PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Graduate student Luke Hoerle and junior Ryan Smith of the Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling team secured top-eight finishes to claim All-America status on the opening day of competition at the 2025 Division III Championships Friday from Amica Mutual Pavilion.

The only seeded Ducks in the field, Smith earns his third straight All-American honor while Hoerle, who earned his 100^th career victory during Friday's action, secures the first such accolade of his career in his third career Championships appearance.

Johnson & Wales (R.I.), Wartburg (Iowa), Augsburg (Minn.), Wisconsin – La Crosse, and North Central (Ill.) occupy the top five of the team standings, though all five are separated by less than eight points. The Ducks currently sit in 14th with 21 points.

Hoerle, seeded No. 8 at 141, picked up two first period takedowns in a 7-5 decision win to move to the Round of 16, where he picked up another decision win, 7-1. In the quarterfinals, Hoerle took the No. 1 seed, Greensboro's Josh Wilson, to sudden victory, where Wilson secured a takedown for the win. In his first match in the consolation draw, Hoerle secured a takedown 20 seconds into the opening period, hanging on for a 4-3 decision win, advancing to Sunday and securing the All-American merit.

Smith, the No. 6 seed at 157, secured takedowns in all three periods in an 11-2 major decision win in his first match of the day. After a 2-0 decision loss in the quarterfinals knocked him to the consolation bracket, Smith picked up another 11-2 major decision win, again securing takedowns in all three periods, advancing to Sunday and securing the All-American honor.

Elsewhere for the Ducks, Chris Stathopoulos picked up one of the most thrilling victories of the entire day in his first match, pinning the No. 2 seed at 165 pounds, Tanner Gerber of Wisconsin – La Crosse in the final 20 seconds of a match he trailed 10-2 entering the third period. The senior added a 6-3 decision win to advance to the quarterfinal round, but consecutive losses to two more seeded competitors knocked him out of the tournament.

Joel Martsinovsky fell in his first match of the day to the 184-pound bracket's No. 6 seed. After two first period takedowns led to a 7-3 decision win over No. 4 seed Sampson Wilkins of Castleton, Martsinovsky was eliminated from the tournament by the No. 1 seed in the bracket, Jack Ryan of Oneonta.

Blaise Wagner was sent to the consolation bracket at 197 pounds after falling to No. 5 seed Charle Baczek of Wabash in his first match of the day. Wagner bounced back with a first-period fall and a 15-12 decision win over No. 4 seed Parker Venz of Augsburg, but his tournament came to an end suffering a loss via fall to No. 7 seed Dylan Harr of Johnson & Wales.

Harrison Hinojosa nearly battled back from a 9-1 deficit in his first match of the day and led 5-3 after two periods in his second match, but dropped both contests, ending his championship weekend.

Up Next: The second day of competition gets underway at 11 a.m. (Eastern Time) Saturday with the consolation quarterfinals and the consolation semifinals. The session will conclude with the third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches. Appropriate events links are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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