The College has been the site for many collegiate wrestling tournaments for a long time. From hosting the annual Wabash College Invitational, to Indiana Little State, this campus has seen a lot of good competition on the mat. This year Wabash has the privilege of hosting the 2025 NCAA Region V Tournament.
In the 2010’s, Wabash was a prominent location for hosting regionals, hosting in 2014, 2015 and 2016, as well as 2018 and 2019. This will be the first time Wabash has hosted a regional since 2019, where they took first scoring 156.5 team points and qualified six for nationals.
The Region V regional consists of 18 teams: including three of the top 20 teams in the nation, 11th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 13th-ranked North Central College, and 19th-ranked Wabash College. Each team will have one athlete represent them at each of the ten weight classes. In order to qualify for nationals, the athletes must place in the top three of their weight class.
Every year, schools who are interested in hosting the regional will put in a bid to the NCAA where they will choose based on a number of criteria. These criteria consist of a number of things, such as facilities and budget. Associate Director of Athletics and Recreation Victoria Gregory, went into details on what the criteria and what it takes to host this event.
“We put in a bid to the NCAA, and they consider hotels, the facilities and that you’re able to accommodate all of the security and medical needs,” said Gregory. “So the town is also a part of it with having those resources as well. Then it’s also the budget. Like, how efficient can you be with the budget to help the NCAA with that as well.”
While fitting the criteria to host the event takes a lot of work, it takes just as much to run the event. The school is responsible for hiring staff and making reservations for those traveling to work the event.
“We set everything up, from securing hotel rooms for the officials, to security, hiring an ambulance, all of that,” said Gregory “We’ll have our athletic trainers and a doctor here, and some of the members of the wrestling team will be helping with game operations at the tables, at each mat. We use a lot of our own equipment, and they send us some.”
As the school prepares to take on the challenge of hosting this important event, the wrestling team is preparing to compete in front of their home crowd. Going into his second season at the head of the program, this is the first time Head Coach Jake Fredricksen will get to coach his team in a regional hosted at Wabash.
The Wabash team has competed at home two other times this season, but with the stakes much higher, having home field advantage could help the Little Giants tremendously.
“I think it’s a huge advantage, to have our guys sleep in their own beds, and then they can walk two minutes over to the facility.” said Fredricksen “They’ve wrestled on those mats hundreds upon thousands of times, that gives you a lot of confidence as an athlete.”
Another person who is excited to take advantage of this opportunity is returning All-American James Day ’26. Day looks to qualify for nationals for the third year in a row, this time in front of a home crowd.
“Being able to compete in a familiar environment, I think will serve as a big advantage and I’m super excited to be able to compete in front of a home crowd.” said Day. “I’m hoping to win regionals this year and punch my ticket to nationals, and there’s no better place to do it then at home.”
Day has been a key contributor for the Little Giants this season and looks to continue that this weekend. He currently ranks second in the region and seventh in the nation at 133-pounds, according to the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) rankings.
Along with Day, there are some other Little Giant wrestlers to watch out for. Daniel Uribe ’25 is competing to qualify for the national tournament for the fourth time in his collegiate career. Uribe is currently ranked first in the region and eighth in the country at 149-pounds according to the NWCA rankings
Chase Baczek ’25 is a two-time All-American for the Little Giants, placing sixth in 2022 and seventh in 2023 at 184-pounds.Baczek is wrestling to qualify for his fourth trip to nationals. He is currently ranked first in the region and fifth in the nation according to the NWCA rankings.
While performing well for the success of the team is often something that’s important, the Little Giants have a different mentality going into an important event like this one, hoping to qualify as many guys as they can for the national tournament.
“I think the team goal is pushing through as many guys as possible,” said Fredricksen. “I don’t really think about where we want to end as a team. Placement wise, it’s more about how many guys we can push through to the national tournament.”
Hosting this event has also brought a lot of excitement to Wabash students and wrestling fans. For many, this is an opportunity to watch high level competition right in their own backyard.
“I’m super excited for it,” said Professor Joe Scanlon ’04. “The one thing that is tough about wrestling is they don’t host a lot of home events. And to host regionals, where people are competing to go to nationals – the ultimate goal – is really exciting. My youngest son is in seventh-grade wrestling, and I’m really excited to take him to regionals here at Wabash. It’s gonna be a great experience.”
Many members of the Wabash community have the opportunity to watch and support their friends, students, peers and roommates – watching as they compete in one of the biggest tournaments of the year, and potentially become a national qualifier.
With this year’s NCAA Region V Tournament being hosted at home, there is a lot going on from both ends. The school is working hard to make sure this event goes smoothly, while the Wabash wrestling team prepares to go to battle in front of a home crowd, with their seasons on the line.
Fans should make sure to go out and support the Little Giants as they compete in the NCAA regional at home on Saturday, March 1 in Knowling FieldHouse.