Texas Teams Set to Battle for NAIA National Qualifier Spots
This weekend, NAIA Conference Tournaments will be held across the country, with automatic bids to the 2026 NAIA National Championships on the line.
The American Midwest / Sooner Athletic Conference (SAC) Tournament takes place Saturday, February 21, at the Sid Richardson Center on the campus of Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth.
Two Texas programs — Texas Wesleyan Rams wrestling and Wayland Baptist University wrestling — will compete for national qualifying spots alongside:
- Oklahoma City University wrestling
- Williams Baptist University wrestling (AR)
- Central Baptist College wrestling (AR)
- Central Christian College wrestling (KS)
Individual wrestlers will look to secure automatic qualification to the 2026 NAIA National Championships, held March 5–7 at the Heartland Credit Union Arena in Wichita, Kansas.
How NAIA National Allocations Work
Per NAIA guidelines:
- Each conference receives automatic bids per weight class based on the final regular-season ratings.
- Every conference is guaranteed at least one automatic bid per weight class, awarded to the conference champion.
- Additional bids are granted based on the number of ranked wrestlers in each weight.
- If a conference has no Top 25 ranked wrestler at a weight, one allocation is deducted from the national at-large pool.
- 254 automatic qualifiers advance from conference tournaments.
- 66 at-large selections (three per weight class) will be added.
- Each national bracket consists of 32 wrestlers.
At-large selections will be announced Tuesday, February 24 (5 p.m. CST), with brackets released Friday, February 27 on NAIA.org.
Sooner Athletic Conference Allocations
| Weight | 125 | 133 | 141 | 149 | 157 | 165 | 174 | 184 | 197 | 285 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAC | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
Team Outlook
Oklahoma City University (OCU) enters as the clear favorite. The Stars boast 10 ranked wrestlers, including two #1-ranked athletes, and several former Division I transfers from Oklahoma. They are favored to win multiple weights and contend heavily for the team title.
Wayland Baptist features four ranked wrestlers, led by former Arlington Martin standout #7 Jaden Two Lance (149 lbs).
Texas Wesleyan, competing on its home mats, will look to capitalize on experience and depth across several competitive brackets.
Weight-by-Weight Breakdown
125 Pounds
Automatic Qualifiers: Top 2
Favorites
- #10 Jesse Lewis — Wayland Baptist
- #13 Cash Donnell — OCU
Contenders
- Enrique Cabrera — Texas Wesleyan (Rosenberg Terry)
- Angelo Thompson — Central Christian (KS)
133 Pounds
Automatic Qualifier: Top 1
Favorite
- #6 Vincent Citrano — OCU
Contenders
- Ezekiel Valdez — Texas Wesleyan (Arlington Martin)
- Johnathon Ortegon — Wayland Baptist (Canyon Randall)
- Ezekiel Gasca — Williams Baptist (AR)
141 Pounds
Automatic Qualifier: Top 1
Favorites
- Jace Province — OCU
- Timothy Murabito — Texas Wesleyan
Contenders
- George Rodriguez — Wayland Baptist (Uvalde)
- Landon Holmes — Williams Baptist (AR)
- Wilfredo Lopez — Texas Wesleyan
149 Pounds
Automatic Qualifiers: Top 2
Favorites
- #2 Kaden Fetterolf — OCU
- #7 Jaden Two Lance — Wayland Baptist (Arlington Martin)
Contenders
- Caiden Saavedra — Williams Baptist (AR)
- Gavin Holland — Texas Wesleyan
- Alex Lopez — Central Baptist (AR)
- Camden Whitehead — Texas Wesleyan (Burleson Centennial)
157 Pounds
Automatic Qualifiers: Top 2
Favorites
- #1 John Wiley — OCU
- #9 Jake Moon — OCU (Rockwall)
Contenders
- Landry Wilkinson — Texas Wesleyan (Fort Worth Benbrook)
- Evan Atchley — Texas Wesleyan (Colleyville Heritage)
- Thomas Pacheco — Wayland Baptist (Amarillo Tascosa)
Note: All five wrestlers in this bracket were high school state champions — making this one of the toughest weights in the tournament.
165 Pounds
Automatic Qualifiers: Top 2
Favorites
- #8 Jordan Lomeli — OCU
- #21 Hayden Brown — OCU
Contenders
- Brody Gomez — Texas Wesleyan
- Jayden Sullivan — Wayland Baptist (Lewisville Hebron)
- Mason Nguyen — Central Baptist (AR)
174 Pounds
Automatic Qualifier: Top 1
Favorite
- #1 Tate Picklo — OCU
Contenders
- Robbie Rocha — Texas Wesleyan (Arlington Martin)
- Ethan Frank — Wayland Baptist (Deer Park)
- Zeb Fulmer — Texas Wesleyan (Winnsboro)
- James Opitz — Williams Baptist (AR)
184 Pounds
Automatic Qualifiers: Top 2
Favorites
- #20 Dayne Garcia-Stormer — Wayland Baptist (Round Rock)
- #21 Cole Oguin — OCU
Contender
- Matthew Russell — Williams Baptist (AR)
197 Pounds
Automatic Qualifier: Top 1
Favorite
- #16 Omari Smith — OCU
Contenders
- Jaykob Mills — Wayland Baptist
- Micah Oltmanns — Williams Baptist (AR)
285 Pounds
Automatic Qualifier: Top 1
Favorite
- #14 Emmett Bivins — Wayland Baptist (Allen)
Contenders
- Wilbert Martin — Texas Wesleyan (Killeen Shoemaker)
- Rafael Lovato — OCU
Final Thoughts
Expect a highly competitive tournament filled with former Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Nebraska state champions and placers. With limited allocations at several weights, every semifinal and placement match will carry national tournament implications.
OCU enters as the team favorite, but Texas Wesleyan and Wayland Baptist both have wrestlers capable of disrupting brackets and earning national bids.
Saturday should deliver high-level matches and intense battles as wrestlers fight for their opportunity to compete on the national stage in Wichita.
Follow Txtakedown.com for live updates, results, and post-tournament analysis from the SAC Championships and NAIA Nationals.