CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland State Athletics has announced that its wrestling program is scheduled to begin its 2020-21 season this weekend.
The Vikings are scheduled to commence their campaign against a fellow Mid-American Conference opponent at home, as CSU will welcome Kent State this Saturday, Jan. 16. The first bout is slated for 11:00 a.m.
Cleveland State and Kent State will square off in a round-robin format with approximately 40 bouts expected across two mats. Multiple Vikings are expected to compete at most weight classes during the day. Coaches from both programs will formulate a round-robin schedule based on available student-athletes as the event will not follow a traditional dual or tournament format. Ten 'feature' matches, which begin at 11:00 a.m., will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Although the Vikings lost two-time NCAA qualifier Evan Cheek to graduation, CSU's remaining nine starters all return from a season ago. Six of those Vikings placed at the 2020 MAC Championships, helping Cleveland State finish in the top half of the team standings after being tabbed to finish last in the final pre-championship coaches' rankings. Cleveland State's nine dual wins in 2019-20 were also its highest such figure in 13 years.
Logan Heil (125), Riley Smucker (165) and DeAndre Nassar (184) all placed at the conference championships as freshmen last season while redshirt senior Justin Patrick (133), junior Ben Smith (197) and redshirt junior John Kelbly (285) were each MAC placers as well. Additionally, Marcus Robinson transferred to CSU during the summer after placing at last year's MAC Championships at 141 pounds, giving the Vikings seven returning MAC placers on their roster.
Smith (25), Heil (24) and Smucker (23) were the team leaders in wins last season among returning Vikings.
Robinson is one of 13 newcomers on CSU's roster, a group that includes 10 true freshmen along with fellow transfers Joseph Caprella (Old Dominion) and Caleb Graber (West Virginia).
Kent State opened its season last weekend with a pair of dual setbacks to Power Five opponents as the Golden Flashes came up short to host West Virginia along with Virginia Tech. Senior Andrew McNally led Kent State's performance with a pair of victories at 174 pounds, totaling 21 points in his two bouts. McNally is a two-time NCAA Championships qualifier that led the Flashes with 31 wins a season ago. He is currently ranked among the top 10 nationally at his weight class.
Additional dates of competition for the Vikings will be added once confirmed. The schedule page on CSUVikings.com will be continually updated with additional matches as they are finalized.
Due to the conditions created by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Cleveland State will begin the season with no spectators inside Woodling Gymnasium. CSU will work with local health officials to evaluate future spectator plans should those factors significantly improve.
Fans of Cleveland State Wrestling and Cleveland State Athletics are invited to join the Viking Fund by visiting www.csuvikings.com/VikingFund. The financial support benefits all 330+ student- athletes as they become champions in the classroom, in the community and through competition. For more information on the Viking Fund, contact Assistant Athletics Director Brandon Longmeier at b.longmeier@csuohio.edu or call 216.630.2974.
