Wrestling Heads to the Prestigious Midlands Championships

2024 Midlands Championships
Teams: Air Force, Arizona State, Bloomsburg, Bucknell, Buffalo, California Baptist, Cal Poly, Central Michigan, Cleveland State, Columbia, Cornell, Edinboro, Franklin & Marshall, George Mason, Harvard, Illinois, Indiana, Lehigh, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio, Ohio State, Oregon State, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Purdue, Rider, Rutgers, SIUE, Stanford, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin
When: Dec. 29-30 (All Day)
Where: NOW Arena – Hoffman Estates, Il.
Tickets: Link
Live Results: Track Wrestling
Live Stream: BIG+
Follow on Twitter: @Bucknell_WRST

Projected Session Times
Sunday, Dec. 29
9:30 a.m. – opening rounds
7:00 p.m. – second session

Monday, Dec. 30
10:30 a.m. – third session
3:00 p.m. - finals

Projected Bucknell Lineup
125 - no entry
133 - #29 Kurt Phipps and Vinnie D'Alessandro
141 - #18 Dylan Chappell
149 - Braden Bower
157 - Cade Wirnsberger
165 - no entry
174 - #32 Myles Takats
184 - Logan Deacetis and Tyler Bienus
197 - #32 Dillon Bechtold
285 - Nolan Springer and Logan Shephard

Bucknell at a Glance:

• Bucknell looks to pick up some wins and gain more experience at a nationally attended competition.
• This is the second all-day competition for the Bison after participating in the Navy Classic on Nov. 23.
• The Orange & Blue are coming off a decisive 37-5 victory over EIWA foe LIU in Sojka Pavilion. The Bison recorded three pins.
• Five Bucknell wrestlers are ranked by Intermat with Dylan Chappell clocking the highest at #18. Freshman Dillon Bechtold is ranked for the second straight week.
• Bucknell had the No. 25 recruiting class in the country by Intermat.
• Head coach Dan Wirnsberger is in his 19th season with the Bison and his 20th year leading the program since its revival in 2005.

A Look Back at the LIU Dual

• Bucknell routed the Sharks, 37-5 via three pins.
• The Bison trailed 3-0 after the opening 125-weight bout but won eight of the last nine duals to achieve the runaway victory.
• Creed Thomas (165) and #31 Myles Takats (174) recorded two consecutive pins for a 25-5 advantage. Thomas's pin came in 17 seconds.
• Logan Deacetis (184) won a decision over the reigning EIWA Wrestler of the Week Anthony D'Alesio.
• #33 Dillon Bechtold celebrated his first national ranking with a pin.

Scouting Midlands Championships/Series History

• This is the 60th Midlands Championships.
• Host school Northwestern enters the competition at 2-1 with wins over Cal Poly and Northern Illinois.
• Fellow EIWA schools Franklin & Marshall and Lehigh are competing along with former EIWA foes, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Penn, and Princeton.
• Bucknell has competed six times at the Midlands Championships. The first occurrence came during the 1990-91 season and the last visit was in 2019-2020. The 2021-22 trip was canceled. The highest finish was 13th in 1990-91 and 2009-10.

A Look Ahead

Bucknell travels to the Virginia Duals on Jan. 11 to face Rider and national powerhouse Iowa State.

Wrestling Heads to the Prestigious Midlands Championships

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Players Mentioned

Dillon Bechtold

Tyler Bienus

Braden Bower

Dylan Chappell

Vinnie D'Alessandro

Logan Deacetis

Kurt Phipps

Logan Shephard

Nolan Springer

Myles Takats

Creed Thomas

Cade Wirnsberger