Three Lions Claim Titles, Seven Place on Podium at David H. Lehman Open

Friday, January 9

Lancaster, Pa.

9:00 AM

Columbia University

Franklin and Marshall Open

F&M Winners - 2026 - Fine, Owen, Wehmeyer

Three Lions Claim Titles, Seven Place on Podium at David H. Lehman Open

1/9/2026 7:04:00 PM | Wrestling

Results (HTML)

Columbia has its best finish ever at the tournament

LANCASTER, Pa. – The Columbia wrestling team had a historic day at the David H. Lehman Open hosted by Franklin & Marshall at the Alumni Sports & Fitness Center on Friday. Nick Fine, Kai Owen, and Jack Wehmeyer all captured individual titles in their respective weight classes, a further four Lions finished on the podium.

Entering today, the Lions had two previous champions, five finalists, and 17 place winners in the 13-year history of the tournament. Columbia more than doubles its champions with Owen, Fine, and Wehmeyer capturing titles at 157, 174, and 197, respectively.

Joe Curtis and Vincent Mueller finished second at 184 and 285, while Sulayman Bah finished fourth at 125 and Richard Fedalen finished sixth at 149. For Fine, Fedalen, Curtis, Mueller and Owens, it is the second time in their career they have placed at the David H. Lehman Open.

Previous winners for the Lions were Jack McGill at 174 in 2025 and Shane Hughes in 2013, who captured the crown at 184.

Owen's path to the finals started with a 16-4 major decision over LIU's Luke Nieto in the Round of 64. Owen then defeated Lock Haven's Chase Burke 6-0 before pinning Army's Connor Doherty to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Owen took down Hofstra's Franke Volpe via a 17-4 major decision and advanced to the finals with a 7-0 win over Lehigh's Jadon Skellenger. In the finals, he squared off against No. 13 DJ McGee of George Mason. The two remained scoreless entering the second period, when Owen secured the win with a fall at 4:17.

Fine began his tournament run with back-to-back dominant performances. In the Round of 64, he defeated Lehigh's Duncan Christensen via an 18-1 tech fall. He followed that up by pinning LIU's Greyson Catlow-Sidler just under two minutes in the first round of the Round of 32. After a 2-0 decision in the Round of 16 and a 7-0 decision in the quarterfinals, Fine defeated North Carolina's Nicholas Fea 8-5 to advance to the finals. There, he soundly defeated Princeton's Holden Garcia via an 18-0 tech fall to capture the crown at 175.

Wehmeyer continues to round into form. He entered the day at 5-5 on the year, but had won four of his last five matches. The hot streak continued for the redshirt junior, who won two of his first three matches via fall. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Binghamton's Mikey Squires 4-1 to advance to the semifinals. There, he notched a 13-5 win via major decision over Rutgers' PJ Casale. In the finals, he faced NC State's Cason Howle. A pair of takedowns in the first period gave Wehmeyer a 6-2 lead. Late in the third period, leading 7-3, he notched his final takedown to go up 10-4 and secured a final point due to riding time to win 11-4.

Curtis added four more wins to improve to 18-2. All four of his wins came via fall, giving him a team-high 11 pins on the year. In the finals, he faced No. 7 James Conway from Franklin & Marshall, where he won via tech fall, 21-6.

Mueller added three more wins via fall and one via tech fall to reach the finals. There, he faced Army's Austin Kohlhofer, who earned the 2-0 win thanks to an escape late in the third period and a final point due to riding time.

Bah opened the tournament with three straight victories, including back-to-back tech falls, to advance to the semifinals. There, he faced Army's Charlie Farmer and lost by a 13-5 major decision. In the third-place bout, Bah fell to Air Force's Tucker Owens by fall at 5:20.

Fedalen opened the tournament with three straight wins, including a win via fall in the Round of 16. In the quarter finals, he fell to Kent State's Silas Stits in a 4-2 decision. Fedalen bounced back with two wins in the consolation bracket to advance to the fifth-place bout, where he fell to Virginia's Jayce Paridon.

Columbia will return to action on Friday, January 16, when it hosts Morgan State. It will be the final non-conference dual before Ivy League action begins. The match against the Bears is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

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