Around The Mat – MAC Wrestling Weekend Recap
 
 
Bloomsburg
UNIVERSITY PARK, Md. – The Bloomsburg wrestling team opened the 2022-23 season at the Maryland Duals, Saturday. The Huskies opened the day with a 37-6 loss to Maryland before falling to Duke 32-6 and American 29-10.
 
Senior Cole Rhone (Benton, Pa./Benton Area) had a pair of pins and picked up a 7-6 decision to go 3-0 for the day at 133 pounds for the Huskies. Rhone opened competition with a pin in extra time over his Maryland opponent, Jackson Cockrell at 7:23 after the two were tied 6-6 after regulation. Rhone picked up another fall over Duke before earning a 7-6 decision over Jack Maida of American...MORE

Buffalo
The University at Buffalo wrestling team kicked off the 2022-23 campaign with three tough duals at The Battle in the River City on Saturday in Jacksonville, FL. Featuring a lineup filled with young wrestlers, the Bulls defeated Chattanooga while dropping duals to nationally-ranked Wisconsin and Campbell.

The Bulls earned their first dual win of the season with a 21-9 victory over Chattanooga. Three of the seven UB grapplers who were victorious earned their first career duals wins. Sophomore Jack Marlow (141) earned a 3-2 decision over Franco Valdes; redshirt-freshman Kaleb Burgess (149) took care of Grant Lundy with a 5-1 decision and redshirt-freshman Eli Sherren earned a 3-1 decision over Jake Boyd.

Also earning victories against Chattanooga were Tristan Daugherty at 125, Ty Raines at 165, Giuseppe Hoose at 184 and Sam Mitchell in his first bout at heavyweight...MORE

Central Michigan
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Ten Central Michigan wrestlers placed in the top six in their respective weight classes on Saturday at the season-opening Michigan State open at the Spartans' Jenison Field House.
 
CMU's Johnny Lovett placed second at 149 pounds, Bryan Caves was fourth at 285, Corbyn Munson (157) and Tracy Hubbard (165) each placed fifth, and Alex Cramer (174) and Mason Shrader (149) each placed sixth.
 
Four Chippewas, Anthony Walker (125), Grayson Sonntag (149), Leo Galasso (165) and Lance Schyck (174), placed in the Fresh/Soph Division.
 
Galasso was third, Walker placed fourth, Sonntag was fifth, and Schyck finished sixth. Galasso is a sophomore; the other three are freshmen.
 
Twenty-nine Chippewa wrestlers competed in the tournament, which comprised 20 teams. No team scores were kept... MORE

Clarion
Will Feldkamp won the title at 184 pounds and three of his teammates finished in the top-three, highlighting the season-opening Clarion Open held in Tippin Gymnasium on Sunday. Clarion finished fourth among the teams present in this year's field.
 
Feldkamp made a splash in his first year as a Golden Eagle by placing second in the 197-pound bracket at the 2021 Clarion Open. His encore performance in 2022 was even better, as Feldkamp racked up one major decision and three consecutive wins by fall, including first period pins in both the semifinal and finals rounds to take the 184-pound championship.
 
The day started with an 11-2 major decision over Kent State's Michael Caniglia, pushing Feldkamp to the quarterfinal round against Pitt's James Lledo. The two were tied 2-2 after three minutes of action, but Feldkamp quickly dispatched his opponent in the second period. He caught Lledo on a fireman's carry and brought him to his back for extra points. Lledo nearly fought out but Feldkamp corralled him for the pin at 4:16. Feldkamp pinned his second Panther in the semifinal round, breaking down Nicholas Meglino and turning him over for the fall at 1:01.
 
He turned the proverbial hat trick in the finals against Pitt's Reece Heller, doing so in less than two minutes. Feldkamp slapped a front headlock on Heller and then reached for his left leg, extending Heller before rolling him to his back. Feldkamp got the pin in just 1:41 for his first Clarion Open title… MORE

Cleveland State
Cleveland State opened the 2022-23 season at the Michigan State Open on Saturday. The Vikings finished the day with nine placers with one championship. The Vikings will next compete in their first dual at home on Friday, November 11 against No. 18 Pitt at 7 p.m. inside Woodling Gymnasium.
 
Open Division
The Vikings had four placers in the open division led by third-place finishes from Anthony Perrine and Daniel Bucknavich. Jake Manley and DeAndre Nassar each took third on the day.
 
The 11 wrestlers combined for ten decisions, four falls, and one major decision.
 
Cleveland State had five placers in the freshman and sophomore division paced by Dylan Layton as the champion at 141-pounds.
 
The eight Vikings in the division recorded 12 decisions, five falls, one major decision, and one technical fall.
 
Layton won the 141-pound championship with a 4-0 record. The freshman recorded three decisions and one fall with his first collegiate victory coming on a 32-second pin… MORE

Edinboro
Clarion, Pa. – The Edinboro wrestling team had seven place winners headlined by Jared McGill winning the 174-pound weight class at the Clarion Open on Sunday.
 
McGill opened the tournament with an 11-1 major decision over Kaedee Barger. In the second round, he earned another major decision this one 12-2 over Chase Cordia of Clarion.
 
In his quarterfinal match, McGill blanked Purdue's Brody Baumann 6-0. He would then top Sammy Starr of Navy 6-3 to advance to the final. In the final, McGill built an 8-0 lead into the second period before John Worthing of Clarion bowed out with a medical forfeit.
 
