MAC Weekly Recap (11/25/2024)

As we head into the Thanksgiving break, there were a handful of MAC wrestlers who feasted on their opponents over the last weekend. A trio of teams got to sit at the grown-up’s table, while other teams gorged themselves at individual tournaments. There are no turkeys here this week as we celebrate some of the best MAC performances of the week. 

Northern Illinois

The talk of the MAC, at least on Sunday, was Rider. And we’ll get to Rider shortly; however, Rider did suffer a loss last week. It was to conference opponent Northern Illinois on Friday night, 20-19. 

The light and heavyweights for the Huskies took care of business. None of NIU’s wins against Rider came from 149-184. 

One of the toss-up matches of the dual came at 141 lbs with NCAA qualifier McKenzie Bell of Rider and NCAA alternate Jacob Brya of Northern Illinois. Brya was making his season debut and his mat wrestling made the difference. A pair of reversals pushed him past Bell in a 7-5 victory. 

Heading into the 197 lb bout, the path to victory for the Huskies seemed slim. They were down by eight points with another toss-up match between Spencer Mooberry and Rider’s Steyn De Lange. De Lange held a slim 3-2 lead with two minutes of wrestling remaining and the choice to wrestle from the bottom position. DeLange got a relatively quick stand-up to increase his lead to 4-2

Shortly after the escape, Mooberry got in on a low attack and De Lange started a prolonged scramble. The Rider wrestler tried to roll through after a takedown was awarded to Mooberry and was caught on his back. Mooberry never let him leave his back and chaos erupted after a fall was called by the official. 

Now, with a match remaining, Northern Illinois trailed by two points. Heavyweight Jacob Christensen clinched the win for NIU with a 3-1 victory over freshman Collin French. Christensen was buoyed by an escape point and two points for stalling on French. 

The win was the first in program history over Rider. 

Northern Illinois will take some time off over Thanksgiving only to reemerge at SIU Edwardsville’s Cougar Clash on December 7th. 
 

Rider

After the tough conference loss on Friday night, Rider had no time to lick their wounds. The team traveled north to Wisconsin for a Sunday dual with the Badgers of the Big Ten. 

The bout started at 197 lbs which saw De Lange get a close 4-3 win over Nico Colucci; however, the next three would go in favor of the hosts, putting Rider at a 12-3 disadvantage. 

That nine-point hole didn’t matter as John Hangey’s team won the remaining six matches to blow through the Badgers, 28-12. 

Bell got the run started with a 10-4 win over Brock Bobzien; however, it was Sammy Alvarez at 149 lbs that began a streak of bonus points in three straight matches. His 21-4 tech fall, was followed by a second-period pin by Colton Washleski at 157 lbs and Enrique Munguia threw a 9-0 shutout to completely take control of the dual. 

Michael Wilson (174) and Isaac Dean (184) closed things out with a 10-9 win and a 20-6 major decision, respectively. 

The Broncs move up to 1-2 on the year after the close loss to NIU and loss last week to #20 West Virginia. 

You’ll be able to see Rider in action at the toughest tournament in the country as they head to Vegas for the Cliff Keen Invitational on December 6th and 7th. 
 

George Mason

To close out the dual portion of our recap, George Mason quietly went to 6-0 in all competitions and 4-0 in the MAC with a 32-8 win over SIU Edwardsville. The Cougars make take issues with the term quietly as Mason was able to tally bonus points in half of their eight wins. 

Stalwarts DJ McGee (157) and Evan Maag (165) had a major decision and fall, respectively. Veteran Logan Messer was dominating before an injury default and true freshman James Blackman continues to impress with a 13-4 major decision at 285 lbs. 

In addition to lighting up the scoreboard, the Patriots also had to grind out three close wins. 125 lber Ben Monn prevailed over Davian Guanajuato in sudden victory, while  Charlie Bunting notched a 4-1 win over Marcel Lopez at 133 lbs, and Malachi DuVall slipped by Deron Pulliam 1-0 at 184 lbs. 

Finally, at 149 lbs Kaden Cassidy maintained his perfect record and has a chance to potentially break into the national rankings. 

This marks the second time in three years that Frank Beasley’s team has started the year with six straight dual wins. 

George Mason will look to extend that to eight wins as they’ll take on MAC foe Buffalo and Long Island on December 6th. 

Editor's Note: Long Island has taken this match off of their schedule - so it will just be a dual between George Mason and Buffalo. The dual will be held in George Mason's "Johnson Center" the food court in the student union. 
 

Keystone Classic

Half of the champions from the Keystone Classic came from the MAC. 

The first of the titles came from one of the usual suspects, while others may have been a bit more surprising. Anthony Noto’s title at 133 lbs came after back-to-back wins over solid opponents from the host school, Penn (Ryan Miller and Alex Almeyda). 

Central Michigan got a second title as Chandler Amaker won the 165 lb weight class following Lovett. From a MAC standpoint, Amaker’s most significant win came in the semifinals when he downed Lock Haven’s Caden Dobbins, 5-2. 

It was an all-Lock Haven affair in the 174 lb finals as Avery Bassett scored early and often in an 11-3 major decision over teammate Tyler Stoltzfus. It was the first loss of the year for Stoltzfus and Bassett ran his record to 7-1. 

Another Lock Haven wrestler claimed a title at 184 lbs when Colin Fegley locked up a last-minute takedown to defeat Adrien Cramer of Central Michigan, 4-1. In the semis, Fegley had a very solid win over Virginia Tech’s Sam Fisher - someone who has been ranked in the past, but is behind All-American TJ Stewart. Fegley made his way into the national rankings last week, for the first time in his career, and doesn’t appear to be leaving them soon after a Keystone title. 

Lock Haven’s top recruit from the Class of 2024, Tucker Hogan, showed why he was so highly regarded in his title run at 197 lbs. In three bouts, Hogan amassed 46 points. Hogan has been noted as an excellent wrestler from the top - he displayed this with five sets of nearfall points across his three wins. 
 

Kent State at the Navy Classic

The Golden Flashes crowned a champion at the Navy Classic as Billy Meiszner won the 149 lb bracket. Meiszner was unseeded but ended up winning the top half of the bracket. In the quarterfinals, Meiszner picked off Nebraska’s Scott Robertson, 11-4. Robertson had just knocked off the top seed in the weight class, Kaeman Smith of Navy. 

Meiszner finished his tournament with wins over Ayden Garver (Oregon State) and Carson DesRosier (The Citadel). 

Though none of his wins came over ranked opposition, hopefully, this tournament title sparks Meiszner and helps him to continue his winning ways once he meets that caliber of opponents. 

Kent State will be back in dual action on December 5th against Lake Erie, before heading to the Cleveland State Open on the 7th. 

The Big Red Invite

A pair of MAC teams were in Ithaca for Cornell’s Big Red Invite, Buffalo, and Clarion. Wrestlers were sorted into round-robin groups and were able to get at least three matches per wrestler. 

Leading the way for Buffalo was 157 lber Kaleb Burgess. Burgess had falls in three of his four matches and defeated teammate Brady Ungar, 8-1, in the only match that went the full seven minutes. 

Lonnell Owens-Pabon (197) took second in his group. He posted two falls and had an 8-1 decision victory over Brown’s Thomas Sandoval. 

The only Clarion wrestler to win his bracket was Wesley Barnes, who won the 165 lb “B” grouping. Barnes had a pair of falls among his five wins.

Kyle Schickel (149/A), Scott Johnson (133/B), Judah Aybar (149/B), Gavin Wilmoth (174/B), Ethan Wiant (197/B), and Lucas Thomas (285/B) all finished second in their respective groupings.