Rider’s Bell scores big upset at MAC Championships
TRENTON » While it was not exactly like being in the cozy confines of its own Alumni Gym and no fans were allowed in the building to see it, Rider sure seemed like a team determined to take advantage of wrestling on its “home” mats Friday.
Led by an outstanding effort by its lightweights, Rider put together a very strong showing on the opening day of the Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships at the Cure Insurance Arena.
When all was said and done after the semifinals, Rider had advanced four wrestlers into Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. finals. When you consider the Broncs had two other wrestlers reach the semifinals, it put them in a position to have a shot of tying the school record of NCAA Championship qualifiers at six.
Advancing to the finals for the Broncs were Richie Koehler (133), McKenzie Bell (141), Jessie Dellavechia (157) and heavyweight Ethan Laird.
Without a doubt, the most eye-opening victory came when Bell defeated Allan Hart of Missouri, 8-6. Bell is a true freshman out of Kingsway and the top-seeded Hart came into this tourney ranked fourth in the country, but Bell took it to him from the start.
As a result, Bell was able to record backpoints and build up a 6-1 lead after one period against the stunned Missouri wrestler. Hart came back to close the final margin to two points, but was simply unable to finish off enough of his shots to overcome the big first-period deficit.
“In the first period, he came
in a bit on an outside single, but I just swept straight to his back,” said Bell. “It was game over after that.”
It was only after his bout that Bell became exactly aware of what he had just accomplished.
“I had no idea (he was ranked fourth); I just knew he was the No. 1 seed,” said Bell of his Missouri opponent. “Maybe it’s good I didn’t know.
“Watching Richie (Koehler) helped get me going. I’ve been wrestling with Richie all year. We’ve been pushing each other and making each other better. That’s how you get results. I knew I had as good a chance as anybody.”
Despite a 6-1 record, Koehler came into the tournament unseeded. On Friday, he made a mockery out of that by beating two seeded wrestlers and pinning Bloomsburg’s Cole Rhone
in the semifinals. Koehler indicated he used the fact he wasn’t seeded to his benefit.
“I felt a little disrespected,” said Koehler, who is a sophomore out of Christian Brothers and will face Misssouri’s Matt Schmidt in the finals. “This is just exciting, especially being unseeded. This might have been an upset to others, but I felt I was underrated. It was good to get that monkey off my back. Now I have one more to go.”
Although he didn’t win, Rider’s Jonathan Tropea nearly pulled off the biggest upset of all at 125 pounds when he came up just short against Central Michigan’s Drew Hildebrandt by the score of 3-2 in an 125-pound semifinal.
Taking on the secondranked wrestler in the country, Tropea used a takedown in the second period and nearly scored another one that would have given him a 4-1 lead. Hildebrandt, however, was able to counter with a takedown of his own and a third-period rideout from there for the narrow win.
As expected, Dellavecchia had no problem rolling into his final. Ranked fourth in the country and a contender to become his school’s first NCAA champion, Dellavecchia decked Peter Pappas of Edinboro in a time of 4:44. Next up for the undefeated Dellavecchia is Missouri’s Jarrett Jacques, who lost to the Rider wrestler in last year’s MAC final.
Also undefeated on the year, the second-seeded Laird did not exactly dominate Friday, but he got the job done with a pair of 3-2 wins. Ranked eighth in the country, Laird will now take on Central Michigan’s massive Matt Stencel, who is ranked fourth in the nation. Stencel is shooting for a fourth straight MAC title and is a twotime All American.
In addition to Tropea, Rider’s George Walton also lost a semifinal heartbreaker in a 6-5 setback to Missouri’s Jeremiah Kent at 184 pounds.
By reaching the finals, Koehler, Bell, Dellavecchia and Laird have already punched their tickets to nationals, while Tropea must wrestle back to third. Unfortunately for Walton, the MAC has received only two national berths at 184, although there’s always the chance a wrestler could receive a wildcard.
In terms of the team scoring, everything is going pretty much exactly as expected. Ranked seventh in the nation, Missouri has eight finalists and piled up 161.5 points through the semifinals. Central Michigan (96.5 points) and Rider (95) were in a virtual dead heat for second.