On Jan. 31 at the Moore Center Gym, the city of Owensboro will be hosting the Great Midwest Athletic
Conference Wrestling Championships. Top athletes from the NCAA Division 2 conference will compete for a conference title on the campus of Brescia University at the Moore Center, with Kentucky Wesleyan College serving as the host institution.
KWC will be one of seven GMAC squads competing. 2026 will be the seventh edition of the conference’s wrestling championship since the sport was first introduced as a championship event by the GMAC in 2018-19. Ashland University claimed last season’s conference championship for its league-leading fourth title. No. 6 Tiffin University and No. 9 Ashland enter the final stages of the regular season in the NCAA D2 National Coaches Rankings, with Findlay University also receiving votes.
Each institution is allowed to enter two student-athletes per weight class into the competition. Seeding for the tournament will be done in accordance with the NCAA Super Regional, with votes submitted and counted to seed individual wrestlers. This will be finalized at the conference coaches’ meeting the night before the championship.
Wrestlers will compete in a bracketed format with their individual points counting towards their team’s championship scoring. Kentucky Wesleyan sophomore, Gavin Uribes, and sophomore, Nolan McKelvy led the Panthers with eight matches won each on the season. This will be KWC’s first conference championship under Jacob Lorentz who was named Head Coach of the Panthers wrestling program in August of 2025.
Lorentz previously held the position of Head Men’s and Women’s Wrestling Coach at William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri. Admission for the championship will be $12 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. Students with college and university IDs will be able to enter for free.
