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Cleveland State Wrestling Opens MAC Action at George Mason

Cleveland State Wrestling Opens MAC Action at George Mason
Posted: Dec 01, 2023

Match Four
Date/Time: Saturday, Dec. 2 | 1:30 PM
Teams: Cleveland State (0-3, 0-0) vs. George Mason (4-3, 0-1)
Location: Fairfax, Va. | Recreation Athletic Complex
Follow: Video | Scoring

 

Projected Matchups
125: Ben Aranda (0-1)/Nick Molchak (3-5) vs. Ben Monn (6-3)/ JB Dragovich (3-3)
133: Canyon Wells (3-3) vs. Shawn Nonaka (3-4)
141: No. 22/26 Dylan Layton (5-2) vs. No. 21/23 Nate Higley (1-0)/ Dom Hargrove (3-5)/Mikey Rapuano (0-4)
149: Douglas Terry (1-3) vs. Kaden Cassidy (6-3)
157: Shane Heil (1-5) vs. No. 22/25 DJ McGee (9-0)/Loranzao Rajaonarivelo (4-2)
165: Daniel Patten (1-4)/Tate Geiser (4-4) vs. Evan Maag (9-3)
174: Ronald Dimmerling (0-5)/Gavin Ricketts (4-4)/DeAndre Nassar (0-0) vs. Sean Coughlin (4-6)/Paul Pierce (2-2)/Nick Foster (0-2)
184: Joey Lyons (0-5) vs. Malachi DuVall (3-5)
197: No. 26/32 Ben Smith (4-3) vs. Ruben Karapetyan (2-3)
285: No. 22/25 Daniel Bucknavich (6-2)/Mason Cover (3-3) vs. No. 32/31 Chad Nix (7-1) / Donovan Sprouse (0-4)

Last Time Out
Cleveland State had four placers and finished sixth overall at the Navy Classic on Nov. 18.

No. 22 Daniel Bucknavich, was the runner-up at 285-pounds after registering two falls on the day. No. 21 Dylan Layton finished third at 141-pounds after going 3-1 with a fall.

No. 23 Ben Smith placed fourth at 197-pounds after going 2-2 with a fall, and Tate Geiser placed sixth at the Navy Classic after going 4-2 with two tech falls at 165-pounds.

About the Patriots
George Mason enters Saturday with a 4-3 overall record and a 0-1 mark in MAC matches. The Patriots will wrestle Davidson at noon before taking on the Green and White. GMU is coming off a 21-15 loss against American on Nov. 21.

Series History
This will be the tenth meeting between these two teams, with Cleveland State holding a 6-3 advantage. The Green and White have won the last three duals, including a tiebreaker 18-18 decision at home last season.

Vikings in the Rankings
Dylan Layton (141 Pounds) – No. 22 FloSports | No. 26 Intermat | No. 21 TCWR
Ben Smith (197 Pounds) – No. 26 FloSports | No. 32 Intermat | No. 26 TCWR
Daniel Bucknavich (285 Pounds) – No. 22 FloSports | No. 25 Intermat | No. 17 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. 

Welcome Back, Placers
 The Green and White return four placers from last season: Ben Aranda (125 Pounds), Jake Manley (133 Pounds), DeAndre Nassar (184 Pounds), and Daniel Bucknavich (285 Pounds).

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
The Vikings host their annual Cleveland State Open on Saturday, Dec. 9, starting at 9:30 a.m. inside Woodling Gymnasium.