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From left to right, Justin Bartee, Mackandle Freeman and Bruce Wagers will represent the University of Rio Grande in the NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championships beginning Thursday in Wichita, Kan.
From left to right, Justin Bartee, Mackandle Freeman and Bruce Wagers will represent the University of Rio Grande in the NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championships beginning Thursday in Wichita, Kan.
Posted: Mar 04, 2026

Rio sends three to national tourney

Rio Grande Sports Information
     WICHITA, Kan. - The University of Rio Grande will be represented by three student-athletes at the 69th Annual NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship, which gets underway Thursday and continues through Saturday at the Heartland Credit Union Arena.
     Seniors Bruce Wagers (Cincinnati, OH) earned his spot as an automatic qualifier in the 285-pound bracket, while fellow seniors Mackandle Freeman (Point Pleasant, WV) and Justin Bartee (Point Pleasant, WV) made it as at-large selections in the 157-pound and 184-pound divisions, respectively.
     Wagers is seeded 24th and will face ninth-seeded Luke Cox from Georgetown (Ky.) College in his opening bout.
     Freeman is seeded 23rd and will square off with No. 10 seed Josey Jemegan of St. Mary to begin his tournament run, while Bartee snared a No. 17 seed and will meet 16th-seeded Brice Parks of Campbellsville (Ky.) University in his opening match.
     Links to live results and live video are available at http:///www.rioredstorm.com.