Senior Art Martinez of the Case Western Reserve University wrestling team advanced to the second day of competition at the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Wrestling Championships on Friday at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, securing at least an eighth-place finish and All-America honors.

Martinez will become the program's first All-American in 14 years and its first-ever at 133 pounds.

In the first round of the championship, Martinez, who was seeded eighth in the draw, faced ninth-seeded Chance Suddeth from Augsburg. Neither wrestler gained an edge in the first period, despite a late attempt by Martinez. Suddeth started the second period on the bottom, earning a point from an escape eight seconds into the frame. Despite aggressive attacks from Martinez, the two wrestlers remained neutral for the rest of the period. The Spartan wrestler quickly escaped to start the third, tying the score at one. With neither wrestler scoring, the bout headed to overtime. Just 22 seconds into the extra period, Martinez took Suddeth to the mat and secured a 4-1 win by sudden victory.

He then faced top-seeded Garrett Totten of TCNJ, who had lost just once all season, in the quarterfinal round. Totten had three takedowns in the first period, with Martinez escaping all three, and prevailed by decision, 10-4.

In the consolation bracket, Martinez faced Marvin Armistead from Coast Guard with his season, career, and All-America honors on the line. Armistead had an early 3-1 lead after a takedown and an escape in the first period. Martinez started the second period with a second escape to cut into his deficit. Midway through the stanza, he took down Armistead to gain a 5-3 lead and won by pin 4:21 into the bout.

The pin was his 11th of the season and the 43rd of his career. Martinez improved to 35-5 during the campaign and 139-37 for his career, the second-most wins in program history. He will face Wyatt Unser of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the consolation semifinal on Saturday.

Two other Spartan wrestlers, senior Thomas Wagner and junior Mathew Gummere, qualified for the national championship and wrestled on Friday. Both wrestlers went 0-2 at the meet.

In the first preliminary round, Wagner was matched up against Braden Kmak of Ursinus at 157 pounds. After an early scramble, Wagner allowed an early takedown to fall behind 3-0. Midway through the period, he was pinned to send him into the consolation bracket.

In the consolation preliminary round, Londen Murphy of Ohio Northern secured a takedown in the closing seconds of the first period to take a 3-0 lead. Wagner, who started on the bottom in the second period, picked up two points with a quick reversal to cut into the deficit. Murphy responded with a reversal of his own to reclaim a three-point edge. Wagner escaped midway through the period, making the score 5-3. Murphy chose to start the third period on the bottom and earned two points with a reversal to increase his lead to four and end Wagner's season.

Wagner ended the season with a record of 38-10, the second-most victories on the squad, with 13 pins and seven technical falls. He finished his four-year career with 96 wins, tied for the 17th most in program history, with 34 coming by pin and 19 by technical fall. Wagner placed third in the region this season, fourth in 2025, and sixth in 2024.

In the first preliminary round, Gummere faced Khalil Mitchell from Averett at 184 pounds. Mitchell secured a takedown and added eight points with two near-falls to take an 11-0 lead. A minute into the second frame, Mitchell scored two points with a reversal and ended the match by technical fall at 4:30 and the score at 17-1.

Gummere faced North Central's Casey Aikman in the consolation preliminary round, a rematch of the regional quarterfinal, which Aikman won 13-6. Thirty seconds into the match, Aikman recorded a takedown, but Gummere escaped 17 seconds later to make the score 3-1. Gummere took down Aikman with 90 seconds left in the period to claim a 4-3 advantage. The North Central wrestler escaped to tie the score and recorded a takedown quickly to retake the lead, 7-4. He added a three-point near-fall to increase his edge to six before the period ended. Aikman scored 12 points in the second period, ending Gummere's season with a technical fall at 4:25.

Gummere ended the year with a record of 29-19, including eight pins and two technical falls. Through three seasons, he has a 75-57 record, winning 22 matches by pin and seven by technical fall. He placed in the region for the first time this year, finishing third to qualify for the national championship.

Spartan Notes

• The Spartans are tied for 37th out of 68 teams with 7.5 points after the first day of competition
• Case Western Reserve's previous All-American and national qualifier was Issac Dukes, who placed seventh at 157 pounds in 2012
• Martinez becomes the 12th All-American honoree in program history, earning the team's 20th-ever award
• CWRU was represented by three wrestlers at the national championship for the first time since 2003

Up Next

Consolation quarterfinal matches are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET on Saturday with consolation semifinal matches and place matches to follow.