Mid-American Conference

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
 
MAC Wrestler of the Week
Daniel Lewis, Missouri—Senior, Blue Springs, Mo.
 
Missouri senior Daniel Lewis at 174 lbs. went 4-0 during the Tigers perfect outing at the South Beach Duals, earning a fall, a tech fall and two decisions. Lewis helped Mizzou defeat three top 25 teams on the weekend, including No. 21 Lehigh, No. 13 Purdue, a 41-3 win, and No. 8 Cornell.  Missouri has a perfect 10-0 record this season and has won 20 straight duals, including 12 straight MAC duals with its win over Kent State to open South Beach.
 
Lewis’ win in the Cornell dual came against sixth-ranked Jordan Kutler as he earned an 8-1 decision, one of two wins over top 20 wrestlers this season. He also downed No. 14 Brandon Womack of Cornell in the finale, 5-0, outscoring ranked opponents, 13-1, over the four duals. In all, he outscored his opponents, 31-3, with a pin over the weekend.

Additional Nominees:
Matt Stencel, Central Michigan—Sophomore, Oregon, Ohio
 
Central Michigan sophomore Matt Stencel at 285 lbs. went 6-1 to place third in the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern. Four of Stencel’s six victories came on pins in a combined 6 minutes, 16 seconds. He earned the tournament award for most pins in the least amount of combined time. Stencel, who is ranked 16th by The Open Mat and was seeded sixth in the tournament, opened the tournament with a 12-4 major decision victory over Terrese Aaron of Northern Illinois, and closed it with a 10-5 win over 18th-ranked and seventh-seeded AJ Nevills of Fresno State.
 
Stencel’s lone loss in the tournament came in the third round to eventual 285-pound champion Tanner Hall of Arizona State. Stencel lost to Hall on an injury forfeit, then responded with three consecutive first-period pins to reach the third-place match. Stencel began his streak with a pin of Iowa’s Aaron Costello (1:12), and then followed with a pin in 43 second over Iowa’s Tony Cassioppi, and closed it with a pin in 30 seconds of Michigan’s Mason Parris. The win over Parris avenged a loss that Stencel suffered to the Wolverine earlier this season. Cassioppi was seeded 10th and Parris was seeded fifth.
 
Andrew McNally, Kent State—Sophomore, Uniontown, Ohio
 
Kent State sophomore Andrew McNally at 184 lbs. helped Kent State to dual meet victories over Michigan State and SIU Edwardsville at the South Beach Duals Dec. 29 and 30.  In the Golden Flashes’ 18-17 victory over the Spartans, McNally pinned No. 14 Cameron Caffey in the first period.  Caffey entered the match 18-0 on the year.  In Kent State’s 23-14 win over SIUE, McNally earned a 14-5 major decision over Sergio Villalobos.  On the season, McNally is 21-5 with 10 pins and six major decisions.
 
Brit Wilson, Northern Illinois—Redshirt Freshman, Mexico, Mo.
 
Northern Illinois redshirt freshman Brit Wilson at 174 lbs. placed third at the prestigious Midlands Championships. Wilson won five of his six matches during the two-day event. He advanced to the semifinals after taking his first three bouts of the tournament. Wilson began his run with a 15-3 major decision victory over conference foe Jake Lowell of Central Michigan before pinning Mount Union's Jairod James in his second match of the day. He scored a 13-3 major decision win over Josh Ugalde to complete his perfect Saturday. While he dropped the semifinal match to Northern Iowa's Taylor Lujan, Wilson responded with a pinfall victory over Rutgers' Willie Scott. He capped his tournament run with an 11-5 victory over Campbell's Andrew Morgan in the third-place bout.