For the eighth consecutive season, Muhlenberg sent multiple wrestlers to the podium at the NCAA Regional.

Junior CJ Horvath and senior Ryan Fairchild both advanced to the second day of the 2026 NCAA Region 3 Championships and will compete on Saturday for a spot in the top three and a berth in the national championships.

Horvath, seeded fourth at 125, breezed in his two bouts, ending both in the first period to improve his season record to 24-2. He needed only 8 seconds in his first bout to record a takedown and went on to a 16-1 technical fall, taking over sole possession of first place on the Mules' all-time list with 23 career techs. Horvath nearly recorded another technical fall in his quarterfinal bout, building a 14-1 lead before pinning his opponent with 26 seconds left in the first period.

Horvath's semifinal opponent, top-seeded Alex Diaz of New York University, is undefeated on the season and ranked in the top three in Division III by both The Open Mat (second) and NWCA (third). The second and third seeds are also ranked in the top five in the country in both polls; Horvath is ranked 20th by The Open Mat.

Fairchild (pictured above) went 2-1 on the day, with his lone loss coming to the second-ranked 197-pounder in Division III. He started the tournament with a 2-0 decision, escaping in the second period and riding his opponent out for the entire third period, and notched another shutout in his first consolation bout, scoring takedowns in the second and third periods for an 8-0 win. It was his 18th career major decision, moving him to within two of the school record.

Fairchild, who is ranked eighth in the region, will open the second day against a Messiah opponent ranked seventh in the region. Fairchild is a regional placewinner for the third straight year.

Junior Nick Stump missed the podium by one win. After falling to the 12th-ranked 184-pounder in Division III, Stump rebounded with a major decision but was pinned in the consolation quarterfinals.

Freshman Eoghan O'Hara (149) and junior Tyson Derenberger (165) also earned wins. O'Hara bounced back after getting taken down in the first minute to pin his first opponent in the consolation bracket, while Derenberger recorded a 5-1 decision against a Johns Hopkins wrestler who pinned him earlier this season. Derenberger wrestled a wild match in his tournament opener, overcoming a 9-2 deficit to tie the score before falling, 24-11.

Team Scores after first day (brackets)
1. TCNJ 97.5
2. Messiah (Me) 93.5
3. Ursinus (U) 80.5
4. New York University (NYU) 79.5
5. Gettysburg (G) 68.5
6. Albright (Alb) 60.5
7. Elizabethtown (El) 57.5
8. Arcadia (Arc) 56.5
9. Alvernia (Alv) 54.5
10. Misericordia (Mis) 52
11. York (Y) 46.5
12. Eastern (Ea) 39
12. McDaniel (Mc) 39
14. Merchant Marine (MM) 35
15. Marymount (Ma) 26.5
16. MUHLENBERG 25
17. Johns Hopkins (JH)
18. King's (K) 12
19. Delaware Valley (DV) 7
19. Scranton (S) 7
21. Penn State Altoona 0

Muhlenberg Results
125
CJ Horvath (Muhl) tech fall Austin Jeffrey (Me), 1:59 (16-1)   
Horvath pinned Lucas Griffin (S), 2:34

133
Jacob Venezia (NYU) tech fall Max Rotter (Muhl), 2:35 (19-4)
Duncan Stadler (JH) tech fall Rotter, 3:51 (21-5)

149
Thomas Monn (Mc) tech fall Eoghan O'Hara (Muhl), 2:13 (18-1)
O'Hara pinned Trokon Kai (Ea), 0:50
Seth Karpulk (Alb) tech fall O'Hara, 5:13 (20-5)

157
Logan Weaver (MM) maj. dec. Charles Levine (Muhl), 11-2
Frank Gulli (Y) dec. Levine, 14-12

165
Donell Young (S) maj. dec. Tyson Derenberger (Muhl), 24-11
Derenberger dec. Connor Powell (JH), 5-1
Jacob Weaver (Mis) dec. Derenberger, 4-2

174
Zach Needles (Me) tech fall Lucas Velando (Muhl), 6:42 (15-0)
Alex Taylor (Mc) maj. dec. Velando, 10-2

184
Justin Mayes (NYU) tech fall Nick Stump (Muhl), 4:11 (19-3)
Stump maj. dec. Dennis Meza Velasquez (Ma), 11-2
James Lledo (Arc) pinned Stump, 1:07

197
Ryan Fairchild (Muhl) dec. Gideon Fasanya (Alb), 2-0
D.J. Henry (TCNJ) tech fall Fairchild, 5:20 (18-2)
Fairchild maj. dec. Jason Chiodi (Alv), 8-0