Brock Mauller & The 5 Best Returning Wrestlers In The MAC
Brock Mauller & The 5 Best Returning Wrestlers In The MAC
These five wrestlers are back in NCAA action and ready to make some noise in the MAC and beyond.
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The Mid-American Conference will be teeming with wrestling talent next season thanks to the return of seven of its 10 champions.
The list includes reigning MAC Wrestler of Year Matt Stencel (Central Michigan). He is one of the conference's four National Wrestling Coaches Association first-team All-Americans, all of whom will be back.
In all, 28 of the MAC's 50 NCAA qualifiers will return, including 22 who appear in the first set of 2020-21 preseason rankings which were released May 16.
Who are the best of the best?
Here is a look at the MAC's top five wrestlers to watch next season:
Brock Mauller | Missouri
Notable: The junior, sixth at the 2019 NCAA Championships, appeared a lock to become All-American again.
Mauller, seeded fourth for this year's canceled NCAA Championships, also had an outside chance of becoming the MAC's first national champion since 2017. He is the MAC's highest-ranked wrestler, currently sitting third at 149 pounds.
Mauller finished 28-1 with six major decisions and two technical falls, leaving his career record at 61-6. His .966 career win percentage is the seventh-best in school history.
Mauller beat Clarion senior Brock Zacherl, who was 13th in the final 2019-20 rankings, for a second straight MAC title. He has never lost a MAC match.
Mauller went 4-0 against wrestlers who appear in the latest rankings, knocking off No. 4 Boo Lewallen (Oklahoma State), No. 18 Alec Hagan (Ohio), No. 21 Tanner Smith (Chattanooga) and No. 22 Hunter Richard (Cornell).
Among graduated wrestlers, Mauller bested No. 11 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa), No. 22. Tyshawn Williams (SIUE) and No. 24 Colston DiBlasi (George Mason).
The first-team NWCA All-American was also named Missouri's Most Valuable Wrestler and earned the team's Tiger Style Ironman Award which recognizes the wrestler who missed the least amount of competition and practice time.
Mauller's only loss was a 6-5 decision to Wyoming's Jaron Jenson on Dec. 29.
Matt Stencel | Central Michigan
Notable: The senior, ranked fourth at 285, rolled to a third MAC title, blanking Edinboro's Jon Spaulding (11-0) in the final.
The stage is now set for Stencel to become just the ninth four-time champion in the MAC's 60-year history. He can also become a four-time NCAA qualifier.
Stencel, the NCAA Championships No. 5 seed, finished 30-4, winning 19 of his final 20 matches of the season, including his last 13 in a row.
He was unbeaten against MAC wrestlers for the second straight season. In fact, Stencel has lost to a MAC foe since Feb. 11, 2018. He tied for second in the nation with 15 pins and added three major decisions.
The first-team NWCA All-American will enter next season fourth on CMU's all-time career list with 49 pins.
Stencel went 5-4 against wrestlers who appear in the first 2020-21 rankings, beating No. 5 Trent Hillger (Wisconsin), No. 7 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Harvard), No. 20 Ben Sullivan (Army), No. 22 John Borst (Virginia Tech) and No. 23 Spaulding.
Only No. 2 Mason Parris (Michigan) and No. 3 Anthony Cassioppi (Iowa) defeated Stencel this season, but Parris did it three times. However, Stencel pinned him twice during the 2018-19 season. He also pinned Cassioppi that year.
Among graduated wrestlers, Stencel knocked off No. 22 Cary Miller (Appalachian State).
Stencel boasts an 89-25 career record and 33 of his last 61 wins have come via pin.
Jesse Dellavecchia | Rider
Notable: After finishing with a 26-7 record and reaching the NCAA Championships Round of 16 last season, the senior went 30-2 this season and is ranked fourth at 157 pounds.
Dellavecchia, who was recently granted another year of eligibility, lost only to No. 2 Hayden Hidlay of North Carolina State and No. 6 Quincy Monday (Princeton), but he also decisioned Monday.
Overall, he went 5-2 against wrestlers who appear in the first 2020-21 rankings. Other wins came against No. 8 Marcus Hartman (Army), No. 16 Jarrett Jacques (Missouri), and No. 23 Justin McCoy (Virginia).
Among graduated wrestlers, Dellavecchia beat No. 13 Larry Early (Old Dominion) twice.
He also defeated Jacques twice, including in the MAC title match, and finished with seven major decisions, two technical falls, and a pin.
The first-team NWCA All-American was 11-0 in the MAC and ended the season with a 16-match winning streak. He was seeded No. 4 for the NCAA Championships.
Dellavecchia brings a 71-18 career record into next season.
Drew Hildebrandt | Central Michigan
Notable: The senior, ranked No. 9 at 125 pounds, continued his steady rise from 18-18 as a freshman to 21-10 last year and finally to 31-3 this season.
Hildebrandt, a two-time NCAA qualifier, ended the season with a 12-match winning streak and was the NCAA Championships No. 6 seed.
The first-team NWCA All-American decisioned No. 14 Killian Cardinale (Old Dominion), 2-0, for the MAC title, but won't be facing him at next season's MAC Tournament. Cardinale transferred to West Virginia after Old Dominion dropped its program.
Hildebrandt went 5-3 against opponents who are in the first 2020-21 rankings. Other than Cardinale, the list includes No. 13 Gage Curry (American), No. 16 Jack Medley (Michigan), No. 20 Luke Werner (Lock Haven), and No. 25 Justin Cardani (Illinois).
Among graduated wrestlers, he beat No. 13 Trey Chalifoux (Army).
Greg Bulsak | Clarion
Notable: The senior, ranked 9th at 197 pounds, won his first conference title and earned a third NCAA Championships berth while finishing 27-5, including a 16-1 MAC mark.
The second-team NWCA All-American ended the season riding a 19-match winning steak and was seeded 10th for the NCAA Championships.
Bulsak lost only to No. 18 Gage Braun of Northern Illinois in MAC competition, but he avenged that defeat with an 8-2 decision in the conference tournament semifinals.
Bulsak was to face No. 12 Ethan Laird (Rider) in the title match, but Laird withdrew with an injury. He decisioned Laird earlier in the season.
Overall, Bulsak was an impressive 7-3 against wrestlers who appear in the first 2020-21 rankings.
In addition to Braun and Laird, he bested No. 3 Jay Aiello (Virginia), No. 10 Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State), No. 16 Stephen Buchanan (Wyoming), No. 23 Wyatt Koelling (Missouri) and No. 25 Colin McCracken (Kent State).
Among graduated wrestlers, Bulsak knocked off No. 24 Tanner Orndorff (Utah Valley).
Bulsak improved from 17-8 last season and 59 percent of his wins this season came via pin (nine), major decision (six), or technical fall (one). Bulsak's career mark is 65-22.
Mark Spezia is a freelance writer based in Lapeer, Michigan. He has written for ESPNW, Flohockey, Flint, Michigan-based My City Magazine, the Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit Magazine and Troy, Michigan-based Oakland Press. He previously worked for the Flint Journal, Lapeer (Michigan) County Press and Daily Mining Gazette in Houghton, Michigan.