Eureka, Illinois  – It's a three-peat for the Eagles. The University of the Ozarks wrestling team are the 2026 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) Men's Wrestling Champions after winning the title Saturday in Eureka, Illinois.

The Eagles once again proved too strong for their SLIAC opponents while showing why they are the league's most dominant program since joining the conference three years ago. 

"It means a lot to be able to win for a third year in a row and establish ourselves at the top," said head coach Nathan Rankin. "I feel like this win means a little more than the past two because of the change of head coaches and addition of new teams making it a more competitive tournament overall. I'm super proud of how our guys prepared for the meet the days leading up to the competition and I knew yesterday that we were in a good spot heading into the tournament today. In warm ups this morning, we looked the most comfortable and composed out of all the teams."

The Eagles had multiple wrestlers advance to the finals and each won the individual conference title. Those wrestlers included Shelton Chastain (125), Javin Douglas (133), Nawab Singh (184), Jadaan Anderson (197) and Ka'Ron Lewis (285). The Eagles led all teams with 26 pins during the championship, with three of those coming in the championship round. Chastain starting the roll, winning 5-1 in a decision. Douglas followed with a pin in just nine-seconds at 133 pounds, setting a new championship record. Anderson cruised to a win, 15-7, for another individual title for the Eagles.

"We had a rough spot in the middle when Huntingdon caught up to us, but it was great to see how our guys bounced back and responded to the challenge. We had some guys step up in big ways with pins and upsets on the backside to put us in a really good spot heading into the finals where we could wrestle with confidence and not have to worry about the team race. This was a great tournament for our program to build on as we now change our focus the next two weeks to prepare to punch tickets to the national championships."

Team Scores
1 - University of the Ozarks (127.0)
2 - Huntingdon College (108.0)
3 - Schreiner University (65.0)
4 - Eureka College (60.5)
5 - Westminster College (54.0)
6 - Lyon College (14.0)
7 - Blackburn College (13.5)
8 - McMurry University (0.0)

Individual Champions
125 - Shelton Chastain, Ozarks
133 - Javin Douglas, Ozarks
141 - Ashton Keller, Schreiner
149 - Jayden Bustillos, Schreiner
157 - Damion Jones, Huntingdon
165 - Michael Roberts, Westminster
174 - Sargent Maubach, Eureka
184 - Nawab Singh, Ozarks
197 - Jadaan Anderson, Ozarks
285 - Ka'Ron Lewis, Ozarks

Rankin and assistant coach Demetri Teddle won SLIAC Coaching Staff of the Year. Hayden Rofkahr was named to the All-Sportsmanship Team.

The Eagles will now focus on the NCAA III Regional in Dubuque, Iowa, February 27-28.