Mid-American Conference

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
 
MAC Wrestler of the Week
Kyle Springer, Eastern Michigan—Junior, New Boston, Mich. (Davenport Assumption High School)
 
Eastern Michigan junior Kyle Springer captured the 141 lbs. crown at the Keystone Classic, Dec. 20. The redshirt junior went up against some of the top competition in his weight class to win the title. Springer got his day started with a huge upset, defeating No. 11 ranked Jimmy Gulibon of Penn State by 8-5 decision. Gulibon was ranked No. 1 in the tournament. He followed that up with a 12-6 decision in the quarterfinals, and then a 6-4 decision over the No. 4 seeded Robert Lee of Pitt. In the finals, Springer upended another Nittany Lion, this time Kade Moss, by 5-2 decision to take the 141 lbs. title. His efforts led Eastern Michigan to a third-place team finish out of 12 teams.

Additional Nominees:
Bryan Lantry, Buffalo—Sophomore, Walworth, N.Y. (Wayne High School)
 
Buffalo sophomore Bryan Lantry stunned Cornell’s Mark Grey, the nation’s 15th-ranked wrestler as Buffalo nearly pulled the upset, losing just 18-15 to the 7th-ranked Big Red. After a scoreless first two periods, Lantry earned an escape to go up 1-0 in the third. A takedown by Grey put Lantry behind 2-1. Lantry earned another escape to tie the score at 2 and then, with less than 10 seconds remaining, got the takedown for the 4-2 upset victory.
 
C.J. Brucki, Central Michigan—Junior, Orland Park, Ill. (Sandburg High School)
 
Central Michigan junior C.J. Brucki went 4-0 in winning the Michigan State Open. Among his wins were two by technical fall (both 15-0) and an 8-7 victory over Penn State freshman Mark Hall, a former cadet and junior world champion and the nation’s top recruit in the class of 2016. Brucki is 8-1 on the season.
 
Anthony Tutolo, Kent State—Sophomore, Concord, Ohio (Lake Catholic High School)
 
Kent State sophomore Anthony Tutolo won a 133-pound title at the Navy Classic, helping Kent State finish third of 12 teams.  Tutolo improved to 8-0 on the season, by going 4-0 Saturday at Wesley Brown Field House.  He earned a 9-1 major decision over Ohio’s Zac Hassan in the opening round followed by a 21-6 tech fall over George Mason’s Logan Harvich.  Tutolo earned a commanding 7-2 win over Bucknell’s Zach Firestone in the semifinals and topped No. 16 Cam Kelly of Ohio 5-4 in the finals.  
 
Jaydin Eierman, Missouri—R-Freshman, Columbia, Mo. (Father Tolton High School)
 
Missouri redshirt freshman Jaydin Eierman made his presence known immediately, at 133 by scoring a first-period fall over Dominic Latona at 2:55. After scoring a takedown and near-fall in the first minute of the opening period, Eierman came close to scoring the fall on numerous occasions before getting the six points right before the end of the period. A four-time Missouri State Champion, Eierman went 22-2 last year as a redshirt, winning three open tournaments and placing third at two events. Eierman scored bonus points in 20 of 22 wins, recording eight falls, six technical falls and six major decisions.
 
Bryce Steiert, Northern Iowa—Sophomore, Horton, Iowa (Waverly-Shell Rock High School)
 
Northern Iowa sophomore Bryce Steiert moved up a weight class from 157 pounds to get his second dual win of the season. He racked up more than two minutes of riding time to earn an 11-3 major decision over Virginia Tech’s Mike Ciavarro. Steiert has fallen out of many of the national rankings at 157 pounds, but still holds one as high as eighth. Last week, Intermat had him 13th in the nation at 157 pounds.  He is now 2-0 overall and 2-0 in duals. He will wrestle his first MAC competition this weekend. 
 
Shakur Laney, Ohio—Sophomore, Canal Winchester, Ohio (Pickerington North High School)
 
Ohio sophomore Shakur Laney continued his hot start to season with a second-place finish at the Navy Classic in the 125-pound weight class. He reached the semifinals with hard-fought 6-5 decision over No. 14 ranked Elijiah Oliver of Indiana before falling in the final to No. 13-ranked Nathan Kraisser of Campbell by a 10-4 decision. Laney took his first match by fall (2:15) over George Mason’s Trevor Mello, Laney took his second match by an 11-3 major decision by defeating Brant Leadbeter of Navy. Laney is now 10-1 this season.