- Snow College opens 2026-27 wrestling on Oct. 24 in Richfield. The women are coming off a Region 18 title and a sixth-place national finish with seven All-Americans, and the men are coming off a fourth-place regional finish and eight national qualifiers.
- Snow College Men's Wrestling, Snow College Women's Wrestling connect back to Snow College and the wider wrestling picture.
- The story is backed by 10 sources and a visible last-verified date.
October 18, 2026
October 18, 2026
5 min / 1,126 words
10 official links
Snow College wrestling returns to Richfield on Saturday, October 24, with the Blue & Orange Intersquad Scrimmage at 5:00 p.m. That is the first date on both official schedule pages, and it begins a winter in which the Badgers' women's program defends a standard it set last March and the men's program rebuilds around a young roster. Both teams are on Beehive Athletes, and this preview follows Snow College men's wrestling and Snow College women's wrestling through their 2026-27 schedules. As of October 18, neither has wrestled a 2026-27 match.
Two programs, one home mat
Bryan Strain is the head men's wrestling coach and Max Sultan the wrestling assistant coach, according to Snow's staff directory. Ross Taylor is the head women's wrestling coach, with George Chappell listed as women's wrestling volunteer assistant. Both teams wrestle their home matches at the Sevier Valley Center in Richfield and compete in NJCAA Region 18. Some duals on both schedule pages are tagged SWAC.
The women: a regional title and seven All-Americans
The women's 2025-26 season is the headline, and the details are specific. Snow won the first-ever Region 18 Tournament in Roseburg, Oregon, with six individual champions: Maeli Howard at 180, Isabella Morgan at 145, Inaily Samaniego at 138, Chloe Colvin at 207, Brighton Wise at 235 and Kaylee Young at 117. Ali Hansen at 103 and Emma Smith at 207 were runners-up, and Samantha Reynolds at 138, Abbigail Reeves at 145 and Kathryn Christensen at 110 placed third.
At the NJCAA National Championships in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on March 6-7, Snow finished sixth of 30 teams with 132 points and produced seven All-Americans, by Snow's release. Morgan and Howard were third at 145 and 180, Young and Emily Pasillas were fourth at 117 and 124, Hansen was fifth at 103, Samaniego was sixth at 138 and Wise was seventh at 235.
The match-by-match detail in the release shows how those places were earned. Morgan lost once all tournament, a 7-2 semifinal decision, and then won her consolation bracket by 10-0 technical fall and took third with another 10-0 technical fall in 3:26. Howard won third by fall in 2:50 after a 15-13 consolation semifinal. Samaniego won by fall in 15 seconds and in 21 seconds during her consolation run, and Wise took seventh with a 10-0 technical fall in 1:23. The Badgers finished 10-10 overall, and they had placed fourth at the NJCAA Women's Coaches Association Duels in Richfield on January 24, with wins over Hawkeye CC 32-16, Colby CC 39-11 and Northern Oklahoma College-Tonkawa 38-15.
Snow's women's roster page still carries the 2025-26 roster, so this preview does not say who is back for 2026-27. The roster lists Samaniego, Wise and Hansen as freshmen last season, all from Utah: Samaniego from Cedar Valley High School in Eagle Mountain, Wise from Bear River High School in Tremonton and Hansen from Murray High School in Holladay.
The men: a young roster after a fourth-place regional finish
The men finished 2025-26 at 14-13. They placed fourth of seven teams at the Region 18 Tournament and qualified eight wrestlers for nationals. Ryker Maestas was the runner-up at 141 pounds. Teddy Johnson at 174 and Josiah Wickard at 149 placed third, and Alvaro Perez at 125, Andrew Weakley at 157 and Kenneth Philips at 184 placed fourth. At the NJCAA National Tournament, the schedule page lists Snow tied for 34th with 13 points. A Snow release from March 13, 2025, carries the headline "Men's Wrestling Finishes 16th at Nationals, Two Badgers Named All-Americans," the prior-year benchmark the 2025-26 finish is measured against.
The schedule page lists the team's dual wins over Alberta 30-20 on December 5 at the Battle of the Rockies, Washington State 44-8 and Menlo 34-20 at the Wartburg Desert Duals on December 17, and Colorado Northwestern CC 52-4 on December 18. Snow also beat Utah Tech twice, 30-21 on November 21 and 28-16 on December 13, and won 26-21 at Northeastern Junior College on January 30.
The 2026-27 roster is young. The large majority of wrestlers are classed as freshmen. Redshirt freshman Owen Beatty, sophomores Carter Dowding, Ryker Maestas, Alvaro Perez, Eugenio Perez and Rhyland Turner, and redshirt sophomore Rusten Lyman are the older classes the roster prints. Maestas is from Santaquin and Payson High School, Alvaro Perez from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Valley High School, and Lyman from Central, Utah, and Enterprise High School. The roster lists heights but no weight classes.
The 2026-27 calendar
The men's schedule page lists the scrimmage on October 24, the Bill Musick Memorial at the FCC Gymnasium in Fresno, California, on November 7 at 8:00 a.m., and the Cornerman Luke Memorial Duals on November 13-14. A Utah Tech dual and the Stampede Open follow in St. George on December 4-5. Home duals against Northwest College on December 11 and Colorado Northwestern CC and Utah Tech on December 12 come next, then the Wartburg Desert Duals in Las Vegas on December 21, the NJCAA Coaches Association National Duals in Miami, Oklahoma, on January 8-9 and the Region 18 Duals in Jerome, Idaho, on January 23. The Region 18 Championship is in Richfield on February 13.
The women's schedule page lists the Maverick Open at the Maverick Center in Grand Junction, Colorado, on Sunday, November 8 at 9:00 a.m., and the Cornerman Luke Preseason Nationals Tournament in Richfield with duels on November 13 and an open on November 14. The Dust Bowl Duels and Open in Colby, Kansas, are on November 20-21. Home duals follow against Utah Tech on December 12 at 7:00 p.m. and Western Colorado University on December 18 at 6:00 p.m., with the Desert Duels in Las Vegas on December 20, the 4th Annual NJCAA Coaches Duels in Richfield on January 23, the Grand View Open in Des Moines on February 6 and the Region 18 Tournament in Ontario, Oregon, on February 14.
Both teams finish at the NJCAA National Championships in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on March 5-6, 2027. The full wrestling picture across the state is on the wrestling hub.
Key facts:
- Men's head coach: Bryan Strain; assistant coach Max Sultan
- Women's head coach: Ross Taylor; volunteer assistant George Chappell
- First date: Blue & Orange Intersquad Scrimmage, Oct. 24, 5:00 p.m., Richfield
- Women's 2025-26: won the first Region 18 Tournament; sixth of 30 at nationals (132 points); seven All-Americans; 10-10 overall
- Men's 2025-26: 14-13; fourth of seven at Region 18; eight national qualifiers; tied for 34th at nationals (13 points)
- Women's roster: the official page still shows the 2025-26 roster as of Oct. 18, 2026
- Men's roster: 2026-27 roster, most wrestlers classed as freshmen
- Postseason: men's Region 18 Championship Feb. 13 in Richfield; women's Region 18 Tournament Feb. 14 in Ontario, Oregon; national championships Mar. 5-6 in Council Bluffs, Iowa
