Pre-Seeds | Bracket | Live Results
Video (Mat 1) | Video (Mat 2)
Video (Mat 3) | Video (Mat 4)
ESPN+ (Saturday) | ESPN+ (Sunday)
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State University wrestling team will continue its season of firsts this weekend as the Vikings are set to make their debut appearance in the Mid-American Conference Championships.
The MAC meet will take place over two days at Northern Illinois's Convocation Center. The first day of competition will take place Saturday, March 7, and feature the opening round, quarterfinals and semifinals along with two consolation rounds. The Championships will conclude Sunday, March 8, with two more consolation rounds preceding placement matches. Saturday's action will begin at 11:00 a.m. and Sunday's will begin at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Video of the Championships will be available via NIUHuskies.com and ESPN+ while results will be available through TrackWrestling. Fans will be able to watch the championships from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Saturday for free via NIUTube on NIUHuskies.com. Each mat will have its own stream. Starting at 5:00 p.m. Saturday, the action shifts to ESPN+. The championship bouts will also be shown on ESPN+ Sunday, starting at 2:30 p.m.
Based on its regular-season performance, the MAC earned 41 total automatic qualifying spots that will be earned at the Championships this weekend. The MAC owns the following automatic spots: 125 pounds (3), 133 pounds (5), 141 pounds (5), 149 pounds (5), 157 pounds (6), 165 pounds (2), 174 pounds (4), 184 pounds (3), 197 pounds (4) and 285 pounds (4).
Five of the 10 Vikings competing this weekend earned a seed for the upcoming event.
Redshirt senior Evan Cheek leads the way for the Vikings as he earned the second seed at 141 pounds. Cheek, who was listed inside the top 15 in the final regular-season RPI, went 33-4 during the regular season. He went 12-1 in MAC duals and registered 18 victories via bonus points.
Sophomore Ben Smith claimed the fifth seed at 197 pounds for the Vikings. He posted a 23-12 mark to notch his second straight 20-win season to begin his collegiate career. Smith tallied 13 bonus-point wins for CSU.
Despite being listed among the top 30 in the RPI, and fifth among MAC athletes, true freshman Logan Heil was seeded seventh at 125 pounds. Heil went 22-9 in his debut collegiate season, which included a 7-3 mark in MAC duals.
Redshirt senior Justin Patrick and redshirt sophomore John Kelbly garnered the eighth seed at 133 pounds and 285 pounds, respectively. Patrick went 17-11 on the year while Kelbly tallied a 13-12 mark with five pins.
Heil and Patrick are two of the six Vikings that will be competing in a collegiate conference championship for the first time. Three of the remaining four are in their first season in a Viking singlet—true freshmen Gus Sutton (149) and DeAndre Nassar (184) redshirt freshman Riley Smucker (165).
Redshirt sophomore Chase Archangelo (174) and redshirt junior Nico O'Dor (157) round out the Viking lineup.
Cheek won the 141-pound title in 2017-18 in the Vikings' former conference, the Eastern Wrestling League. O'Dor and Smith both won matches at their first conference tournament last season.
Any Vikings that qualify for the NCAA Championships would continue their season at the event March 19 in Minneapolis.
