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KENT, Ohio – Ohio Wrestling wrapped up their first day at the 2024 Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships this afternoon (Mar. 8). The Bobcats had four wrestlers advance to the semifinals, with No. 1 seeds Peyten Kellar and Garrett Thompson advancing to their division championships.
After the first day of competition, the Bobcats are in sixth place with 61.0 points. The Bobcats are 36.5 points back of Central Michigan in first place.
It was a perfect day for redshirt sophomore Peyten Kellar (Cutler, Ohio), recording three wins by fall in his three matches. He opened his day with a fall at 4:12 over Bloomsburg's William Morrow. He moved onto the quarterfinals where he kept things rolling, pinning SIUE's Brock Woodcock at 4:17. Kellar rounded out his day with one final pin, knocking off the fourth-seeded Nick Stampoulos from Buffalo at 3:17.
Kellar used his three pins to avoid the third period completely. With his semifinal victory, Kellar qualified for his second consecutive NCAA Championship appearance. He will face George Mason's DJ McGee in the 157-pound championship match tomorrow afternoon (Mar. 9). The two faced off when the Patriots traveled to Athens in January with Kellar earning a 3-0 win.
Fellow redshirt sophomore Garrett Thompson (Murrysville, Pa.) also reached the championship match in the 165-pound division. Thompson, the No. 1 seed, used a technical fall over SIUE's Bradley Gillum to advance past the first round. He then won back to back matches by decision. First, winning 8-1 over Kent State's Aaron Ferguson before taking down Caden Dobbins from Bloomsburg 5-1 in the semifinals.
Thompson will take on George Mason's Evan Maag in the championship match tomorrow afternoon. Thompson and Maag battled earlier this season, with Thompson winning in a tight 12-10 decision.
Senior Jordan Greer (Avon, Ohio) reached the semifinals in the heavyweight division. Greer defeated NIU's Jacobi Jackson in the quarterfinals with a 9-2 decision, but was unable to defeat Rider's David Szuba in the semifinals. Greer will return to the mat tomorrow afternoon in the consolation semifinals.
Junior Sal Perrine (Northfield, Ohio) reached his third consecutive MAC semifinals in the 174-pound division. Perrine took care of business in the opening two rounds, defeating NIU's Ricardo Salinas and Cleveland State's DeAndre Nassar with 5-1 and 5-2 decisions. In the semifinals, Perrine went to three overtimes with Rider's Michael Wilson, ultimately falling 7-6.
Just missing out on the semifinals was junior Zayne Lehman (Akron, Ohio). Lehman was in control in the opening round against Central Michigan's Adrien Cramer, but lost in a tight 6-4 battle to Malachi DuVall from George Mason. Lehman was able to take down Cleveland State's Joey Lyons in the second consolation round with a 1-0 decision. He is set to take on NIU's Matt Zuber in the consolation quarterfinals tomorrow.
After dropping his first match to Lock Haven's Gable Strickland, the No. 1 seed in the 133-pound division, sophomore Mason Brugh (Wadsworth, Ohio) picked up a win in the consolation bracket against Edinboro's Eamonn Jimenez. Brugh would fall to NIU's Mikey Kaminski in the second round to wrap up his season.
Redshirt freshman Derek Raike (Point Pleasant, W. Va.) entered as the No. 7 seed in the 149-pound weight class. His first matchup was against the No. 2 seed, Rider's Quinn Kinner, falling in a 1-0 decision. Raike responded well, using a 12-5 decision against Cleveland State's Douglas Terry to advance to the consolation quarterfinals tomorrow.
Tomorrow's schedule starts with the consolation quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m with the consolation semifinals set to start at 1:00 p.m. The Championship Finals will kick off at 3:00 p.m. with the 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th place bouts starting shortly after. For a full schedule of events, follow this link.
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