MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES WRESTLERS OF THE WEEK
MAC East Division: Wrestler of the Week
DJ Fehlman, Lock Haven—Senior, Warren, Pa. (Warren High School)
Lock Haven senior DJ Fehlman at 133 lbs. went 4-0 and claimed the 133-pound title at the Edinboro Open on Saturday, Feb. 1st. The No. 28th ranked wrestler opened the day with a major and a tech fall, before winning his semifinal-bout, 5-3. In the finals, Fehlman edged Maryland's Orion Anderson, 1-0, for the championship.
Additional Nominees:
Kenan Carter, Old Dominion—Senior, Aurora, Ill. (Metea Valley High School)
Old Dominion senior Kenan Carter at 149 lbs. in a match against No. 7 Virginia Tech, Carter was tasked with facing No. 23 Bryce Andonian. Andonian took an early lead with two takedowns in the first period and extended his lead to four points with an early reversal in the second frame, but Carter managed to narrow the deficit to just one point after an escape and a takedown later in the frame. Carter completed the comeback by earning four points, including a riding time point to dispatch his top-25 opponent. The win was Carter's 15th of the season, and he is tied for second on the Monarchs with 34 dual points.
MAC West Division: Wrestlers of the Week
Brock Mauller, Missouri—Sophomore, Columbia, Mo. (Father Tolton High School)
Missouri sophomore Brock Mauller at 149 lbs., ranked as high as fifth nationally, defeated the nation’s No. 1 wrestler at 149 pounds in thrilling fashion at Oklahoma State last Sunday. His win over No. 1 Boo Lewallen was Mizzou’s first over a No. 1-ranked wrestler since Daniel Lewis pinned Arizona State’s Zahid Valencia at 174 pounds last year at Arizona State (Feb. 8, 2019). Mauller went into the third period trailing, 3-0, but registered an escape early in the period before getting a takedown to tie the bout with about 30 seconds remaining and rode Lewallen out to force OT. Mauller took a shot and scored the bout-winning takedown midway through the sudden victory period to earn the 5-3 win. He is now 21-1 and should shoot up the rankings this week at 149 pounds after winning his last nine bouts. He has yet to lose this calendar year.
Additional Nominees:
Justin Patrick, Cleveland State—Senior, Ligonier, Pa. (Ligonier Valley High School)
Cleveland State senior Justin Patrick at 133 lbs. went 2-0 this past weekend in a pair of MAC duals, claiming a pair of upset victories. In his bout at Kent State Saturday, Patrick defeated Tim Rooney by securing a takedown with fewer than five seconds remaining in the match to claim a 4-3 win. Rooney was ranked among the top 20 nationally by multiple outlets and was third in the most recent MAC rankings. Patrick's upset win helped Cleveland State take down Kent State, 16-15, the Vikings' first win over the Golden Flashes since the 2003-04 season. The following day, Patrick again took down a higher-rated wrestler with his victory over Andrew Marten of Central Michigan. He posted four-near points in the opening period to get a lead. With the bout effectively tied due to riding time, 10-10, Patrick secured a point in the final seconds of the match to claim an 11-10 win, the second time in as many days he won by scoring in the final 10 seconds.
Matt Stencel, Central Michigan—Junior, Oregon, Ohio (Clay High School)
Central Michigan junior Matt Stencel at 285 lbs. posted a pair of victories last week to clinch two dual-meet victories as the Chippewas ran their dual-win streak to three and improved to 5-4, 5-2 MAC. Stencel went in to both bouts with the dual meet hanging in the balance, and the returning All-American delivered in both instances. Stencel pinned his opponent in the second period to clinch a 25-15 victory over Ohio in Athens on Friday, and then he posted a 7-1 win on Sunday to close an 18-13 win at Cleveland State. Stencel, who is 23-4 on the season, ran his win streak to six and he has won 12 of his last 13 bouts, with the lone loss in that stretch coming to third-ranked Tony Cassioppi of Iowa in the title match at the Midlands Championships. Stencel’s other losses this season have come to No. 2 Mason Parris of Michigan. A two-time defending MAC champion, Stencel is ranked fourth in the nation by flowrestling.org and first in the MAC.
Colin McCracken, Kent State—Sophomore, Waynesburg, Pa. (Waynesburg Central High School)
Kent State sophomore Colin McCracken at 197 lbs., knocked off the MAC's No. 6 wrestler in Ben Smith of Cleveland State for the second time in as many tries this season on Saturday night, both by identical 8-4 decisions. McCracken controlled the match for the entire seven minutes, earning the bonus point for riding time to pad the victory by decision. The sophomore earned his 20th victory of the year, 10th in a dual and improved to 5-2 in the MAC with the victory.
Bryce West, Northern Illinois—Sophomore, Solon, Iowa (Solon High School)
Northern Illinois sophomore Bryce West at 125 lbs. set the tone early in NIU’s 29-9 victory over in-state rival and conference foe SIUE Saturday. The redshirt-sophomore improved to 16-9 on the season and 4-2 in MAC play when he recorded a first period takedown of Matt Malavsky. West is 8-1 on the year in matches by fall this season.
Shakur Laney, Ohio—Senior, Canal Winchester, Ohio (Pickerington North High School)
Ohio senior Shakur Laney at 141 lbs. helped the Bobcats (6-6, 4-3 MAC) split a pair of home MAC dual meets at the Convocation Center last weekend, winning both of his bouts at 141 pounds. In a matchup of ranked competitors, Laney (No. 17 InterMat Wrestling) won his bout against No. 19-ranked redshirt junior Dresden Simon in the first tiebreaker, 8-7, on Friday (Jan. 31) in Ohio’s 25-15 setback to Central Michigan. Two days later, Laney posted a 17-7 major decision win over junior Shawn Orem to help the Bobcats earned a decisive 28-9 triumph over Bloomsburg.
