MAC Wrestler of the Week | 11.23.22
Corbyn Munson, Central Michigan, R-Senior, 157 lbs.
Chelsea, Mich. (Chelsea)
Central Michigan's Corbyn Munson went 4-2 over the weekend, opening with a monumental upset of No. 6-ranked (Intermat) Ed Scott of North Carolina State and then closing the weekend with a solid fourth-place finish at the Army Black Knight Invitational. Munson, who entered the weekend ranked 33rd nationally, defeated Scott, 4-1, in a Friday-night dual. Munson opened the Army Black Knight Invitational with a first-period pin and then followed with a 12-2 major-decision victory. He fell into the elimination bracket with a 3-1 loss to Terrell Barraclough of Penn State. Munson moved into the third-place match with a no-contest victory and then bowed to Army's Nate Lukez, who is ranked 31st nationally, 3-1.
Other Nominees
Cole Rhone, Bloomsburg, Senior, 133 lbs.
Benton, Pa. (Benton Area)
Rhone went 3-1 on the day with a pair of bonus point wins to take second overall in the 133-pound bracket. He opened the day with a 8-0 major decision over Tommy Maddox from Buffalo. Rhone faced off against Rich Treanor of Army in the second round and came away with a 6-2 decision. He moved into the championship round with a fall at 4:49 over Domenic Zaccone of Campbell. Rhone fell in a close 4-2 match to Gabriel Hixenbaugh of Campbell in the championship match to take second. Hixenbaugh is currently ranked 28th by InterMat. The fall in the semifinals of the bracket was his fourth of the year and his opening round MD was the first of the season.
Giuseppe Hoose, Buffalo, R-Senior, 184 lbs.
Lakewood, NY (Southwestern)
Giuseppe Hoose won the 184-pound title at the Black Knight Invite on Sunday. The redshirt-senior went 3-0 with a 7-2 decision over Army's Cole Karpinski in the quarterfinals, a 3-1 decision over Army's Sahm Abdulrazzaq in the semifinals and an 8-4 decision over Hofstra's Jacob Ferreira in the finals. On Friday, Hoose went 1-1 at the ArmBar at the Armory. He earned a 4-3 decision over Illinois' Dylan Connell in the opener before falling to #8 Abe Assad of Iowa.
Dylan Layton, Cleveland State, Freshman, 141 lbs.
Indian Land, S.C.
Layton went 3-0 at the Boilermakers Duals over the week, improving to 7-0 on the year. The freshman recorded two decisions and one major decision. His highlight of the day was defeating three-time NCAA Qualifier and No.11 Parker Filius of Purdue, 10-4.
Peter Pappas, George Mason, Graduate, 157 lbs.
Plainview, NY 157
Mason grad student Peter Pappas earned second place, the highest finish for the Patriots at the Keystone Classic on Sunday. Pappas finished with a 4-1 record in the 157-pound class. Pappas won four straight duals by a decision to earn a berth into the finals with #1 seeded Anthony Artalona from Penn. In the semi-finals, Pappas upended #2 seed Cody Bond, from Appalachian State 3-2. Artalona edged Pappas, 3-1, in the finals match.
Enrique Munguia, Kent State, Soph, 165 lbs.
Strongsville, OH (Elyria)
Munguia went 4-0 on the day on Saturday and started off his run as the Classic’s top seed in dominant fashion, an 18-3 tech fall against Brodie Porter of the Citadel. After a 10-1 major decision in round two, he defeated Chase Barlow of Bucknell 8-3, Barlow would wrestle back to claim 8th place. In the semi-finals, the Elyria native took down Bubba Wilson of #19 Nebraska, who would go on to finish fourth. In the title match, Munguia defeated Jordan Slivka of Ohio in a 3-0 shutout. Slivka was ranked 32nd by InterMat and an honorable mention by FloWrestling, and was third in the MAC’s 165-pound November rankings. He now sits at 14-1 overall on the season and ranked 24th by InterMat, 25th by Wrestle State and 26 by Flo
Izzak Olejnik, NIU, R-Senior, 165 lbs.
Bakersfield, Calif. (Bakersfield)
Olejnik went 3-0 in last Sunday's Boilermaker Duals, earning two pins and a major decision win at the event. Ranked No. 11 in the nation, Olejnik pinned Caleb Waddell of Chatanooga to kick things off. In NIU's following match against Purdue, Olejnik brought the Huskies within six points of the Boilermakers with a major decision win over Cooper Noehre. Finally, Olejnik pinned Caleb Cass of Cleveland State, helping NIU win the dual against the Vikings.
Alec Hagan, Ohio, Graduate Student, 149 lbs.
Eureka, Mo. (Eureka)
Hagan was dominant in the 149-pound bracket at the Navy Classic on Saturday. He opened with a 4-0 decision over James Latona (Navy). The quarterfinals proved to be another tight bout, with Hagan coming out on top with a 5-0 decision. The graduate student fought to a sudden victory win in the semifinals, defeating Kent State’s Kody Komara 7-1. Hagan met his teammate, Derek Raike, in the championship bout. After three periods, the two were tied, 2-2, sending them into overtime. Hagan ultimately claimed first place after two tie-breaker periods because he accumulated more riding time.
Ethan Laird, Rider, Graduate, 197 lbs.
Edinboro, PA
Laird won the Keystone Classic hosted by the University of Penn defeating the #15 ranked wrestler in the country Kordell Norfleet from Arizona State in the finals 7-6. Ethan’s also pinned HM Cole Urbas from UPenn in the semis. Ethan is 8-0 on the season with two individual tournament titles to his name with 6 of his 8 wins via bonus points and his other two wins are over Nationally ranked opponents. Ethan is currently ranked #12 via Intermat.
