Five wrestlers earn No. 2 seeds for MAC tournament
Five Central Michigan wrestler drew No. 2 seeds in their respective weight classes for this weekend’s Mid-American Conference Tournament in McGuirk Arena.
Tenth-ranked 141-pound wrestler Mason Smith, No. 4 Justin Oliver (149 pounds), No. 14 CJ Brucki (174), No. 15 Jordan Ellingwood (184) and Jordan Atienza (197) drew second seeds for CMU.
Sophomore Logan Parks earned the third-seed at 165 pounds. The Taylor, Michigan native will face Andrew Scott of Northern Illinois in the first round. Parks defeated Scott 11-4 in their matchup in Dekalb, Illinois on Dec. 16.
Redshirt freshman Drew Hildebrandt (125) and senior Colin Heffernan (157) each earned a fourth-seed. Hildebrandt will face Barlow McGhee from Missouri in his opening bout. Hildebrandt knocked off McGhee with a late takedown on Jan. 19 in McGuirk.
If Heffernan wins his opening match over fifth-seeded Cullen Cummings of Ohio he will most likely clash with top-seeded No. 4 Joey Lavallee from Missouri. Lavallee knocked off Heffernan in double sudden victory in last season’s tournament finals. The two did not clash during the Tigers trip to McGuirk on Jan. 19.
Redshirt freshman Matt Stencel earned a fifth-seed at 285 pounds. He will lock with Kent State’s Stephen Sugglio in the first round. Sugglio defeated Stencel via second period pin in their lone matchup in Kent, Ohio.
Redshirt Dresden Simon drew the seven-seed at 133 pounds and will see Cameron Kelly from Ohio in the first round. Simon held a 6-0 lead over Kelly before falling via first period pin in their matchup on Jan. 7 in McGuirk.
The 2018 MAC Championships begin Saturday at Noon and can be seen on ESPN 3.
MAC Seeds (CMU wrestlers noted in bold. Individual rankings are from intermatwrestle.com)
125 Pounds
1 – Michael McGee, Old Dominion
2 – Kyle Akins, Buffalo
3 – Brock Hudkins, Northern Illinois
4 – Drew Hildebrandt, Central Michigan
5 – Barlow McGhee, Missouri
6 – Tomas Gutierrez, Eastern Michigan
7 – Jake Ferri, Kent State
8 – Trevor Giallombardo, Ohio
133
1 – No. 6 John Erneste, Missouri
2 – No. 11 Cameron Kelly, Ohio
3 – No. 14 Bryan Lantry, Buffalo
4 – No. 19Anthony Tutolo, Kent State
5 – Noah Gonser, Eastern Michigan
6 – Caleb Richardson, Old Dominion
7 – Dresden Simon, Central Michigan
8 – Alijah Jeffery, Northern Illinois
141
1 – No. 2 Jaydin Eierman, Missouri
2 – No. 10 Mason Smith, Central Michigan
3 – Alex Madrigal, Old Dominion
4 – Tim Rooney, Kent State
5 – Mario Guillen, Ohio
6 – Sa’Derian Perry, Eastern Michigan
7 – Jason Estevez, Buffalo
8 – Anthony Rubino, Northern Illinois
149
1 – No. 3 Grant Leeth, Missouri
2 – No. 4 Justin Oliver, Central Michigan
3 – Kade Kowalski, Ohio
4 – Kyle Springer, Eastern Michigan
5 – Kenan Carter, Old Dominion
6 – Nolan Baker, Northern Illinois
7 – Nick Monico, Kent State
8 – Nick Palumbo, Buffalo
157
1 – No. 4 Joey Lavallee, Missouri
2 – Larry Early, Old Dominion
3 – Casey Sparkman, Kent State
4 – No. 20 Colin Heffernan, Central Michigan
5 – Cullen Cummings, Ohio
6 – J.J. Wolfe, Eastern Michigan
7 – Caden McWhirter, Northern Illinois
8 – Eric Fasnacht, Buffalo
165
1 – No. 17 Connor Flynn, Missouri
2 – Zac Carson, Eastern Michigan
3 – Logan Parks, Central Michigan
4 – Isaac Bast, Kent State
5 – Joseph Terry, Ohio
6 – Andrew Scott, Northern Illinois
7 – Noah Grover, Buffalo
8 – Shane Jones, Old Dominion
174
1 – No. 3 Daniel Lewis, Missouri
2 – No. 14CJ Brucki, Central Michigan
3 – Seldon Wright, Old Dominion
4 – Andrew McNally, Eastern Michigan
5 – Dylan Barreiro, Kent State
6 – Quinton Rosser, Northern Illinois
7 – Arsen Ashughyan, Ohio
8 – Austin Weigel, Buffalo
184
1 – No. 14 Canten Marriott, Missouri
2 – No. 15 Jordan Ellingwood, Central Michigan
3 – Kayne MacCallum, Eastern Michigan
4 – Bryce Gorman, Northern Illinois
5 – Brett Perry, Buffalo
6 – Antonio Agee, Old Dominion
7 – Hunter Yeargan, Ohio
8 – Colin McCracken, Kent State
197
1 – No. 5 Willie Miklus, Missouri
2 – Jordan Atienza, Central Michigan
3 – Joe Ariola, Buffalo
4 – Aaron Naples, Ohio
5 – Kyle Conel, Kent State
6 – Derek Hillman, Eastern Michigan
7 – Noah Bushman, Old Dominion
8 – Max Ihry, Northern Illinois
285
1 – No. 20 Jake Gunning, Buffalo
2 – Gage Hutchison, Eastern Michigan
3 – Zack Parker, Ohio
4 – Stephen Suglio, Kent State
5 – Matt Stencel, Central Michigan
6 – Ali Wahab, Old Dominion
7 – Caleb Gossett, Northern Illinois
8 – Wyatt Koelling, Missouri
