA  |  Mid-America Center

Friday, March 6 - Saturday, March 7

WATCH LIVE: NJCAA Network ($)

LIVE RESULTS: FloWrestling

LIVE LOOK-INS / AUDIO: GoHillsTV

SCHEDULE: 2026 NJCAA Men's Wrestling Championship

TICKETS: 2026 NJCAA Men's Wrestling Championship

The Indian Hills Men's Wrestling squad, 2025 NJCAA National Champions, will look to defend its title as the Warriors open up action at the 2026 NJCAA National Championship Friday morning.

BACK POINTS

For the first time in program history, the Warriors will head into the National Championship as the team to beat after taking home the program's first-ever title a year ago.

• The Warriors set an NJCAA record in 2025 with 182.0 team points, the most in the 64-year history of the NJCAA National Championship.
• Indian Hills returns six All-Americans to this year's national tournament, including two defending national champions in Gavyn Whitehead (141lbs) and Andrew Marquez (197lbs).
  • The six returning All-Americans are the most among all teams in this year's field.
• Four newcomers will take on the national tournament for the first time in their collegiate career, including ICCAC Wrestler of the Year Jahkari Clark.
• All 10 Warriors earned a top-10 seed, the first time the program has accomplished that feat in program history.
• Indian Hills is coming off an ICCAC regular season and NJCAA North Central District Championship while having won 23 consecutive dual matches.
• The Warriors enter the national tournament as the No. 1 nationally ranked team in the NJCAA, The Open Mat Team Dual, and The Open Mat Team Tournament rankings while boasting the No. 1 overall pound-for-pound wrestler in Gavyn Whitehead.
• The Warriors will look to become just the 13th program in NJCAA history to repeat as NJCAA National Champions.
  • Over the last 12 seasons, only five programs have captured a team national title at the scholarship level.
    • NEO A&M, Iowa Central, Clackamas, Western Wyoming, Indian Hills.

RETURN TO THE MAC

The Warriors will head to the Mid-America Center for the national tournament for the sixth consecutive year where the program has established themselves as a perennial national contender.

• In five all-time trips to the national tournament , the Warriors have never finished outside of the top-10.
  • 1st, 2025 | 7th, 2024 | 9th, 2023 | 8th, 2022 | 8th, 2021
• The Warriors have posted their top-two all-time finishes in each of the last two seasons (7th in 2024, 1st in 2025).
• Indian Hills has sent 60 wrestlers to the national tournament all-time, boasting 27 All-Americans.

SCOUTING THE FIELD

One of the premier national championships across the NJCAA, the 2025 NJCAA Men's Wrestling Championship features a loaded field a championship contenders.

• All three national polls (NJCAA, The Open Mat Team Dual, and The Open Mat Team Tournament) place Iowa Central at No. 2 followed by Western Wyoming, Southeast, and Clackamas (OR) heading into the national tournament.
• Iowa Central boasts five No. 1 overall seeds in their respective brackets while Snow (UT) claimed two top seeds.
• Outside of Indian Hills, just 13 individual NJCAA All-Americans (top-five) return from last year's national tournament.
  • Southeast (NE) and Northwest (WY) return two All-Americans while seven additional programs return one podium finisher.
• Along with Marquez and Whitehead, Keith Smith of Southeast is the lone returning national champion. Keith, who won the title at 149lbs last year, bumped up to 157lbs this season.
• Western Wyoming returns two national runners-up in Dmitri Alacorn (141lbs) and Tommy Dalton (149lbs).
  • Alacorn, who lost last year's national title to Gavyn Whitehead, is seeded fourth in this year's bracket.

NJCAA Team Rankings  |  NJCAA Individual Rankings  |  The Open Mat Rankings

BRACKETS

125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285

WARRIORS AT NATIONALS

NEW YEAR - WHAT TO KNOW

Fans can keep up the Indian Hills Men's and Women's Wrestling squad all year long through a number of ways:

• X (formerly Twitter): @IHCCAthletics  |  @IHCCWrestling
• Facebook: Indian Hills Athletics  |  Indian Hills Wrestling
• Instagram: @IndianHills_CC_Wrestling  |  @IHCCAthletics
• Youtube: Indian Hills Athletics
• Website: www.indianhillsathletics.com
• Catch up with the history of Indian Hills Wrestling: Indian Hills Men's Wrestling Record Book
• Keep up with former Indian Hills Wrestling standouts and where they are now | Next Level Warriors - Indian Hills Men's Wrestling 
• All home duals take place at the Multi-Purpose Building on the Indian Hills Centerville Campus

HOW TO WATCH

As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of all Indian Hills home wrestling duals. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:

• GoHillsTV App: Download the Iowa Media Network app on your android or ios device and navigate to the GoHillsTV section
• Website: https://www.iowamedianetwork.com/gohillstv to catch all live and archived information
• Roku Streaming Device (new):  Have a Roku TV or streaming stick? Download the GoHillsTV app to start streaming today!

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