Championship Central

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (Wrestling) – The 2018 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Wrestling Championship is set for Saturday, Jan. 20 at 10:30 a.m. at McGrane Gymnasium at Scandlon Center on the campus of King’s College. The Messiah Falcons were selected as the favorites in the MAC Wrestling Pre-Championship Coaches’ Poll conducted among the conference wrestling coaches.
 
Admission at the gate is $6 for adults, $4 for senior citizens, $2 for students and children under the age of six are free. Directions and parking information can be found on the championship central page.
 
Live results and video coverage will be available on the championship central page. The entire championship can be followed by live results, but only the championship bouts will have live video coverage. The brackets will be announced on Friday, Jan. 19 after the coaches’ seeding call.
 
The Messiah Falcons were selected atop the first-ever MAC Wrestling Pre-Championship Coaches’ Poll. The Falcons received 16 points and all four first-place votes from opposing coaches. Delaware Valley, Lycoming and Wilkes all earned 10 points to tie for second in the poll, while King’s came in fifth with four points.
 

2018 MAC Wrestling Pre-Championship Coaches' Poll
Rank	Team	Points	(1st Place Votes)
1	Messiah	16	(4)
t2	Delaware Valley	10
t2	Lycoming	10
t2	Wilkes	10
5	King's	4

Messiah has been the only conference team ranked in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division III poll this season, where it currently ranks No. 11. A total of eight conference wrestlers are currently ranked across seven weight classes by the NWCA, including 133: 8. Hunter Harris (Messiah); 149: 9. Trevor Corl (Lycoming); 165: 8. Jeff Hojnacki (Messiah); 174: 2. Ben Swarr (Messiah), 7. Brandon Conrad (Lycoming); 184: 9. Derek Beitz (Messiah); 197: 4. Kyle Koser (Messiah); 285: 7. Garrett Wesneski (Lycoming).
 
2017 CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
The Messiah Falcons claimed their third overall (third in four years) conference team title on Jan. 21, 2017 in Grantham. The Falcons beat second-place Wilkes University by 34.5 points with a total of 166.5 points.
 
The Falcons won five of the 10 individual titles, with two runner-ups and two third-place finishes for a total of nine medalists.
 
Wilkes earned 132 points with one individual title, four runner-ups and three third-place finishers for a total of eight medalists.
 
Lycoming finished in third with 126 points, Delaware Valley took fourth with 99.5 points and King’s finished fifth with 52.5 points. The Warriors and Aggies both had two individual champions.
 
RETURNING CHAMPIONS
133: Messiah senior Hunter Harris won the 133 lbs. conference title a year ago over Wilkes’ Pankil Chander by a fall in 6:30. Harris was impressive at the 2016 conference championship earning four-straight pins on his way to the conference title. His quickest pin came in the opening round in a time of 0:39. Harris also finished runner-up in 2016, and is looking to make his third-straight conference final this year.
 
141: Wilkes senior Matthew Grossmann won the 141 lbs. conference title in 2016 with a 3-2 decision over Delaware Valley’s Tim Ambacher. Grossmann opened the championship with a pin (1:15) followed by a 16-1 technical fall and then a 6-1 decision. Grossmann also finished runner-up in 2015 in the 133 lbs. weight class.
 
157: Lycoming sophomore Hadyn Swartwood defeated Wilkes’ John Ritter, 7-0, to claim last year’s 157 lbs. title. Swartwood opened with a pin in 4:42 before recording a 3-1and 4-0 decision to earn a spot in the final.
 
174: Messiah senior Ben Swarr did not compete at the 2017 MAC Championship due to injury, but won 174 lbs. title in 2016. He also won the 184 lbs. title in 2015.
 
184: Messiah senior Derek Beitz pinned Wilkes’ Jacob Brook in a time of 2:56 to claim last year’s 184 lbs. title. Beitz earned a first-round bye before earning a 21-3 technical fall and a pin (1:51) on his way to the final. The senior finished runner-up in the 174 lbs. title in 2016, and is looking to make a third-straight conference final appearance this year.
 
197: Messiah senior Kyle Koser claimed the 197 lbs. title with a 16-0 technical fall over Lycoming’s Travis Ogden. Koser earned a pin in 0:54 in the semifinal round. He also won the 197 lbs. title in 2016, and looking to go out a three-time MAC champion.
 
HISTORY
It is the 73rd MAC Wrestling Championship dating back to the first championship in 1936. There was no championship from 1944-46 due to World War II, and from 2007-13, the MAC did not sponsor wrestling.
 
Delaware Valley and Lycoming lead all current and former conference members with 15 conference wrestling (team) titles. Wilkes is third with 14 titles. The Aggies won four-straight (2002-06) titles. Since 1977, Lycoming and Delaware Valley have combined for 28 of the 31 titles. From 1966-75, Wilkes won seven-straight titles. The only other team to claim that many consecutive titles was former MAC member Gettysburg College from 1949-55. Lycoming leads all schools with 110 individual MAC titles, while Delaware Valley has 108. Wilkes has 66 individual titles to sit fourth behind Gettysburg, Messiah has 35 and King’s has 19.
 
2018 NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2018 NCAA Division III Championships will be held at the Cleveland Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio from March 9-10.
 
The MAC had two wrestlers crowned national champions in their respective weight classes a season ago. The MAC also had one national runner-up. The MAC totaled eight all-American performances including two fourth-place finishes, two sixth-place finishes and a seven-place finish.
 
Wartburg won the team national title with 129.5 points. Messiah came in fifth-place with 56 points, Delaware Valley took 13th with 31.5 points, Lycoming finished in 16th-place with 24.5 points and Wilkes came in 54th with 0.5 points.
 
Messiah’s Lucas Malmberg (125 lbs.) and Delaware Valley’s Zach Roseberry (285 lbs.) both claimed second-straight national titles in 2017 to cap their stellar four-year careers.
 
The MAC has 30 all-time NCAA Division III national titles in wrestling, including one team title and 29 individual titles. The conference also has 10 more NCAA individual titles prior wrestling becoming a Division III sponsored sport.