Owensboro, Ky. – The University of Findlay wrestling team traveled to the Moore Center at Brescia University on Saturday, January 31 to compete in the 2026 Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Championship. In a field featuring some of the region's top talent, the Roughnecks crowned a pair of individual champions and secured a third place finish as a team. Ashland University was the team champion, scoring 161 points while Tiffin University was the runner-up with 149 points.

Leading the charge for the Roughnecks were junior Nate Knowlton and graduate student Ashton Anderson, both of whom captured titles in their respective weight classes with dominant performances.
At 133 pounds, Nate Knowlton (3-0) was unstoppable on his path to the top of the podium, scoring 17.0 team points. He opened his tournament run with back-to-back technical falls, dismantling Lake Erie's Jack Harrison (19-4) in the quarterfinals and Ashland's Donovan Paes (20-5) in the semifinals. In the championship bout, Knowlton and Tiffin's Cael Woods were locked up a 0-0 through the first three minutes, but a second period takedown for Knowlton would be the difference as he went on to a 3-2 victory to claim the top spot on the podium.

Ashton Anderson (3-0) mirrored that success at 141 pounds, claiming first place and adding 17.5 points to the team total. Anderson set the tone early with a technical fall victory over Davenport's Lucas Nagle. After a win by fall in the semifinals, he capped off his perfect day in the finals, earning a 7-4 decision over Thomas More's Cole Thomas to bring another individual title back to Findlay. In that title bout, Anderson and Thomas each had second period reversals to remain knotted up at 2-2 heading into the final period. Anderson jumped ahead just 18 seconds in with an escape and added a takedown less than a minute later to take control.

At 125 pounds, senior Billy Smith (1-1) earned a runner-up finish. After receiving a bye in the quarterfinals, Smith powered through to the finals with an 8-0 major decision victory over Trevor Wilcox of Thomas More. In the title match, Smith dropped a tight 4-2 decision to Tiffin's Anthony Aniciete, ranked third in the country, to take second place. Also earning a runner-up finish was sophomore Micah Cottrell who won by major decision to open the day and advanced to the finals with a 5-1 win over Colin Roberts of Lake Erie. He was ultimately defeated by fourth-ranked Hayden Kuhn of Ashland.

With their first place finishes, Knowlton and Anderson earn first team all-conference while Smith and Cottrell are second team all-conference.

Other placers for the Roughnecks included AJ Parish and Gary Nilson who each went 3-1, winning their consolation bracket finals to take third place at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively. Donavyn Watts lost in the second round but battled back to win three straight to claim third at 174 pounds. Ronnie Thomas III and Giulian Bodiu each went 3-1 to take third place, as well.

Team Scores

1. Ashland – 161
2. Tiffin – 149
3. Findlay – 140
4. Lake Erie – 97
5. Thomas More – 76
6. Davenport – 49
7. Ky. Wesleyan – 3