Fourth-seeded Matt Sarbo posted a pair of wins and punched his ticket into Saturday's semifinals at 149 lbs., while seventh-seeded Ty Morrison (174 lbs.) and sixth-seeded Isaiah Vance (285 lbs.) both ensured spots on the podium to lead Pitt-Johnstown after Friday's opening day of the 2026 NCAA Division II Men's Wrestling Championships at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, SD.
 
On Saturday, Session III will start at 11 a.m. ET and consists of the Championship Semifinals, 3^rd Round of Consolations, Consolation Semifinals, and 3^rd, 5^th, 7^th Place Matches, (90 matches), (approx. 5 hours)
 
The Parade of All-Americans will take place on Saturday at 7:40 p.m. ET, followed the Championship Finals scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m. ET (10 matches).
 
Along with Sarbo, five other Pitt-Johnstown wrestlers qualified for the national tournament. 
 
Sarbo coasted into the semis with a 16-5 major decision over #13 Sabian Russell (Quincy) and a 7-3 decision over No. 5 Rudy Lopez in his first two bouts.  He'll face top-seeded Chris Donathan in the semifinals.
 
True freshman Ty Morrison and red-shirt senior and two-time All-American Vance both suffered early losses, but wrestled back to reach Saturday's action and lock up All-America honors.  Morrison won a 1-0 decision over Central Missouri's Anthony Erickson in the second round of the consolations, and Vance defeated Chadron State's Eli Reese, 8-0, to stay alive and advance in the tournament.
 
In Saturday's third round of the consolations, Ty Morrison will take on No. 16 Cole Ritter (Maryville), and Vance will wrestle #16 James Bankston (UNC-Pembroke).  The winner goes to the consolation semifinals, while the loser will wrestle for seventh-place.
 
Trent Hoover (165 lbs.) (2-2) and No. 8 Brad Morrison (197) (1-2) both reached the second round of the consolations before being eliminated.  True freshman Brady Baker (133 lbs.) was 0-2.
 
After the first day of competition, Nebraska-Kearney holds the team lead with 48 points, 1.5 points better than second-place Wisconsin-Parkside.  Lander (44.5 points), McKendree (44.0 points), and Central Oklahoma (43.5 points) round out the top-5 in the 49-team field.  The Mountain Cats are tied for 13th with West Liberty with 21 points entering Saturday.