MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES WRESTLERS OF THE WEEK
MAC East Division: Wrestler of the Week
Greg Bulsak, Clarion—Junior, South Park, Pa. (South Park High School)
Clarion junior Greg Bulsak at 197 lbs. improved to 9-1 in MAC duals with a pair of wins last week, including a victory over nationally-ranked Ethan Laird as the Golden Eagles earned a split in Conference action. He started his weekend with a 6-1 decision over Kent State’s Colin McCracken on Friday night, helping the Golden Eagles to a 30-8 win over the Golden Flashes. That snapped a nine-match losing streak to Kent State and represented Clarion’s first win over the Golden Flashes since the 2000-01 season. He followed that up with a virtuoso performance on Sunday against Rider’s Ethan Laird, who entered the weekend ranked 12th in the most recent NCAA coaches’ panel. Bulsak dominated Laird in an 8-1 decision to improve to 22-5 overall and 13-2 in duals.
Additional Nominees:
Neil Schuster, George Mason—Sophomore, Westminster, Md. (Mount Saint Joseph)
George Mason sophomore Neil Schuster at 165 lbs. helped the Patriots split two MAC dual matches on Sunday, February 16 as the Patriots edged Bloomsburg, 21-19, and dropped a match to Old Dominion, 25-11. After being out for six weeks with an injury, Schuster came back strong with a 6-4 overtime win against ODU’s Shane Jones, No. 4 ranked wrestler in the MAC at 165 pounds. With only seven seconds left in the first period, Schuster had a takedown and a 2-0 advantage going into period two. The score was 4-3 late in the third when Jones tied it up with a stalling point. In OT, Schuster earned the takedown and the, 6-4 decision over the ranked wrestler. Jones checks in at 31st and 32nd in the RPI rankings and the coaches' poll respectively. In the second match of the day, Schuster blanked Bloomsburg's Nate Newberry, 6-0 to break the tie and give Mason its first lead of the match, 14-11. The Patriots would win the match and break a five-match skid in the conference to improve to 3-5.
Timothy Young, Old Dominion—Senior, Aurora, Ill.
Old Dominion senior Timothy Young at 197 lbs. won both of his bouts this week, the first against No. 25 Jacob Koser of Navy. With the score even at 2-2 after the first period, Young broke away to take a slight lead with a takedown in the second frame and held a 4-3 advantage over Koser. He added an extra point in the third period and held on to beat the ranked Midshipman, 5-3. The win was Young's second against a top-25 opponent this year. The Monarch senior followed that performance with a 16-5 major decision victory over George Mason's Ramses Montalvo in ODU's 25-11 conference win over GMU. Young took down Montalvo seven times, which led to just under three minutes of riding time in the contest.
MAC West Division: Wrestler of the Week
Logan Heil, Cleveland State—Freshman, Brunswick, Ohio (Brunswick High School)
Cleveland State freshman Logan Heil at 125 lbs. went 2-0 as the Vikings closed the regular season with a pair of duals this past weekend. In the opening match of the weekend at Bloomsburg, Heil secured the only takedown of the bout to claim a win. With his match tied, 1-1, in the third period against the Huskies' Christian Gannone, Heil was able to net a takedown to post a 3-2 victory. Two days later against Michigan State, Heil posted a come-from-behind victory over the Spartans' Logan Griffin. Trailing, 4-2, entering the third period, Heil tallied a tying takedown in the final frame before garnering four near-fall points to add to his lead. He would end up posting a 10-4 win over his Big Ten foe. With his 2-0 weekend, Heil moved to double digits in dual wins on the season despite not starting the season in the lineup.
Additional Nominees:
Andrew McNally, Kent State—Junior, Uniontown, Ohio
Kent State junior Andrew McNally at 184 lbs. rolled up a 12-1 major decision victory in Friday's dual against Clarion. McNally posted his 29th victory of the season, good for 5th most in the NCAA, he also upped his win streak to 16 consecutive matches. He has been especially dominant as of late as four of his last five victories have earned at least four team points. Currently, McNally is 29-6 this season.
Izzak Olejnik, Northern Illinois—Redshirt Freshman, Bakersfield, Calif. (Bakersfield High School)
Northern Illinois redshirt freshman Izzak Olejnik at 165 lbs. picked up arguably the biggest victory of his career when he defeated returning MAC champion, and 2019 NCAA qualifier, Troy Keller of Buffalo in the Huskies’ victory over the Bulls in the league finale. With the team trailing 13-6 at halftime, the Huskie redshirt-freshman set the tone for the second half of the dual when he scored a 5-3 overtime victory over Keller, who is the top-ranked wrestler in the league at 165 and currently ranked 22nd in the NCAA Coaches Panel Ranking. That win proved to be the turning point of the match as NIU would win four of the last five bouts and take the dual from the Bulls, 19-16. Olejnik improved to 15-9 on the season, 8-5 in dual matches and 7-2 in league competition. His victory helped NIU to its 12th win of the season, the most since 2003-04.
