Penn College wrestler Hunt in the national hunt

When Noah Hunt of Muncy steps on the mat on Friday to represent the Pennsylvania College of Technology, he will be one of 210 NCAA Division III wrestlers from across the country and, more importantly, one of 21 competing in the 141-pound weight class seeking a national championship.

The two-day competition at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, Rhode Island, begins with preliminaries and consolation first round at 10 a.m. on Friday. The championship quarterfinals, consolation second-round wrestle-backs and consolation third-round start at 6 p.m.

On Saturday, championship semifinals, consolation wrestle-back quarterfinals, consolation semifinals and seventh-, fifth- and third-place matches begin at 10 a.m., with the championship finals set for 7 p.m.

A four-time regional place finisher during his career, Hunt, a senior, posted a 5-1 record — including two falls, a technical fall and two decisions — as he hiked his career record to 103-47 and season mark to 19-6 while finishing third in the Region 2 Qualifier March 1-2. His lone loss in that event came in his quarterfinal bout against Centenary’s Joseph Innamorato on a fall. Innamorato finished second to Luke Hoerie of Stevens.

“Noah embodies what we are trying to build at Penn College wrestling. He shows up early, stays late, is the one helping mop the mats after practice, etc., the little things that he does not have to do, but he does. It has been an honor to be in his corner this year and help him grow. If anyone deserves to be wrestling at the NCAA tournament and standing on the podium, it’s Noah Hunt,” first-year coach Dalton Rohrbaugh said.

“He is our first 100-match winner in program history and only the second-ever NCAA qualifier. It is proof that if you do the right things and live your life the right way, success will follow,” Rohrbaugh said. “Every day, he leads by example, showing his younger teammates how to do the right things and how to attain success, even if at first you don't. He placed fifth, sixth and eighth in regionals before finally breaking through this year and making it to the national tournament. And you could see the excitement on his face after his third-place regionals match, with the heartbreak of the past three seasons in the rearview mirror."

“I could not be prouder to be in his corner and of all he has accomplished over his career. Getting to wear the Wildcat singlet one final time at the NCAA tournament is where he deserves to finish his career," the coach continued.

“As a team (at regionals), I am extremely proud of how we competed. We had guys battling through injuries or other issues, but they continued to fight and gave it everything they had. We all want to win, but my primary focus is if we can give full effort for the entire seven-minute match. If you are doing that, the wins will follow; it just takes time. Many of our guys battled back after taking early losses to find themselves on the podium, which is not easy to do. We had our most place winners ever as a program (five) and highest-ever team finish (10th), which proves what we are doing is working; we just need to keep at it and continue getting better next year. 

“As for Noah, he kept his mindset strong after taking a loss in the quarterfinals to battle back. A lot of wrestlers would have felt defeated after that and not been able to wrestle back, knowing he needed to win four in a row to qualify. I'm very proud of Noah for picking himself up and not letting one loss beat him twice. He stuck to our game plan perfectly for each opponent he faced and did not let any negativity get to him. He gave up some early points in his consolation matches but continued wrestling and eventually came away with the wins.

“Noah has had some setbacks this year with injuries, but he did not let that phase him. He was in early doing rehab and doing everything our athletic trainer asked of him, which is why he was able to come back so strong.

“One big thing that always keeps Noah going is his mindset; he doesn't let any setbacks phase him and continues moving forward, even if, at times, he had to move forward slowly. He is always looking to improve each day, whether he could be on the mat or not. He also started the year at 149 and dropped to 141 in February, which is not easy to do while still competing at a high level, but Noah has handled the transition very well and is doing a great job managing his weight.”

Although the stage is bigger this time, Hunt has some previous experience to draw from as he finished eighth at 132 pounds in the PIAA Class AA Championship during his senior season at Warrior Run High School in 2020 to complete a 112-53 career.

“Noah will start the day in a pigtail match against Sean Conway from the University of Chicago. I think this match is very winnable,” Rohrbaugh said. “Our coaching staff and I have been watching film and putting together a game plan for Noah that we are very confident in. I do not like to look ahead other than that as we need to focus on who is in front of him at the moment, but again, our coaching staff will have a scouting report on everyone in the bracket, so no matter who we see, Noah will be ready.”

The winner of that match will face second-seeded Jacob Reed of Ohio Northern (32-1). Other seeds in the weight class include top-seeded Josh Wilson of Greensboro (27-1), third-seeded Pierce Baldwin of Central (23-1), fourth-seeded Ty Bisek of Concordia-Moorhead (25-0), fifth-seeded Mark Samuel of Roanoke (23-4), sixth-seeded Sam Lorenz of Wisconsin-La Crosse (8-1), seventh-seeded Jake Eckerle of JWU-Providence (19-3) and eighth-seeded Hoerie (14-3).

From personal experience, Rohrbaugh knows what it takes to be successful on the national level. He capped his collegiate career at York College in 2023 as the D-III runner-up at 133 pounds.

“What it takes to have a successful NCAA tournament is a great mindset and proper training/weight cut leading up to the tournament,” Rohrbaugh said. He continued, “Noah has had a great two weeks of training after regionals and is in a great mindset. I have told our wrestlers all year that once you get to the postseason, it’s not always about who is the better wrestler, but who is better prepared and who wants it more will win the match.

“The key for Noah to have success this weekend is very simple — go out on the mat and go be Noah Hunt. He has the skills, conditioning, mindset, etc. that it takes to succeed at this level, and I'm confident he can be standing on the podium on Saturday night.”

For additional information, visit the Wildcats Athletics website.
For more about the United East, visit the conference website.

More on the 2025 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships is available here.