Keller Advances to Championship Match, Three Others to Wrestle on Sunday at MAC Championships
SOURCE: ubbulls.com
March 07, 2020

 


DEKALB, IL - Troy Keller will wrestle for his second straight 165-lb. title at the Mid-American Conference Championships on Sunday after winning all three of his matches on Saturday on the first day of the MAC Championships hosted by Northern Illinois on Saturday. Three other Bulls also advanced to Sunday action looking to punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships.

Keller cruised to a 19-0 technical fall over Central Michigan's Tracy Hubbard in his first match. However, the quarterfinal bout wasn't as easy for Keller. The UB senior fell behind, 6-0, early to Lock Haven's Austin Bell. But he didn't panic and was able to score the match's next eight points to rally for the 8-6 victory. In the semifinals, Keller was in total control, winning a 7-0 decision over George Mason's Neil Schuster. Keller will face Northern Illinois' Izzak Olejnik in the title bout tomorrow. Keller is looking to avenge his only MAC dual loss of the season, a controversial 5-3 overtime loss to Olejnik back on February 14.

Derek Spann, seeded second at 133, looked very strong in his first two bouts, winning by tech fall over Gio DiSabato of Ohio in his opening match and then pinning Edinboro's Tye Varndell in just 2:22 in the quarterfinals. However, in the semifinals, the redshirt-junior fell in overtime to Missouri's Allan Hart, 5-3. With five allocations at 133, Spann still has a good chance to qualify for nationals.
Marcus Robinson (141) and Michael Petite (157) also advanced to Sunday through the consolation bracket.

After dropping his opening match, Robinson bounced back to earn a 13-2 major decision over Shawn Orem of Bloomsburg in his first consolation match. He followed with a 7-2 decision over Rider's Peter Lipari to advance to Sunday action.

Petite, seeded eighth, earned a first-round bye, but then lost to Rider's Jesse Dellavecchia in the quarterfinals. He did win his first consolation bout, 11-9, over Cleveland State's Nico O'Dor. The redshirt-freshman used a late takedown to win the match.

At 197, Sam Schuyler won his opening match over Lock Haven's Parker McClellan, 6-1. However, Schuyler dropped his quarterfinal match to Clarion's Bulsak, 7-2. In his first consolation match, the redshirt-sophomore dropped a 12-2 major decision to Kent State's Colin McCracken to end his run.

Nolan Terrance's day got off to a promising start with a 9-0 major decision over Tyler Bagoly of Clarion at 285. However, the senior's career would come to an end with two straight losses.

After dropping his first match of the day, John Arceri did win his opening match in the 149-lb. consolation bracket, beating Cleveland State's Gus Sutton. But Arceri would lose his next match.

Elsewhere, Jordan Reyes (125), Bryson Alsteen (174) and Pete Acciardi (184) were unable to get anything going, losing both of their matches.

Tomorrow's action will begin at 1:00 pm EST.





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