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Spaulding, Jon vs MAC Championships

Men's Wrestling Bob Shreve, Sports Information Director

Spaulding Leads Five Placewinners at MAC Championships, Earns Trip to Nationals

DEKALB, Ill. – The Edinboro wrestling team finished in 11th place at their first-ever Mid-American Conference Championships, with five wrestlers earning medals. The Fighting Scots were led by Jon Spaulding, who placed second at heavyweight to earn his first bid to the NCAA Division I National Championships. Northern Illinois hosted the two-day MAC Championships at the NIU Convocation Center.
 
Edinboro would finish with 45.5 points. Missouri won its ninth straight MAC title, totaling 142 points despite despite having just one individual champions Central Michigan was second with 121 points and three champions, while Northern Illinois was third (90.5 points) and Rider fourth (84.5). The Broncs were the highest of the seven former EWL teams that joined the MAC this year. Lock Haven, the last EWL champion, was fifth with 82 points. A total of 15 teams competed in the MAC Championships.
 
Spaulding had a huge obstacle in front of him in the 285 lb. championship match, opposing Central Michigan's Matt Stencel in a matchup of the top two seeds. Stencel came in as the two-time defending champion with a record of 29-4, with 15 falls and 49 career pins. He earned All-American honors a year ago and is currently ranked fourth.
 
The Edinboro junior would end falling by major decision, 11-0, but would battle all the way, as has been his tradition during a breakout season. Stencel would record a takedown midway through the first period for a 2-0 lead after three minutes. He would open the second with an escape, then register a second takedown, plus four nearfall points to go up 9-0. The final two points were for stalling and riding time.
 
Spaulding will head to Minneapolis in two weeks with a 27-9 record. Four of his losses have been to the top 11 heavyweights in the country, according to the latest InterMat rankings. That includes the second, fourth, and sixth-ranked wrestlers at 285 lbs.
 
Spaulding was joined by four other Fighting Scots in the second day of competition. Dylan Reynolds would finish sixth at 197 lbs., Jacob Oliver seventh at 174 lbs., and Derek Ciavarro and Cody Mulligan at 165 and 184 lbs., respectively.   
 
Reynolds was the only Fighting Scot to advance to the consolation semifinals. Facing Joe Walker of Ohio at 197 lbs., Reynolds and Walker traded escapes before Reynolds registered a takedown with a minute remaining in the third period. He would ride out Walker the rest of the way for a 4-1 decision.
 
In the consolation semifinals, Reynolds would suffer a 9-3 loss to Northern Illinois' Gaige Brown. That would leave the redshirt senior battling for fifth place. He would meet Colin McCracken of Kent State in the fifth place match in what would be their fourth meeting this season. That included a 5-2 decision for Reynolds in the first round of the MAC Championships.
 
The two traded escapes and were tied at 1-1 late in the match. McCracken would come up with the lone takedown in the final 15 seconds, and despite a Reynolds escape, would claim a 3-2 decision. Reynolds ends the year with a sixth place finish at the MACs and a 20-14 record, wrapping up his career with a 76-57 career ledger.   
 
Oliver came into the tournament as the number one seed at 174 lbs. and riding a 12-match winning streak. The redshirt sophomore, ranked 14th by InterMat, would rally for a seventh place finish.  He lost by technical fall to Connor Flynn of Missouri, 17-0 at 2:43, in the consolation quarterfinals.
 
He fell behind Alex Cramer of old Dominion, 2-0, in the seventh place match, and trailed 2-1 after one period. He opened the second period with a reversal of Cramer, and moments later had his third fall of the season.  He is now 25-6 and must await word on at-large bid to return to the national championships.
 
At 165 lbs., Ciavarro faced Ohio's Joseph Terry in the consolation quarterfinals. The redshirt sophomore would suffer a 7-5 loss at Terry broke a 2-2 tie with a pair of takedowns in the final minute.
 
Ciavarro would drop a 14-4 major decision to Lock Haven's Austin Bell in the seventh place match to end the year at 13-17.   
 
Mulligan, a redshirt freshman, battled seasoned Corey Hazel of Lock Haven, a redshirt senior, in a 184 lb. consolation quarterfinal. Hazel would open with a quick takedown to take the lead with and would go on to register a 10-5 victory on the strength of four takedowns.
 
That moved Mulligan into the seventh place bout against DeAndre Nassar of Cleveland State. The match was tied at 1-1 late in the third period when Nassar recorded the winning takedown in the final 20 seconds. Mulligan would come up with an escape but could not answer the takedown, dropping a 3-2 decision. He ends the year at 19-14.     
 
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Players Mentioned

Cody Mulligan

Cody Mulligan

184
Redshirt Freshman
Jacob Oliver

Jacob Oliver

174
Redshirt Sophomore
Dylan Reynolds

Dylan Reynolds

197
Redshirt Senior
Jon Spaulding

Jon Spaulding

285
Junior
Derek Ciavarro

Derek Ciavarro

165/174
Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Cody Mulligan

Cody Mulligan

Redshirt Freshman
184
Jacob Oliver

Jacob Oliver

Redshirt Sophomore
174
Dylan Reynolds

Dylan Reynolds

Redshirt Senior
197
Jon Spaulding

Jon Spaulding

Junior
285
Derek Ciavarro

Derek Ciavarro

Redshirt Sophomore
165/174