MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – No. 3 Southeastern placed second at the Appalachian Athletic Conference Championships with 184 team points over two days at the Fernandez Family Center. No. 2 Life won the team title with 202 points, followed by the Fire, No. 20 Keiser (133), and Reinhardt (121.5).
Southeastern was led by No. 1
Aaron Lucio at 133 pounds. Lucio captured the conference championship and was named the AAC Wrestling Athlete of the Year. He earned an 11-4 semifinal decision over Reinhardt's Zac Bosken before defeating No. 21 Leland Camp of Reinhardt, 6-2, in the title bout.
At 141 pounds, No. 1
Andrew Voiles advanced to the championship match after a 4-2 decision over teammate No. 15
Drew Jones in the semifinals. Voiles fell 4-1 in sudden victory to No. 11 Caden McCrary of Reinhardt to finish second, while Jones placed fourth.
No. 1
Mario De La Torre reached the 149-pound final with a 15-9 decision over No. 23 Garrett Pace of Reinhardt. He finished runner-up after a 13-3 major decision against No. 8 Elvis Solis of Life.
The Fire added key points at 165 pounds, where No. 5
Anthony Federico and No. 9
Jovon Mitchell both advanced to the semifinals. Federico secured a third-place finish via medical forfeit over Mitchell.
At 174 pounds, No. 7
Ty Rodriguez advanced to the championship after defeating No. 23 Ronald Butler of Keiser in the semifinals. Rodriguez dropped a 2-1 decision to No. 5 Reese Jones of Life in the final to place second. No. 18
Husam Mustafa contributed additional team points with a 1-0 decision over Pikeville's Chase Price.
No. 11
August Batson placed fourth at 184 pounds. After a semifinal loss to No. 2 Kendall Norfleet of Life, Batson recorded a fall in 4:31 over St. Thomas' Diogo Ramos-Padilha and later won the true fourth-place match, 4-1, over Keiser's Rocco D'Ascoli.
At 197 pounds, No. 5
Gentry Smith defeated teammate No. 7
Kasten Grape in a 2-1 sudden victory in the semifinals. Smith finished second following a 4-2 decision to No. 2 Gio Jackson of Life. Grape placed fourth.
No. 15
Bryce Wheatley earned a third-place finish at heavyweight. After a semifinal loss to No. 11 Jordan Sommers of Keiser, Wheatley secured a fall over Phillip Terrell of Truett McConnell and added a 5-1 decision over No. 24 Daguy Massillon of Keiser in the third-place match.
In total, Southeastern produced nine All-Conference selections and qualified 12 wrestlers for the national tournament.
The Fire will next compete at the 69th Annual NAIA Men's Wrestling National Championship, set for March 5–7, 2026, at Heartland Credit Union Arena in Wichita, Kan. Official seedings and brackets will be announced prior to the championship.
