EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – After one day of competition at the 2026 NCAA DIII Regional, hosted by UW-Eau Claire, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville wrestling team saw five of nine wrestlers advance to the second day of competition.

Junior Chris Karbash (125), freshman Adam Whittier (149), freshman Luke Kamish (157), sophomore Kain Killmer (197), and junior Jackson Kirsch (285) each went 2-1 on the day.

Karbash bounced back from an early loss with a thrilling fall victory against JP Culver of UW-Oshkosh. Trailing 12-4 after the first period, Karbash narrowed the score with an escape and takedown before pinning the Titan in 3:42. The Pioneer finished the day strong with a 12-1 major decision over Jack Reina of Augustana.

Whittier had a great day on the mat, tallying a pair of tech fall wins with a narrow 5-4 decision loss to Alex Morales of MSOE. The Pioneer started the day with a 17-0 tech fall (4:07) victory before finishing the day with a 20-3 tech fall win (5:00).

Wrestling up at 157 pounds for the first time this season, Kamish started the competition by pinning his first opponent in 2:30. The Pioneer dropped the next bout by an 11-2 major decision to No. 8 Cameron Johnson of Aurora, before picking up a 10-3 decision over Briar Ivey of UW-Eau Claire.

Killmer's two dominant performances of the day included a 16-0 (2:45) tech fall and a 16-1 (3:00) tech fall. His only loss came at the hands of No. 6 Ian Pepple of UW-Eau Claire by a 16-6 major decision.

Kirsch pinned his first opponent in just over a minute (1:08) and dropped a closely contested match to No. 10 Markos Mihalopoulos of UW-La Crosse by 4-2. The junior finished the day in the win column with a 9-4 decision over Jake Schmitt of MSOE to advance to Saturday's competition.

In all, the Pioneers combined for three falls, four tech falls and two major decisions in the first day of the stacked regional.

Competition will resume at 10 a.m. on Saturday in Eau Claire.