Wheeling, W. Va. – With just a week and a half to go before the 2026-2027 season officially begins, the Wheeling University Men's Wrestling team is hitting their final stretch of preseason training. On Friday, the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) releases both their team and individual preseason rankings and the Cardinals would have two wrestlers ranked in the top 15 of their respective weight classes. Javien Deleon was ranked #8 in the country at 133-pounds while Gavin Harper earned the #13 ranking at 285 to start the season.
Javien Deleon leads the list of ranked wrestlers, coming in at #8 in the 133-pounf weight class in the preseason poll. The senior transferred into Wheeling this off-season after competing the last three seasons at Kutztown University. Deleon was a 2x Regional Qualifier with the Golden Bears, while being named a Second Team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) wrestler during the 2024-2025 season. He is coming off his best season on the mat as a redshirt junior, where he finished 22-5 overall and earned First Team All-PSAC honors. He would end up making it to the National Championships for the first time in his career after earning the first All-Region honors of his career. Over his three seasons with Kutztown, Deleon would go 57-25 and he looks to bring a veteran presence to the wrestling room for Wheeling as they continue to grow the program.
The other Cardinal to be ranked in the preseason coaches polls was Gavin Harper, who found himself in the top 15 for the second year in a row. Harper would rank #13 in the 285-pound weight class, just two spots shy of his preseason ranking from a season ago. Harper put together his best season in a Cardinal uniform a season ago, finishing 25-6 for an . 805 winning percentage. He would lead the Cardinals in wins (25), win percentage (.806), and pins (11) on the season, while being one of the first two Cardinals in program history to qualify for the MEC Championship match in their respective weight classes. Harper would go on to win Second Team All-MEC honors, his second career All-MEC award, and would continue that success on the regional stage. That is where he would keep the winning Cardinal tradition going, earning a national alternate spot in the 285-pound weight class to round out the year.
The preseason rankings mark another milestone for the Wheeling Men's Wrestling program, marking the first time that multiple Cardinals have been ranked since the 2019 season. Since taking over the program in 2022, Head Coach Shane Brown has been building the program from the ground up, and looks to continue taking steps forward in 2026-2027. Along with their individual recognition, the Cardinals were also honored on the national stage, earning Honorable Notation in the team rankings. The Cardinals look to continue climbing the national rankings, and battle their way into the top 25 by season's end.
The Wheeling University Men's Wrestling team kicks-off the 2026-2027 season on Saturday, November 7, when they compete at the Mount Union Invitational.
