Men's Wrestling | 2/12/2026 1:30:00 PM
TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - The 66th Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Wrestling Championships will take place this Saturday and be hosted in Price Gymnasium on the campus of Hiram College.
Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for students. PAC and institutional passes are not accepted at PAC Championship events. Students from PAC institutions will be admitted for free with a valid college ID.
Opening-round matches will begin at 11 am Saturday, with the awards presentation taking place at the conclusion of all championship bouts. This is the third consecutive year the Championship has grown by one program. In 2024, Saint Vincent College returned to varsity competition for the first time since 1975 and won the PAC crown in their initial season. Last year, it was Hiram College returning to compete in its first PAC Championships in 37 years after rejoining the league.
This year, Bethany College reinstated its program for its first varsity season in more than 30 years. The Bison make it six teams competing at this year's Championships along with Hiram, Saint Vincent, Thiel College, Washington & Jefferson College and Waynesburg University.
The PAC Championships feature double-elimination brackets, with each school having the opportunity to enter up to two student-athletes in each of the 10 weight classes. The seeding of each program's top wrestler in the 10 weight classes was determined by a vote of the league's coaches, and wrestlers from the same team competing in each class will be placed on opposite sides of the bracket. First-round byes will be placed randomly throughout the brackets, as necessary. While seeds have been determined for the Championships, brackets won't be released until after weigh-ins Saturday morning.
For the second time in three years and the eighth time in program history, W&J won the PAC championship a year ago. The Presidents were paced by five conference champions and four others who earned All-PAC recognition to total 116 team points. Saint Vincent finished as the runner-up after scoring 99 points, followed by Thiel in third (55), Hiram in fourth (44.5) and Waynesburg in fifth (37.5).
This year's W&J line-up aiming for a repeat will look very different, although a pair of Second Team All-PAC wrestlers return for the Presidents. Junior Jiovanni DeChicchis (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) was the runner-up at 165 last year and returns to that bracket as the top seed this year with a 12-8 overall record and 5-0 mark against PAC opponents. Fellow President junior Jaden Fields (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) was Second Team All-PAC at 184 a season ago and will be the No. 1 seed at 197 this year with a 4-0 PAC record so far and is 9-8 overall.
Another key W&J wrestler to watch include senior Bryce Rodriguez-Uram (Carnegie, Pa./Carlynton), the 2023 PAC Newcomer of the Year and champion at 141 that season, will be the second seed in that bracket again after compiling an 8-5 record this year.
Saint Vincent will try to return to the top of the conference led by six wrestlers who earned All-PAC in 2025. The lone champion back for the Bearcats is junior Chase Brandebura (Carnegie, Pa./Carlynton), who repeated as the 165-pound champion a year ago. This season, he'll carry a 14-7 record, including a 4-1 PAC mark, into a deep bracket at 174 as the second seed.
Among SVC's Second Team All-PAC wrestlers last year who are back include sophomore Anthony Orlandini (McKees Rocks, Pa./Montour) as the top-seeded wrestler at 149, as he leads the Bearcats this year in wins with a 26-3 record and is unbeaten in five PAC matches; junior Ryan Yocum (Huntington, Pa./Huntington Area), who has a 12-9 record (4-1 in PAC) and will wrestle at 157 this year after earning runner-up at 141 last season; and sophomore Nathan Barkley (Derry, Pa./Derry Area), who was Second Team at 174 a year ago and will compete at 184 at this year's Championships.
Winners of a conference-record 24 PAC crowns, Thiel has one returning champion and two other top-seeded wrestlers to lead the quest for their 25th. Junior Joey King (Cooperstown, Pa./Maplewood) was the winner in the 197 bracket a year ago with all three wins coming by first-period fall. This season, he's recently returned to action at 285 and enters Saturday's Tournament as the No. 2 seed.
A pair of first-year Tomcats have wrestled their way to top seeds in their weight classes. Freshman Jonathan Bissell (Sharpsville, Pa./Sharpsville) posted 21 wins in his initial year, four coming in PAC matches, to claim the top spot at 149, while freshman Zachery Ward (Girard, Ohio/Girard) had a 3-2 conference record as part of a 9-7 mark for the year and will be the one seed at 184.
This year's host school Hiram has a young line-up pursuing the program's first PAC team championship. The Terriers' top wrestler is at 125 where freshman Taveon Moss (Roxboro, N.C./Person), who rolled to a 22-7 record this year with wins in all four of his PAC matches, which earned him the top seed in the bracket.
Two sophomores will also be interesting to watch Saturday. At 165, King-Amari Wright (Ashtabula, Ohio/Lakeside) is seeded second after he was 2-2 against conference opponents and amassed nine wins total. Sophomore Jackson Bowers (Waterford, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf) picked up 11 wins and a 3-1 PAC record and will be a strong competitor in the bracket at 157.
While Waynesburg, who has seven PAC team championships in their history, is light on numbers, the Yellow Jackets might bring the wrestler on the greatest roll into the Championships. Junior Jessie Orbin (Houston, Pa./Chartiers-Houston) is the top seed at 174 with a 26-2 record this year, including 19 consecutive victories, and he posted a 5-0 PAC slate. Orbin is also a defending champion, as he scored three bonus-point wins to capture the title at 174 a year ago.
In their return as a varsity program this year, Bethany went 3-6 in dual matches and 1-3 in the PAC, with the win being a 36-21 victory over Waynesburg on Jan. 15. Five Bison wrestlers won 10 or more matches this season, including junior Jonathan Braun (Kenilworth, N.J./David Brearley), who was 18-9 overall and 2-2 in conference bouts at 174. Posting a 14-5 record this winter was sophomore Angelo Di Pol (Paulsboro, N.J./Paulsboro), who will wrestle at 125 Saturday. In addition to competing for the program's first PAC team title, the Bison wrestlers who will try to win the program's first individuaal PAC championships since Mike McKay was the champion at 190 pounds in 1971.