Four Monarchs Ranked in Latest MAC Poll, Team Sixth

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference (MAC) announced its second January wrestling rankings on Thursday afternoon, and the Old Dominion wrestling squad checks in at sixth, while four Monarch wrestlers are featured in the individual rankings. 
 
No. 18 Sa'Derian Perry finds himself atop the 141-pound poll for the second straight rankings period, having beaten Missouri's Grant Leeth and Lock Haven's Kyle Shoop this season, who are ranked third and fourth in the weight class, respectively. 
 
At 125 pounds, No. 18 Killian Cardinale settles into the top-three in the league for the second conference poll in a row, coming in behind Central Michigan's Drew Hildebrandt and Lock Haven's Luke Werner. In this past Sunday's match against No. 25 Rider, Cardinale managed to come away with a victory over Jonathan Tropea, who comes in ranked fifth in the conference. Cardinale leads the Monarchs in wins this season, victoriously walking off the mat 16 times.  
 
Shane Jones checks in at fourth in the conference at 165 pounds. Jones is coming off of two matches this past weekend where he earned major decision victories over MAC opponents, defeating Lock Haven's Austin Bell, 8-0 and Rider's Joe Casey, 16-3. Jones currently has 14 wins, four of which came by major decision. 
 
At 157 pounds, No. 14 Larry Early rounds out the top-five. Early is currently in a stretch that has seen him win eight of his last nine bouts, and he is tied for first on the team with Cardinale with four ranked wins this season.
 
As a team, the Monarchs fall out of the top-three in the league for the first time this season, falling to the sixth spot in the latest rankings with 15.0 points. Missouri sits atop the team rankings, a spot they've grown accustomed to as they have been voted the best in the conference since the preseason rankings. Missouri garnered 35.0 points, while Rider sits in second place with 23.0 points. Central Michigan rounds out the top-three, rising to third place with 22.0 points. 
 
The 15 schools were ranked based on the number of first through sixth-place votes that were earned in the individual voting system. A first-place vote was worth six team points; a second-place vote earned five team points; third-seeded votes were worth four team points, while a fourth-place tally earned three points, with a fifth-place vote earned two points and a sixth-place vote received one point in the team ranking system.
 
The Monarchs will be taking on the seventh-ranked Edinboro on Friday night, January 24, at 7 p.m. before setting their sights on Clarion on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Clarion settled into the eight spot behind ODU and Edinboro in the latest conference rankings, earning 13.0 points. 
 
2020 MAC Weight Class Rankings:
 
125 lb. weight class
1. Drew Hildebrandt (Central Michigan, Junior)
2. Luke Werner (Lock Haven, Junior)
3. Killian Cardinale (Old Dominion, Sophomore)
4. Bryce West (Northern Illinois, Sophomore)
5. Jonathan Tropea (Rider, Junior)
6. Dack Punke (Missouri, Sophomore)
 
133 lb. weight class
1. Derek Spann (Buffalo, Junior)
2. DJ Fehlman (Lock Haven, Senior)
3. Tim Rooney (Kent State, Senior)
4. Allan Hart (Missouri, Sophomore)
5. Tye Varndell (Edinboro, Freshman)
t-6. Mario Guillen (Ohio, Junior)
t-6. Josh Mason (Bloomsburg, Redshirt Freshman)
 
141 lb. weight class
1. Sa'Derian Perry (Old Dominion, Senior)
2. Dresden Simon (Central Michigan, Junior)
3. Grant Leeth (Missouri, Junior)
4. Kyle Shoop (Lock Haven, Senior)
5. Evan Cheek (Cleveland State, Senior)
6. Peter Lipari (Rider, Senior)
 
149 lb. weight class
1. Brock Mauller (Missouri, Sophomore)
2. Brock Zacherl (Clarion, Senior)
3. Colston DiBlasi (George Mason, Senior)
4. Alec Hagan (Ohio, Sophomore)
5. Tyshawn Williams (SIUE, Senior)
6. McCoy Kent (Northern Illinois, Senior)
 
157 lb. weight class
1. Jesse Dellavecchia (Rider, Senior)
2. Jarrett Jacques (Missouri, Sophomore)
3. Justin Ruffin (SIUE, Sophomore)
4. Logan Parks (Central Michigan, Senior)
5. Larry Early (Old Dominion, Senior)
6. Zac Carson (Ohio, Senior)
 
165 lb. weight class
1. Troy Keller (Buffalo, Senior)
2. Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois, Redshirt Freshman)
3. Peyton Mocco (Missouri, Redshirt Freshman)
4. Shane Jones (Old Dominion, Senior)
5. Cornelius Schuster (George Mason, Sophomore)
6. Nate Newberry (Bloomsburg, Senior)
 
174 lb. weight class
1. Jacob Oliver (Edinboro, Sophomore)
2. Dean Sherry (Rider, Senior)
3. Andrew McNally (Kent State, Junior)
4. Jeremiah Kent (Missouri, Redshirt Freshman)
5. Jared Siegrist (Lock Haven, Senior)
t-6. Kenny Moore (Northern Illinois, Senior)
t-6. Anthony Lombardo (George Mason, Grad)
 
184 lb. weight class
1. Trevor Allard (Bloomsburg, Junior)
2. Dylan Wisman (Missouri, Senior)
3. Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois, Sophomore)
4. Corey Hazel (Lock Haven, Senior)
5. George Walton (Rider, Sophomore)
6. Cody Mulligan (Edinboro, Redshirt Freshman)
 
197 lb. weight class
1. Ethan Laird (Rider, Junior)
2. Greg Bulsak (Clarion, Junior)
3. Wyatt Koelling (Missouri, Junior)
4. Gage Braun (Northern Illinois, Redshirt Freshman)
5. Landon Pelham (Central Michigan, Junior)
6. Ben Smith (Cleveland State, Sophomore)
 
285 lb. weight class
1. Matt Stencel (Central Michigan, Junior)
2. Jon Spaulding (Edinboro, Junior)
3. Colton McKiernan (SIUE, Sophomore)
5. Ty Bagoly (Clarion, Sophomore)
4. Jordan Earnest (Ohio, Redshirt Freshman)
6. Ryan Cloud (Rider, Senior)
 
2020 MAC January (second of two) Rankings
1.            Missouri (35.0)
2.            Rider (23.0)
3.            Central Michigan (22.0)
4.            Lock Haven (18.0)
5.            Northern Illinois (17.5)
6.            Old Dominion (15.0)
7.            Edinboro (14.0)
8.            Clarion (13.0)
9.            Buffalo (12.0)
10.          SIUE (10.0)
11.          Kent State (8.0)
12.          Bloomsburg (7.5)
t-13.        Ohio (6.5)
t-13.        George Mason (6.5)
15.          Cleveland State (3.0)