We are only 2⃣ days away from the start of the @MACSports Wrestling Championships! @PeckOnSports caught up with head coach John Stutzman to get you ready. #UBhornsUP pic.twitter.com/7eWowrtA31
— UB BULLS Wrestling (@UB_Wrestling) March 5, 2020
BUFFALO, NY - The Mid-American Conference has announced the pre-seeding for the 2020 MAC Wrestling Championships coming March 7-8 and hosted by Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL. The Bulls have five wrestlers in the pre-seeding.
Troy Keller leads the way as the top seed at 165 lbs. Back to defend his 2019 MAC title, Keller is 17-4 overall, 16-2 in duals and 9-1 in MAC duals on the season. His 16 dual wins are tied for eighth in school history for a single season.
Derek Spann is seeded second at 133 lbs. The redshirt-junior, ranked 15th in the nation, is 20-4 overall, 17-2 in duals and 9-1 in MAC duals on the season. His 17 wins are tied for sixth in school history for a single season. His lone MAC loss on the season was a 6-4 decision to Kent State's Tim Rooney back on January 25. Rooney is ranked first in the pre-seeding.
At 184, Pete Acciardi is ranked seventh in the MAC pre-seeding. The redshirt-freshman is 12-13 overall, 8-9 in duals and 6-3 in MAC duals on the season. Acciardi finished the regular season by winning five of his final eight duals.
Fellow redshirt-freshman Michael Petite is seeded eighth at 157 lbs. Petite is 13-4 overall, 10-2 in duals and 7-2 in MAC duals on the season.
Sam Schuyler had a strong finish to the season to garner the eighth seed at 197 lbs. The redshirt-sophomore is 15-8 overall, 12-8 in duals and 5-5 in MAC duals on the season. He enters the MAC Championships a winner of four straight duals.
The other Bulls scheduled to compete, but were not seeded, are Jordan Reyes (125), Marcus Robinson (141), John Arceri (149), Bryson Alsteen (174) and Nolan Terrance (285).
"We're looking forward to getting out there and hopefully winning some weight classes and punch our ticket to the national tournament," head coach John Stutzman said. "We need to wrestle hard and wrestle with urgency and have fun out there."
The MAC Championships begin on Saturday and will conclude on Sunday at Northern Illinois' Convocation Center. The event will air live on ESPN+.
Click here to watch the Saturday's broadcast.
Click here to watch the Sunday's broadcast.
Earlier this week, the NCAA revealed qualifier allocations for the 2020 NCAA DI Wrestling Champions. The MAC has been allocated three spots at 125, five spots at 133, five spots at 141, five spots at 149, six spots at 157, two spots at 165, four spots at 174, three spots at 184, four spots at 197 and four spots at 285.
The 2020 NCAA Wrestling Championships begin on March 19 in Minneapolis.