2020 Great Midwest Championship Duals All-Conference Team
INDIANAPOLIS – A total of 35 student-athletes were selected to the Great Midwest Athletic Conference All-Conference Wrestling Team for the 2019-20 season as announced on Friday morning.
The league’s coaches voted for the all-conference team based off of individual performances at the championship duals that were conducted last weekend at the University of Findlay.
Three mats were utilized in two days as 15 matches were completed in the Malcolm Athletic Center.
Nationally ranked Tiffin was crowned the Great Midwest duals team champion after going 5-0 and finishing with a 21-19 win over Lake Erie.
Student-athletes were voted to the first team, second team and honorable mention team, while three different individual meet honors were also released.
The Great Midwest Wrestler of the Meet was Tiffin’s Hayden Bronne, who was dominant with a 5-0 record. The senior pinned all five of his opponents and contributed a max of 30 team points to the Dragons’ scoring.
As of January 29, Bronne leads all of Division II in falls and is gunning for his second straight title as the national pins leader. In the latest report published by the NCAA, Bronne had 16, four more than the second-place AJ Cooper from Fort Hays State.
Bronne came through in a huge spot for Tiffin in the championship clash against LEC, pinning John Penfold ins 4:34. That pin tied the match at 16-16 and gave his teammates the chance to complete a comeback.
Joey Simcoe’s title run was recognized by his peers to earn Great Midwest Coach of the Meet accolades. The Dragons have been ranked as high as No. 7 in the NWCA Division II rankings are are currently eighth getting ready for the next step of the posteason.
Simcoe had eight of his starters on the all-conference team, including four first-team selections (Bronne, Trey Grine, David Henson, Bryan LaVearn), three on the second team (Hunter Langeloh, Richard Screptock, Nick Smythe) and one on the honorable mention team (Dylan Mansor).
Findlay’s Branson Proudlock and Ohio Valley’s Fred Lewis were announced as Great Midwest co-Freshman of the Meet. Proudlock and Lewis were both first team all-conference selections and doubled down on their shared first-year honor.
Proudlock was 4-0, dealing Lake Erie’s Andrew Lieb his only loss of the duals at 141 pounds, a 6-5 decision. He also scored a technical fall in the matchup against Tiffin after winning via forfeit twice on day one.
Lewis was 4-1 with a pair of bonus point wins with a fall and a technical fall. The first-year grappler from North Carolina pinned his opponent from Tiffin in just over one minute and then blanked his Alderson Broaddus counterpart with a clean 17-0 technical fall. He registered decision vs. Kentucky Wesleyan and Lake Erie.
Teams from the conference will competing at the NCAA Super Regionals on Saturday, Feb. 29, at various locations like Indianapolis and Erie, PA. Student-athletes will then attempt to qualify for nationals on March 13-14 in Sioux Falls, S.D.