Eureka College’s wrestling team looks out to finish the 25-26 season in the best possible fashion, as the Saint Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champions at Eureka’s home venue, the Reagan Center on February 13th and 14th, 2026.
With a young team and a smaller group of older wrestlers, there is much to be seen from the team. Starting back in October, the wrestling team has been in the training room and to a number of competitions around the Midwest taking on many big challenges from taking on Aurora at home over the winter break and going to large tournaments with some of the best Division 3 schools and even some Division one schools.
The official SLIAC preseason rankings posted on October 28th, 2025, Eureka’s wrestling team were placed second with 42 votes only behind the previous conference championship hosts, the University of Ozarks with 49 votes.
There are certainly some hard feelings still being felt from last season’s conference finish. Many of the wrestlers from the previous season were not satisfied with the results and feel that there was more to give. Some of the biggest reasons for the team’s performance were attributed to weight difficulties, poor refereeing, and injuries that left the team in a weakened state compared to what they had expected out of themselves.
For a direct look at how the team feels heading into the coming competition, and to see how the competition is different having it be at home, Junior team captain and sports management Major Trevor at Eureka College who plays the role of not just a player but a leader as well; he offered his perspective via message, saying:
“It feels great knowing I get to sleep before weigh-ins. The way last season went wasn’t the way I personally wanted it to go, because I couldn’t compete due to the injury I sustained against Aurora last year… With our young team we are going to be tested and it’s going to give us good look on how the rest of the season is going to go,”.
While good to hear the excitement from the wrestlers themselves, An important note on how the coaches feel about this year comes from Thomas Culp, one of the new coaches on staff, a current student majoring in education and former athlete at the college.
Culp was the runner up at last year’s tournament for the 184-pound weight class and being able to be with a team of people who were his old teammates along with those that were new this season. In regard to the upcoming competition, he wrote:
“Hosting the conference tournament means a whole lot to me and the whole coaching staff. Being able to show out skills for the home crowd is always an honor… Last season we did not have a great showing at conference taking 3rd place, especially in a tournament we had a good chance to compete in… Overall, that 3rd place finish lit a fire under us to compete and have fun while doing so,”
With hopes and excitement at a season high, the Eureka men and women’s teams are both ready to go, but with a new season there will be new challenges to face even this late in the season. With two new additions to the SLIAC’s wrestling scene, the emergence of Huntingdon and McMurray college. According to the official conference page the last teams to be added to the conference previously were the University of the Ozarks and Schreiner University, two programs who have made their own statements as new programs that have been able to have great success.
The wrestlers and coaches are all looking forward to the upcoming competition and they want to prove they have what it takes to not only do well but to take back the title that was stripped from them at the home gym two seasons ago. With the eyes on the prize for the SLIAC title, the Eureka Wrestling Program is looking to make a bold statement that will shock those doubters by leaving it all out on the mat.
