Defiance Men’s Wrestling announces 2025-26 schedule

DEFIANCE, Ohio – As Defiance College men's wrestling prepares for its upcoming season, the path for the new year has taken shape as the program announced its 2025-26 season schedule on Wednesday.

Led by second-year head coach Jake Henderson, the Yellow Jackets have loaded up for the next step of building the program back to its historic roots. DC's grapplers will have more robust competition than previous seasons with 12 schedule meets, the most since the 2022-23 season. Defiance will travel to Kentucky in November for the Pepsi Open to start the year for the first of four opens. The first of seven dual meets will take place the following weekend as part of a tri-match with Rio Grande and West Virginia Tech.

Defiance will also host two home meets this season, beginning with the Nov. 22 WHAC Super Duals at the Smart Center as Siena Heights, Rochester Christian, Cleary, Indiana Tech, Cornerstone, Marian, and Lourdes all come to DC as a preview of the WHAC Championships in February.

2025-26 Defiance Men's Wrestling Schedule
Nov. 1 at Pepsi Open (Hosted by University of the Cumberlands, Williamsburg, Ky.), 10 a.m.
Nov. 7 at Rio Grande Tri-Match vs. Rio Grande and WVU Tech, TBD
Nov. 15 at Grand View Open (Hosted by Grand View University, Des Moines, Iowa), 10 a.m.
Nov. 22  Home WHAC Super Duals (Smart Center), 12 p.m.
Dec. 13 at Rocky Top Duals (Rocky Top Sports Complex, Gatlinburg, Tenn.), 10 a.m.
Dec. 19 at Battle in the Bluegrass (Hosted by University of the Cumberlands, Williamsburg, Ky.), 10 a.m.
Jan. 9  Home Dual vs. Muskingum and Marion-Ancilla, 5 p.m.
Jan. 14 at Rochester Christian (Dual), 6 p.m.
Jan. 16 at Lourdes (Dual), 5 p.m.
Jan. 23 at Mount St. Joseph (Dual), 5 p.m.
Jan. 31 at Cumberland Open (Hosted by Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tenn.), 10 a.m.
Feb. 14 at WHAC Championship (Hosted by Indiana Tech)

Quoting Head Coach Jake Henderson
"I am super excited for the young squad we have coming in. There is a lot of local talent on the roster. We get to travel all over this year and see where we stack up in comparison to a lot of the top teams in the country. The first month for us is going to be a real test, competing in two of the toughest tournaments in the country with the Pepsi Open and Grand View Open. We will travel to face Rio Grande in an early tri-meet too, and I'm excited to face against my former squad. We finally cap off the first month with the first home event of my tenure with the WHAC Duals on Nov. 22. Then we move into more duals for the rest of the year, which includes our first home duals in the Karl H. Weaver on Jan. 9 against Muskingum and Marion-Ancilla."

-JACKETS-