Edinboro had a pair of third-place finishers in Ryan Burgos at 149 and Luke Kemerer at 157...MORE

George Mason
The George Mason wrestling team opened the 2022-23 season with six place-winners at the Princeton Open.

The Patriots had two place-winner at 184 pounds. Sophomore Malachi Duvall earned a third-place finish, the highest finish today by a Patriot. Duval earned a major decision against Rider's Terrell in the Round of 16, 12-4. Wrestling in the semi-finals, Duvall dropped a 9-5 decision to eventual champion Rutgers John Poznanski, 9-5.

Tyler Kocak finished fourth. The junior won his first two matches before falling to Nate Dugan from Princeton. He finished 2-2 on the day.

Sophomores Michael Rapuano and Logan Messer earned a fifth place finishes. At 141 pounds, Rapuano dropped the opening match to Lock Haven's Ty Linsenbigler, before winning four straight matches. Messer was edged, 9-7, by Rider's Michael Wilson in the opening round before running the table in the final three matches at 174 pounds. He earned two falls today... MORE

Kent State
CLARION, PA- Enrique Munguia capped a perfect 4-0 day with a 6-4 victory by decision in the championship match at 165 pounds to lead the Flashes at the Clarion Open on Sunday.

Munguia was seeded fifth in Sunday's bracket and won a trio of decisions (6-3, 10-6, 9-3) to earn his way into the champion bout where he defeated the Naval Academy's Val Park.

The 165-pound sophomore highlighted the season opener for the Flashes. Kent State took 26 wrestlers to Sunday's open, several of whom were making their collegiate debuts...MORE

Lock Haven
The Lock Haven men's wrestling team opened the 2022-23 season today at the Princeton Open, and six Bald Eagles placed, including one champion.
 
Gable Strickland (Benton, Pa./Benton) topped the field at 133-pounds, behind a 4-0 day and a major decision victory over Hofstra's Joe Sparracio, 11-2, in the championship bout.
 
Connor Eck (Bensalem, Pa./Bensalem) and Ty Linsenbigler both gathered second-place finishes at 149 and 141 pounds, respectively… MORE

Northern Illinois
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Redshirt senior Izzak Olejnik of the Northern Illinois University wrestling team won the 165 Open title Saturday at the Michigan State Open. Olejnik was one of nine Huskies that placed in either the Freshman/Sophomore or Open Divisions at Jenison Field House.

"Izzak [Olejnik] led the way. He wrestled better as the day wore on. That's good to see in our first outing," said head NIU wrestling coach Ryan Ludwig. "We had some good results across the board. We need to continue to work on the gritty details of execution in the room so we can turn those into great results."

After receiving a first-round bye, Olejnik won by a 5-1 decision over Chandler Amaker (Central Michigan) before earning a 11-3 major decision win over Sean O`Dwyer (Ohio University) in the quarterfinal round. In the semifinal round, Olejnik took down Caleb Fish (Michigan State) 6-4 to advance to the championship bout. The two-time NCAA qualifier beat Danny Braunagel (Illinois) 6-2, winning the 185 Open title and totaled 19 team points... MORE

Ohio
EAST LANSING, Mich.– The Ohio wrestling team opened their 2022-23 season at the Michigan State Open today (Nov. 5). The Bobcats dominated the freshman/sophomore division, with 11 Bobcats finishing in the top six of their weight class. The day was highlighted by first place finishes from freshman Derek Raike (Point Pleasant, W. Va.) at 149 pounds and redshirt freshman Peyton Kellar (Cutler, Ohio) at 157 pounds. 

Freshman Malachi O'Leary (Wyoming, Ohio) made a strong collegiate debut, finishing second at 125 pounds. In the 133 pound bracket, freshman Mason Brugh (Wadsworth, Ohio) finished sixth overall while freshman Pierce Taylor (Cincinnati, Ohio) also finished sixth after dropping the semifinal match at 141 pounds...MORE
 
Rider
Quinn Kinner and Ethan Laird both went 4-0 en route to taking the 149 lbs. and 197 lbs. crowns at the Princeton Open to kick off the 2022-23 campaign.
 
10 Broncs, including Colton Washleski, D'Amani Almodovar, David Szuba, Hunter Mays, Mckenzie Bell, Michael Wilson, Ray Weed, and Cole McComas all found themselves on the podium in the season-opening event in Jadwin Gym.
 
Kinner dominated the rest of the 149 lbs. field, outsourcing opponents by a 31-2 margin and only giving up one takedown combined within the four bouts. On top of his major decision and tech fall victory, Kinner also was able to pick up a victory by pinfall in his opening bout of the season vs Elijah Holiday of Presbyterian.
 
Laird finally won the Princeton Open in 2022 following second-place finishes in 2017 and 2019. Laird picked up back-to-back major decisions vs Aiden Conner of Princeton and Kyle Epperly of Rutgers outscoring them by a combined 28-5. Laird picked up the first-place finish following a hard-fought battle with Princeton's Luke Stout…MORE

SIU-Edwardsville
CHESTERFIELD, Mo. – Freshman Deron Pulliam won the 184-pound elite weight class Saturday at the Maryville Open to lead seven SIUE wrestlers who placed in the top in the top four in their respective weight classes.

Other top four finishers for the Cougars were Davian Guanajuato (fourth/Elite 125), Alec Peralta (Amateur 149) and Bryson Buhk (Amateur 197)...MORE