Story Courtesy of York Athletics

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - York College senior All-American Josh Stahl (38-2) finished second at 197 lbs. following his appearance in the title bout Saturday night at the NCAA Division III Men's Wrestling Championship hosted by the American Rivers Conference at the Alliant Energy Power House.

The second-seed Spartan fell, 10-5, to No. 9 seed Mohammed Talebi (15-1) of NYU in the 197-pound final to close out a fantastic senior campaign. Talebi held the upper hand early with a pair of takedowns in the first period, but Stahl remained in the mix as he scored an escape right before the horn and received a penalty for locked hands as he trailed 6-3 after three minutes of wrestling. After a neutral start to period two, neither wrestler wanted to surrender an inch until Talebi managed to find an opening and converted a shot for a takedown with 17 seconds left, but surrendered an escape as he owned a 9-4 lead heading into the third. Stahl elected to start on top to start the third period in hopes of an early tilt, but Talebi was just too determined as he got to his feet with 1:17 left and avoided putting himself in danger the rest of the way as he left the mat a national champion.

Earlier in the day, Stahl secured his spot in the final with a convincing 18-4 major decision over Ohio Northern's Myles Johnson who was seeded sixth. Stahl racked up a total of three takedowns on Johnson with a total of eight nearfall points.

Stahl capped off his collegiate career with a record of 64-9. He showed resilience as he battled back from season-ending injuries early in his career to finish with a 63-5 mark over his last two seasons. Stahl put together a whale of a senior season as he went 38-2 overall, including a dual record of 15-0, with eight falls, 18 technical falls and six major decisions while claiming four tournament titles, including a conference crown. He finished top-10 in Division III in technical falls and in the Most Dominant Wrestler standings. Additionally, his 38 wins this season are tied for the third-most in York men's wrestling history.

The Spartan men's wrestling program has now had a finalist in four of the last five NCAA Championship appearances. Stahl joins the ranks of Darren Archangelo (1993), Duane Bastress (2005 & 2006), Greg Warner (2018 & 2019) and Dalton Rohrbaugh (2023) on the list of Spartans to reach the NCAA finals.