KENT, OH — Cam Pine punched his ticket to the NCAA Division I Championships in Kansas City and John Worthing came up just one win short of matching him, as the Golden Eagle wrestling team finished their two-day stay at the 2024 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championships at the M.A.C. Center.
Pine was a finalist at 184 pounds while Worthing took third place at 174.
Clarion finished ninth in the MAC with a total of 68.0 team points.
Pine actually earned his NCAA bid before he ever stepped foot on the mat on Saturday. The combination of reaching the finals on Friday night as well as the duo of Lock Haven’s Colin Fegley and Buffalo’s Chase Kranitz–both of whom Pine had already defeated–competing in the third place match on Saturday, secured Pine’s spot in the top-two at his weight.
In the 184-pound championship match, Pine and George Mason’s Malachi DuVall got off to a quick start, with the latter scoring a takedown just over a minute into the period to take a 3-0 lead. A stalling call and an escape by DuVall to start the second made it 5-0, but Pine picked up a quick takedown to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Trailing 6-3 in the third period after DuVall’s escape in the second period, Pine came in on a shot midway through the third period but was not able to finish it off. A stalling call on the edge with 12 seconds left pulled it to within two points, but DuVall successfully evaded Pine and held on for the 7-4 decision by virtue of the riding time point.
Worthing earned a spot in the third place match with a win in sudden victory in the consolation semifinals, beating Buffalo’s Jay Nivison in the extra session. He came back from an early takedown and eventually tied the score at 3-3, sending the bout to sudden victory.
Worthing quickly got a handle on Nivison, who tried his best to wriggle free, but Worthing was able to eventually score the match-winning takedown halfway into sudden victory.
Against Perrine, Worthing fell behind 3-1 after one period, but an escape to start the second, followed by a takedown and a two-point near fall, put the junior up 8-3 midway through the second period. Worthing was forced into a medical stoppage late in the period and Perrine selected the down spot out of the break. He not only kept Perrine down, he built his advantage further by rolling him to his back for a three-point near fall.
Perrine responded with a third period takedown and nearly put Worthing to his back, but Worthing displayed exceptional skill on the mat and held on for the 12-7 decision.
Worthing was not able to get much going offensively in his final match of the day, though, losing to Rider’s Michael Wilson 11-2 in a true second place match to determine one of the MAC’s automatic bids at 174. Wilson took Worthing down once in each period, including a third period score that set the deficit at 9-1.
Beyond Pine and Worthing, four other Golden Eagles competed on Saturday:
Joey Fischer took sixth place on Saturday, splitting his first two matches before an injury forfeit in the fifth-place match. He won his first match by fall to move to the consolation semis, pinning George Mason’s JB Dragovich. Fischer escaped after an early takedown and then managed to take Dragovich down twice. The second of those attempts was all he needed as he rolled Dragovich to his back, pinning him with 41 seconds left in the first period. He dropped a gritty effort to Rider’s Tyler Klinsky in the consi semis, losing by 6-1 decision.
At 141 pounds, Ryan Sullivan started his day with a 2-1 decision, beating Buffalo’s Caleb Brooks by a 2-1 score. Neither wrestler scored a takedown in the bout, with Brooks’ only point coming on an escape to start the second period. Despite the lack of takedowns Sullivan pushed the tempo, forcing Brooks into a two stalling points.
Sullivan wrestled an aggressive match in the consolation semifinal against SIU-Edwardsville’s Eric Almarinez, but fell by a 7-5 score. He also injury forfeited the fifth place match, putting him in sixth for the weekend.
At 197 pounds, Ethan Wiant closed his weekend with a 7th place finish. He dropped his first consolation match of the day despite being the aggressor throughout, falling to George Mason’s Tyler Kocak by 8-5 decision.
Wiant continued to push forward on Kocak for all seven minutes, with the latter whistled for a number of stalling calls against. Wiant was unable to get the takedown needed to take the lead. He wrestled another tight bout in the seventh-place match against Edinboro’s Jack Kilner.
The only points through seven minutes were escapes to open the second and third periods, but Wiant dug deep for a bear hug and a takedown late in the sudden victory period.
Kyle Schickel and John Meyers also competed on Saturday, with both taking eighth place at 149 and 285 pounds respectively. Schickel lost in the consolation semifinal to SIU-Edwardsville’s Caleb Tyus and injury defaulted in the seventh place match, while Meyers dropped decisions to Buffalo’s Lonnell Owens-Pabon and Edinboro’s Nicholas Lodato.
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