Match Five
Date/Time: Thursday, Dec. 21 | 7:00 PM
Teams: Cleveland State (0-4, 0-1) vs. Clarion (3-5, 1-0)
Location: Clarion, Pa. | Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium
Follow: Video | Scoring
Projected Matchups
125: Ben Aranda (3-3)/Nick Molchak (5-7) vs. Joey Fischer (7-5)
133: Jake Manley (2-1) vs. Scott Johnson (5-4)/TJ England (3-4)
141: No. 25/25 Dylan Layton (5-2) vs. Tye Varndell (2-5)/David McClelland (2-4)
149: Douglas Terry (6-3) vs. Kyle Schickel (8-5)
157: Shane Heil (6-7) vs. NR/No. 26 Alejandro Herrera-Rondon (9-4)
165: Tate Geiser (7-6)/Daniel Patten (1-6) vs. Eli Brinsky (3-4)/Trevor Elfvin (4-6)
174: DeAndre Nassar (2-2)/Ronald Dimmerling (1-7) vs. No. 33/NR John Worthing (8-4)
184: Joey Lyons (2-8) vs. Cam Pine (8-5)
197: No. 32/25 Ben Smith (9-3) vs. Ethan Wiant (4-7)
285: No. 25/22 Daniel Bucknavich (10-2) vs. John Meyers (5-7)
***Intermat/Flo Rankings
Last Time Out
The Vikings had three champions and six placers at the annual Cleveland State Open on Dec. 9.
Douglas Terry (149 Pounds) repeated as the champion of his weight class, while Ben Smith (197 Pounds) and Daniel Bucknavich (285 Pounds) were first-time champions.
Ben Aranda (125 Pounds) and Tate Geiser (165 Pounds) came in fourth, while Shane Heil (157 Pounds) placed fifth.
About the Golden Eagles
Clarion enters the MAC dual with a 3-5 overall record and a 1-0 mark in conference matches. The Golden Eagles are coming off a 25-13 loss against Michigan State at home on Saturday, Dec. 16. Alejandro Herrera leads the team in wins with nine at 157-pounds.
Series History
This will be the 51st meeting between these two teams, with Clarion holding a 31-19 advantage. The Green and White have won the last two matches, including an 18-14 home victory last season.
Vikings in the Rankings
Dylan Layton (141 Pounds) – No. 25 FloSports | No. 25 Intermat | No. 23 TCWR
Ben Smith (197 Pounds) – No. 25 FloSports | No. 32 Intermat | No. 26 TCWR
Daniel Bucknavich (285 Pounds) – No. 22 FloSports | No. 25 Intermat | No. 18 TCWR
Preseason Poll
Cleveland State was chosen to finish third in the MAC for the 2023-24 season after receiving 86.5 points. Lock Haven was picked to claim its third straight title with 126.5 points, and Central Michigan was second with 119 points.
The Return of the Champ
Ben Smith returns to the Cleveland State lineup after taking this past season off to focus on school. In 2022, Smith became the Vikings first-ever MAC Champion, winning at 197-pounds. This season, he will start the year as the favorite to win his second MAC title in the same weight class.
Purchase Tickets to Home Matches
Individual and season tickets to watch the Vikings are on sale now. Click here to purchase.
Up Next
Cleveland State concludes the 2023 calendar year with the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships on Friday, Dec. 29, and Saturday, Dec. 30.
