EAST STROUDSBURG, Pennsylvania - The American International College wrestling team had two student-athletes qualify for the NCAA National Championship via third-place finishes by Tommy Nichols and Jack MacKiernan in their weight classes at the NCAA Super Regional I Championship at East Stroudsburg University on Saturday, February 25.

The team finished 10th overall with 28.5 points.

Nichols opened against Dominic Williams of Seton Hill, and won a 6-2 decision, following that up with a 3-1 decision over Colton Stoneking of Fairmont State, who was the fifth-ranked wrestler in the region. That set up a semifinal against national number one Jacob Ealy, and Nichols pushed him to the brink before losing a 4-2 decision. However, he bounced back to pin Kutztown's Kibwe Mcnair, setting up a battle with third-ranked Craig Cook of Millersville. Nichols bested Cook, 9-4, to claim third overall and with it a ticket to nationals.

MacKiernan followed a much tougher path to the podium. He lost his first bout 2-1 to Seton Hill's Brandon Matthews, the region's fourth seed. He was able to knock off Jaccob Gonzalez of East Stroudsburg to earn his first win, 12-6, and then won a tiebreaker over Millersville's Andrew Vogelbacher. That sent him to the consolation semifinal against James Weber of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, and he won a thrilling 5-3 sudden victory to advance to the third-place bout. It took extra time again, but once again Mackiernan - who trailed 4-1 early in the bout - was able to win, 7-5 in sudden victory, to take third and with it a spot at nationals.

The duo will compete at the 2023 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championship in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on March 10-11 at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse. The full bracket for the national tournament will be released Monday, February 27 on NCAA.com.