No. 19 Eagle Wrestlers Look To Take Back Great Midwest Title At 2024 Championships

There's a singular goal for Ashland University's wrestling team on Saturday (Jan. 27) – get back to the top of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference mountain.
 
The 2024 Great Midwest Championships will take place on Saturday at Tiffin, and the No. 19-ranked Eagles will look to take the conference title back after finishing second in 2023.
 
Ashland won the Great Midwest title in 2021 as an associate member, and in 2022 in the athletic department's first season as a full member of the conference.
 
"The G-MAC Championships are always important," said Ashland head coach Colt Sponseller, "for our team and for the school. The guys are chomping at the bit. Our goal is to win G-MACs every year."
 
After months of waiting and working, the Eagle lineup is as ready to go as it's been all season. The lineup for Ashland on Saturday will look like this:

• 125 pounds – redshirt freshman Luke Acuna (15-7) and sophomore Nicholas Barber (0-6).
• 133 pounds – senior Tyler Masters (10-12).
• 141 pounds – sophomore Jeremiah McKee (3-13).
• 149 pounds – freshman Hayden Kuhn (13-8) and sophomore Zander Graham (5-11).
• 157 pounds – graduate Drew Wiechers (11-3) and sophomore Evan Davis (3-1).
• 165 pounds – sophomore Sevriano Garza (8-9) and graduate Nick Carbone (7-7).
• 174 pounds – sophomore Nate Barrett (15-5) and redshirt freshman Hayden Flynn (7-13).
• 184 pounds – graduate Daniel Beemer (3-0) and redshirt freshman Ricky Legg (6-10).
• 197 pounds – senior Walker Uhl (1-0) and redshirt freshman Peyton Lemon (11-11).
• 285 pounds – sophomore Wyatt Bailey (14-12) and redshirt freshman Mason Mustain (6-5).

Acuna is the leadoff hitter the Eagle grapplers have been looking for, and he could set the tone for the rest of the team.
 
"He has a tough weight class," Sponseller noted. "It's going to be a very competitive weight, but that's what you want. You want to see them go out and compete."
 
Then, there are Wiechers, Barrett, Beemer and Uhl – all of whom won Great Midwest titles last year. Wiechers is at 157 pounds and was 165 in 2023, and Uhl has only wrestled once this season as he has made his way back from injury.
 
Those veterans, leading the 18 wrestlers competing on Saturday, will be the catalysts for a potential conference title.
 
"That's the beautiful thing about our conference. With not having as many teams, we can enter multiple participants (at each weight)," Sponseller said. "We have some good depth up top, and it's neat to see both guys make the finals at one weight, and compete for that title."
 
Wiechers and Beemer have the opportunity on Saturday to go out as they came in – as conference champions.
 
"We won the previous two years. For them to end with how they started in the conference would be a great feather in their cap for them," said Sponseller.
 
"I'm pretty confident in the guys, that if anybody comes out and wrestles their best, we can have a lot of finalists – multiple guys at the same weight, maybe a true freshman like Hayden Kuhn at 149. Same thing with Tyler, Jeremiah – have that breakout weekend. And Wyatt Bailey, he's always one or two points or one or two positions away from changing a match."