ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- The Citadel (11-7, 7-1 SoCon) concluded the final rounds of competition at 2026 Southern Conference Wrestling Championship on Saturday afternoon, closing out the two-day affair with a total 53.5 points -- good for fourth on the team leaderboard -- behind a trio of silver-medal performances from
Carson DesRosier (149 lbs),
Kyrel Leavell (157 lbs) and
Jacob Silka (174 lbs) plus a pair of fourth-place showing via
Gylon Sims (125 lbs) and
Teegan Vasquez (133 lbs).
During the Championship Finals, DesRosier faltered in a sudden victory decision, 8-5, before both Leavell and Silka followed suit with narrow one-point losses -- 11-10 and 4-3, respectively. Sims scored an early victory in the Consolation Semifinals before dropping his third-place chance, 2-0, while Vasquez initially won on forfeit before falling by major decision, 14-4, in his own third-place bout.
"I'm pretty lucky to be coaching a bunch of great individuals," interim head coach
Luke Welch said. "These guys represent The Citadel really well, and I wouldn't have been able to get through this year without them. I know they didn't reach their goals for this weekend. Tough weekend, but we have to bounce back, the sun's gonna come up tomorrow. Historic season for this team, the first time in 22 years that the wrestling program won a regular-season conference title. I'm just proud of our guys. I'm proud of our guys for staying at The Citadel this year and doing something that's never been done, something that they're going to hang their hats on forever."
With the Southern Conference Championship officially concluded, the Bulldogs await any potential NCAA at-large decisions -- selection show airs at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 11 via NCAA.com -- ahead of the upcoming NCAA Wrestling Championships, slated for Thursday, March 19 through Saturday, March 21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
ROUND OF 16 #2
141 -- Thomas Termini (CIT) over Rey Ortiz (PC), FALL (2:58)
CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS
125 -- Gylon Sims (CIT) over Cooper Foster (APST), MD (12-4)
133 -- Jarvis Little (APST) over
Teegan Vasquez (CIT), DEC (8-1)
141 -- Hunter Mason (UTC) over
Thomas Termini (CIT), DEC (11-4)
149 -- Carson DesRosier (CIT) over Joseph Morris (PC), TF (20-5, 4:30)
157 -- Kyrel Leavell (CIT) over Christian Hale-Anderson (PC), FALL (2:02)
165 -- Ryan Vigil (VMI) over
Thomas Snipes (CIT), DEC (5-2 SV-1)
174 -- Jacob Silka (CIT) over Beau Lewis (VMI), DEC (7-2)
184 -- Brant Cracraft (CAMP) over
Brodie Porter (CIT), DEC (4-1)
197 -- Adam Ortega (CIT) over Conor Maslanek (CAMP), DEC (9-4)
285 -- Ethan Vergara (UTC) over
Roy Price III (CIT), DEC (10-4)
CONSOLATION QUARTERFINALS
133 -- Teegan Vasquez (CIT) over Luke Passarelli (DAV), FALL (1:01)
141 -- Dyson Durham (VMI) over
Thomas Termini (CIT), MD (14-3)
165 -- Noah Hall (BU) over
Thomas Snipes (CIT), DEC (4-3)
184 -- Brodie Porter (CIT) over Cody Kirk (DAV), MD (18-5)
285 -- DJ Spring (DAV) over
Roy Price III (CIT), DEC (4-2)
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
125 -- Cooper Flynn (UTC) over
Gylon Sims (CIT), DEC (4-2)
149 -- Carson DesRosier (CIT) over Kaden Keiser (APST), DEC (6-5)
157 -- Kyrel Leavell (CIT) over Jeremiah Price (APST), MD (14-5)
174 -- Jacob Silka (CIT) over Isaiah Guerrero (GWU), DEC (5-2)
197 -- Kade Rule (UTC) over
Adam Ortega (CIT), TF (19-4, 6:56)
CONSOLATION SEMIFINALS
125 -- Gylon Sims (CIT) over Brady Joling (DAV), DEC (7-2)
133 -- Teegan Vasquez (CIT) over Logan Heil (CAMP), FOR
184 -- Landon Jones (UTC) over
Brodie Porter (CIT), DEC (12-6)
197 -- Toby Schoffstall (VMI) over
Adam Ortega (CIT), DEC (14-8)
THIRD PLACE
125 -- Cooper Foster (APST) over
Gylon Sims (CIT), DEC (2-0)
133 -- Trayce Eckman (BU) over
Teegan Vasquez (CIT), MD (14-4)
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
149 -- Anderson Heap (DAV) over
Carson DesRosier (CIT), DEC (8-5 SV-1)
157 -- Jeb Prechtel (BU) over
Kyrel Leavell (CIT), DEC (11-10)
174 -- Grant O'Dell (BU) over
Jacob Silka (CIT), DEC (4-3)
-- #NextDogUp --
