CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – After winning the 2024 A-R-C Men’s Swimming & Diving Championship, the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves are the favorite again for the upcoming season, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Read below about the Nebraska Wesleyan P-Wolves and the entire A-R-C as we prepare for the first competitions. 

The Poll: 

Nebraska Wesleyan is the coaches’ choice to win the 2024-25 A-R-C Men’s Swimming & Diving title in February. The Prairie Wolves, the 2024 champions, were chosen first on three ballots and earned 15 points. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own teams. Luther claimed the second spot with 14 points and two first place votes. The Duhawks garnered 10 points. Simpson comes in fourth with six points and Coe was picked to finish fifth with five points. 

National Spotlight: 

The CSCAA has not yet released national polls for the 2024-25 season. 

The Schedule: 

Loras kicks off the season at home facing Ripon on October 12. Luther is the next A-R-C team in action when they face Macalester on October 18. Nebraska Wesleyan and Simpson will begin their seasons in Indianola at the Relay Meet Simpson will host on October 19. The Kohawks begin their season on the 19th as well in Jacksonville, Illinois against Illinois College. 

The A-R-C Championship is slated for February 20-22 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at Coe College. 

Preseason No. 1 | Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairie Wolves

Head coach Kyle Hunt is entering his fifth season leading the Prairie Wolf program. He led his men to a first place finish at the conference championship a season ago. 

Nebraska Wesleyan will return a slew of swimmers including all-conference performers Mattia Rosatelli, Dylan Fucik, Burke Lauseng, Gabe Patton, Ian Scheele, Kai Trotman, and Alec Zurn. The Prairie Wolves lost five all-conference performers. 

Preseason No. 2 | Luther College Norse

Aaron Zander steps into his sixth season as the head coach of the Luther swimming & diving program. The men finished last season as runner-ups at the conference championship. 

Luther will return 17 swimmers and two divers for the upcoming season. All-conference honorees returning includes: Ian Allsup, Gabe Armstrong, Jack Bell, Drew Chamberlain, Colin Halverson, Kevin Kretz, Ryan Malecha, Owen McCredie, Brock Ohlensehlen, Dylan Rauser, and Nico Shrestha. The Norse lost no all-conference performers. 

Preseason No. 3 | Loras College Duhawks

Loras welcomes back Nick Wyllie for his sixth season leading charge for the Loras program. The Duhawks finished third at the conference championship last season and look to continue to improve in the standings this season. 

Loras will have nine swimmers and one diver returning for the 2024-25 campaign. Caden Gillmore, Brian Day, Gabriel Ibanez, and Alex Dvorak return this year after earning all-conference honors last season. The Duhawks lost three all-conference performers. With the returning all-conference honorees, Wyllie named James McArthur as a student-athlete to watch.

Preseason No. 4 | Simpson College Storm

Adam Cvetich enters his fourth season as the head coach of the Simpson program. Last season, the Storm finished fourth at the conference championship this past season. 

The Storm brings back three returning swimmers. Cvetich named Jay Ceperly, Christopher Olds, and Gabe Bruns as returning student-athletes to keep an eye on for the 2024-25 campaign. 

Preseason No. 5 | Coe College Kohawks

Joe Tristan enters his second season as the Coe swimming and diving head coach. The Kohawks finished fifth last season at the conference championship, and hope to use home pool energy to move up the leaderboard this season. 

Coe will welcome back two swimmers. Tristan named Isaiah Lawshe and Gianino Coniglio as returning student-athletes to watch this season. 

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About the American Rivers Conference

The Conference dates back to December 8, 1922, when representatives from 12 colleges got together and formed the "Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Association." Honoring its heritage in Iowa and its expansion outside the state, the American Rivers Conference brand was established on August 9, 2018, to build on the academic and athletic success provided by its legacy, the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The A-R-C has nine full-time members: Buena Vista University, Central College, Coe College, University of Dubuque, Loras College, Luther College, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Simpson College, and Wartburg College.