Stratford’s Nico Provo earned All-American honors at the NCAA Division I national championships last March. (Photo courtesy Sam Janicki / SJanickiPhoto.com)
The collegiate wrestling season opens this weekend with Sacred Heart getting a jump on things by traveling to Hofstra on Saturday for a 2 p.m. dual meet.
It is the first dual meet of the season, according to a news release from the National Wrestling Coaches Association. The match will be streamed live on will be streamed live on FloCollege and the Hofstra Pride YouTube channel.
Head coach John Clark begins his tenth season on the Pioneers bench with an older lineup as Sacred Heart (3-9, 12th EIWA) expects to put three graduate students into the starting lineup on Saturday against Hofstra – Braxton Fries-Appello (133), John Hildebrandt (141) and Felix Lettinig (149) along with seniors Brendan Gilchrist (285) from Norwalk and juniors Kevin Taylor (197) and Austin Zimmerman (125).
Gilchrist (6-14) was the lone Sacred Heart wrestler to win a medal at last year’s EIWA championship meeting, taking seventh at 285 pounds.
With nearly 50 wrestlers on the roster, there will be no shortage of challenges to get into the starting lineup. The Pioneers have a new assistant coach this season with Michael Wilson joining the program. Wilson competed at Rider University and twice qualified for the NCAA Division I tournament.
2026-27 schedule for Connecticut wrestling programs
A year ago, Stratford’s Nico Provo from Stanford became the sixth wrestler from Connecticut to earn All-American honors at the NCAA Division I championship meet by finishing third at 125 pounds. He was 7-1 in the tournament.
Only two other state wrestlers have had better finishes. North Carolina State’s Kevin Jack was third at 141 in 2017 while Stamford’s John Engel won a national championship with Lehigh at 118 pounds in 1931.
Defending national champion Penn State (15-0) begins the season as the No. 1 ranked team in the country. The Nittany Lions have won 86 dual matches in a row and have won five consecutive NCAA championships.
Oklahoma State is ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll followed by Nebraska, Iowa, and Virginia Tech.
Coast Guard (9-4, 3rd NCAA Region 1), Trinity (8-9, 7th Region 1) and Wesleyan (5-3, 6th Region1) will open their Division III seasons on Nov. 14.
Four state wrestlers earned All-American honors at the Division III level but just Jack Richardson of Johnson & Wales is the only wrestler returning. Richardson, who is from Killingly, wrestled at 165 pounds
Bridgeport will begin their second varsity season since bringing varsity wrestling back. The Purple Knights were 3-8 in their first season at the Division II level.
2026-27 Connecticut wrestlers in college
The season begins this weekend for the Sacred Heart and Bridgeport women’s programs, too, at the ESU Open at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania.
Sacred Heart (17-5) won the NCAA Region I championship last February and finished 15th in the first NCAA women’s championship tournament. The Pioneers are ranked No. 11 in the NWCA preseason poll.
The Pioneers return two All-Americans – senior Love Daley (160) and sophomore Josephine Larson (207) – along with other NCAA qualifiers – Lauren Nguyen (124) and Madeline Hodges (180). Three Pioneers are ranked in the NWCA preseason rankings. Love is ranked No. 4, Larson is ranked No. 5 while Hodges is ranked tenth.
Bridgeport (1-8) is set to begin their second season. The Purple Knights will be led by NCAA qualifier Lindsey Rywolt (131). She went 25-6 a year ago and is ranked No. 9 in the country in NWCA preseason rankings at 131. Sophomore Jocelyn Sanchez is ranked No. 5 in the preseason rankings at 103 pounds in NCAA Region 1.
UConn in top 20
UConn’s club wrestling team is ranked No. 19 in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association’s (NCWA) preseason rankings. The Huskies finished fourth overall among NCWA Division II programs ast last year’s NCWA national championship tournament and and 13th overall. UConn is led by two-time All-American Victor Petkov (Ridgefield), who is the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the country at 165 pounds. Petkov finished third at 165 a year ago.
2026-27 schedule for Connecticut wrestling programs
2026-27 Connecticut wrestlers in college
NWCA Division I Men’s Wrestling Coaches Poll
Preseason, Oct. 28, 2026
| Team | Rec. | Pts | Conf. | LY |
| 1. Penn State (16) | 15-0 | 400 | Big Ten | 1 |
| 2. Oklahoma State | 15-1 | 382 | Big 12 | 3 |
| 3. Nebraska | 13-6 | 362 | Big Ten | 5 |
| 4. Iowa | 12-6 | 344 | Big Ten | 7 |
| 5. Virginia Tech | 11-3 | 338 | ACC | 6 |
| 6. Ohio State | 18-1 | 322 | Big Ten | 2 |
| 7. Stanford | 7-6 | 312 | ACC | 18 |
| 8. Minnesota | 11-5 | 265 | Big Ten | 9 |
| 9. Iowa State | 12-2 | 249 | Big 12 | 4 |
| 10. Missouri | 12-8 | 248 | Big 12 | 14 |
| 11. Cornell | 9-7 | 213 | Ivy League | NR |
| 12. Lehigh | 11-7 | 192 | EIWA | 25 |
| 13. Arizona State | 5-11 | 166 | Big 12 | NR |
| 14. Michigan | 9-6 | 165 | Big Ten | 12 |
| 15. NC State | 15-4 | 157 | ACC | 8 |
| 16. North Carolina | 9-5 | 156 | ACC | 15 |
| 17. Oklahoma | 9-6 | 135 | Big 12 | 23 |
| 18. Wyoming | 8-5 | 124 | Big 12 | 22 |
| 19. Illinois | 12-5 | 123 | Big Ten | 10 |
| 20. Rutgers | 14-5 | 117 | Big Ten | 11 |
| 21. Northern Iowa | 11-8 | 92 | Big 12 | 17 |
| 22. Pittsburgh | 11-4 | 86 | ACC | 13 |
| 23 West Virginia | 11-5 | 60 | Big 12 | 16 |
| 24. Penn | 7-4 | 32 | Ivy League | NR |
| 25. Princeton | 4-11 | 25 | Ivy League | NR |
| Others Receiving Votes: Little Rock 17, Indiana 16, Purdue 14, Columbia 13, Navy 13, Air Force 10, Oregon State 9, South Dakota State 9, North Dakota State 8, Army West Point 7, Northern Illinois 5, SIU Edwardsville 4, Wisconsin 4, Bucknell 3, Cal Poly 2, Lock Haven 1. | ||||
NWCA Women’s top 25 poll
The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) has released its preseason NCAA women’s coaches poll for the 2026-27 season. It is not based on a team’s dual meet strength but is a tournament power index ranking, correlated to placement points at the NCAA tournament.
Top 25 teams – 1. McKendree 98, 2. Iowa 89, 3. Presbyterian 64, 4. North Central College 38, 5. King and Lehigh 36, 7. Grand Valley State 35, 8. Colorado Mesa 27, 9. Quincy 22, 10. Emmanuel (GA) 19, 11. Sacred Heart 17, 12. Aurora, Eastern, Lock Haven, Simpson (IA) and Fort Hays State 16, 17. Wartburg and West Liberty 14, 19. Northern Michigan 13, 20. Buffalo State 12. 21. Gannon and Lindenwood 9, 23. East Stroudburg 8, 24. Delaware State and Simon Fraser 7
