NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The North Central College men’s wrestling team topped nine other programs as the preseason favorites in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin as the 2026-27 season kicks off. The Cardinals took 81 points and nine first-place votes from a poll of the conference’s head coaches.
North Central were undefeated in dual meets in CCIW action last year at 7-0 and outpaced the rest of the field at last year’s championship meet, winning by over 40 points. Now, third-year head coach Grant Zamin returns 133-lb CCIW champion Ethan Spacht and five other All-CCIW performers from last season as the Cardinals seek a fifth straight conference title.
Leading the pack looking to dethrone North Central is Millikin University, who finished second in the poll with 71 points and one first-place vote. The Big Blue were the runner-up to North Central at last year’s CCIW Championship and will lean on the return of last year’s champion at 197 pounds, Mateo Casillas, to mount a challenge to the Cardinals once again.
Elmhurst University finished third in the poll with 63 points. The Bluejays and head coach Steve Marianetti welcome back 157-lb champion Rhenzo Augusto along with runner-up finisher Donovin Fields at 133 pounds as they aim for their top finish since tying for third at the 2022 CCIW Championship.
The Milwaukee School of Engineering was slotted into fourth place in the poll and finished with 54 points. Head coach Mike Schmidt has a pair of conference champions back from last season – Alex Morales (149 pounds) and Toren Vandenbush (174 pounds) – to lead MSOE in the push for another high finish in the conference standings.
Aurora University garnered 51 points in the poll and took fifth place. The Spartans took third at last year’s CCIW Championship and have four All-CCIW honorees back in 2026 for head coach Justin Pearch. Elijah Osit tops that list of returners as he was the runner-up at 285 pounds last season.
In sixth place in the preseason poll was Augustana College with 41 points. Head coach Tony Willaert will look to Conor Phelan (184 pounds) and Teke Nieto (285 pounds) to build on third-place finishes last season as the Vikings fight to climb into the upper half of the CCIW standings.
Wheaton College took seventh in the poll, closing with 31 points. Zeke Harris was third last season in the 197-lb weight class and will move to 285 pounds this year for head coach Jim Gruenwald and the Thunder.
Carthage College was tabbed for eighth in the poll with 26 points. The Firebirds are the lone team in the CCIW without a returning all-conference performer, but the program has steadily improved in recent years and head coach Alberto Quiros will look for a new group to step up and fill the void left by last year’s graduations.
Illinois Wesleyan University was picked ninth in the voting with 21 points. Tyson Zvonar was third in the 133-lb division as a freshman and will seek to build on that for head coach Adam Richards and the Titans.
Rounding out the poll in 10th place was Concordia University Wisconsin with 11 points. The Falcons and head coach Kevin Koch are fielding a young squad in 2026-27, but will look to the team’s lone junior, Anastacio Martinez, to help lead the team after a sixth-place finish at 133 pounds last season.
The 2026-27 men’s wrestling season begins on Nov. 1 with Illinois Wesleyan traveling to Simpson College for the Luther Hill Invitational and Concordia Wisconsin taking on Aurora in a CCIW dual meet.
The 2027 CCIW Men’s Wrestling Championship will be contested on Saturday, Feb. 13, in Rock Island, Ill. at Augustana’s Roy J. Carver Center.
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The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, Ill.), Carroll University (Waukesha, Wis.), Carthage College (Kenosha, Wis.), Elmhurst University (Elmhurst, Ill.), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, Ill.), Millikin University (Decatur, Ill.), North Central College (Naperville, Ill.), North Park University (Chicago, Ill.) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, Ill.).