Your Starting 1?0? for the EIWAs!#ONEBinghamton pic.twitter.com/w5635PY11d
— Binghamton Wrestling (@BearcatsWrestle) March 6, 2026
VESTAL, N.Y. – The Binghamton wrestling team (7-4, 4-1 EIWA) turns its attention to the postseason as 10 of its wrestlers are set to compete at the 122nd EIWA Championships from Friday through Saturday at American University's Bender Arena in Washington, D.C.
The Bearcats will face wrestlers from the other 11 EIWA institutions, as they look to qualify for the NCAA Wrestling Championships, which takes place from March 19-21 in Cleveland, Ohio. The EIWAs begin at 10 a.m., on Friday with the preliminaries and quarterfinals in the opening session. The semifinals and quarterfinal consolations take place later that day, starting at 3:30 p.m. On Saturday, the semifinal consolations and the seventh place matches are held starting at 11 a.m. The last session, which includes the finals, begins at 2 p.m. All sessions will be broadcast on FloWrestling.
Head Wrestling Coach Ryan LeBlanc enters the final month of his first season at Binghamton. After returning to Upstate New York, LeBlanc helped the Bearcats win seven duals, making it the third season in a row Binghamton has won that many duals. The last time Binghamton won at least seven duals three years in a row was when the program accomplished that feat in five consecutive seasons from 2014-19. Now, LeBlanc turns his attention to helping the Bearcats compete in the tournament hosted by the oldest college wrestling conference in the country.
"I think the message to these guys is we've got to get better this week," said LeBlanc. "I think if we get better this week and we do that the next two weeks after, that's where you get real growth."
Binghamton is making its 13th appearance at the EIWA Championships since joining the conference before the start of the 2013-14 season. The Bearcats have taken home five individual EIWA championships during that span. Tyler Deuel won the first title in 2015 at 285 lbs. Lou DePrez then won three in a row from 2020-22. His first two titles came at 184 lbs., while his third was at 197. In 2025, current Binghamton Assistant Coach Brevin Cassella won the program's fifth championship, taking the 174 lb., crown. Additionally, Cassella became the first Binghamton wrestler to receive the Coaches' Trophy for being voted as the most outstanding wrestler of the tournament.
Cassella was one of nine Binghamton wrestlers reach the podium in 2025. That is the most placewinners Binghamton had at the event since 2021, when the Bearcats also had nine wrestlers reach the podium that season.
For nationals, Cassella was one of two Bearcats in 2025 to receive an automatic bid for that season's NCAA Wrestling Championships. Joining him at nationals that year was Cory Day, who finished second at the EIWAs at 285 lbs.
Each of the 10 Bearcat wrestlers competing this weekend are looking to qualify for nationals for the first time. Four of Binghamton's starters from the 2025 EIWA Championships are expected to compete this weekend. Three of them reached the podium at last season's tournament (Carson Wagner third at 125 lbs., Carter Baer fourth at 165 lbs., and Will Ebert 6th at 184 lbs.) Fin Nadeau is also making his second straight appearance at the EIWAs at 157 lbs. Five of Binghamton's other starters (Dillon Arrick, Ryan Hartung, Caleb Sweet, Jordan Brown and Trent Sibble) are making their first appearance at the EIWA Championships. Mikey Squires, who is making his first appearance at the EIWAs as a Binghamton Bearcat this weekend, previously competed at the tournament with Princeton in 2024, going 1-2 at that year's event.
Both Baer and Squires enter this weekend's tournament ranked in the national polls. Baer is ranked No. 16 in the FloWrestling rankings and No. 19 in the InterMat poll at 174 lbs. Squires, who in his last appearance defeated No. 3 Stephen Little of Little Rock at the Patriot Last Chance Open on Feb. 22, is now ranked No. 19 by FloWrestling and No. 28 by InterMat at 197 lbs.
This season, the EIWA was awarded a total of 26 automatic bids by the NCAA. The pre-allocations were determined by using a sliding scale that factors in win percentage, coaches' rank, and RPI ranking; while also never going below the base of a winning percentage of .700, top 30 coaches' ranking and top 30 RPI ranking until reaching the maximum of 29 wrestlers per weight class. Each wrestler that reached the threshold in at least two of the three categories helped his conference get a qualifying spot in that weight class. If a wrestler then finishes high enough at his conference tournament (i.e. fourth or better in a weight class with four automatic bids), he qualifies for the NCAA tournament.
The automatic bids for the EIWA in each weight class breaks down as follows:
125: 2
133: 2
141: 3
149: 1
157: 2
165: 4
174: 3
184: 3
197: 2
285: 4
Binghamton Projected Lineup (Overall Record)
125 | No. 6 Carson Wagner (20-8) – Wagner leads Binghamton in overall wins with 20 entering this weekend's tournament. The junior reached the podium at the EIWAs for the first time in 2025 with a third-place finish.
133 | No. 8 Dillon Arrick (18-11) – Arrick makes his first appearance at the EIWA Championships this weekend. This comes as the redshirt freshman has set career highs in dual wins (5), pins (4) and major decisions (4).
141 | No. 7 Ryan Hartung (16-14) – Hartung won a career-high 16 matches in his third season with Binghamton in 2025-26. He also won his bracket at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic and finished fourth at the Black Knight Open.
149 | No. 6 Caleb Sweet (16-13) – Like Hartung, Sweet also won a career-high 16 matches this season. The redshirt sophomore won all four of his matches at the Big Red Invitational and finished sixth at the Black Knight Open.
157 | No. 4 Fin Nadeau (18-7) – Nadeau broke through with a career-high 18 victories, including eight in duals. He also went undefeated at both the Big Red Invitational and the Patriot Last Chance Open, winning a combined seven matches at the two events.
165 | No. 7 Jordan Brown (12-11) – Brown is set to make his first appearance at the EIWAs after he posted a career-best four pins this season.
174 | No. 3 Carter Baer (16-3) – Baer, who is making his third consecutive start at the EIWAs this weekend, finished fourth at the conference tournament in 2025. The Gouverneur, N.Y., has developed a strong resume this season, defeating five nationally-ranked opponents throughout the year while also being named Wrestler of the Week by the EIWA twice (Nov. 12 and Jan. 21).
184 | No. 6 Will Ebert (9-7) – Ebert has posted nine wins this season while being limited by injuries. Still, he has his sights set on returning to the podium at the EIWAs for the second year in a row. In 2025, Ebert finished sixth in the tournament at 184 lbs.
197 | No. 2 Mikey Squires (17-2) – Squires enters the tournament as the reigning EIWA Wrestler of the Week. Squires, who hails from nearby Norwich, N.Y., looks to qualify for nationals for the first time in his career after previously competing at Princeton from 2021-25.
285 | No. 7 Trent Sibble (18-12) – Stepping into the starting role at heavyweight halfway through the season, Sibble delivered 18 wins for the Bearcats, including the first five dual victories of his collegiate career.
*Rankings are EIWA Championship seeds
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