INDIANAPOLIS – A handful of teams and individuals from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference were recognized prior to the start of the 2020-21 season by FloWrestling (subscription required) this week.
 
The conference will feature six programs in the sport this season: Findlay, Kentucky Wesleyan, Lake Erie, Ohio Valley, Tiffin and new associate member Ashland. Five of those member institutions are part of Super Region 3 for NCAA Championship qualification.
 
Kentucky Wesleyan, part of Super Region 4, will be host for Great Midwest Wrestling Championship falling on Saturday, Jan. 23, in Owensboro. The championship will be a bracket style tournament mirroring the super region format in the league’s third year of offering the sport. 
 
Associate member Ashland made the immediate splash in the FloWrestling rankings, leading all Great Midwest schools with four individually ranked grapplers. The Eagles, on the cusp of announcing a new head coach following the offseason departure of Josh Hutchens, are ranked No. 10 nationally.
 
Ashland is anchored by a trio of senior NCAA All-Americans, Carson Speelman at 149, Aidan Pasiuk at 184 and Tristen Weirich at heavyweight. The foursome was poised to do some serious damage at nationals, combining for nearly 80 wins led by Speelman’s 26 victories on the mat. Junior Peter Abraham also cracked a tough weight class at No. 12, the third Great Midwest individual ranked at 197. 
 
Defending Great Midwest team champion Tiffin is tied for 11th and the Dragons have three ranked wrestlers at their respective weight classes with a pair of seniors, Nick Mason (197) and Bryan LaVearn (165) leading the way.
 
Mason, the 2019 NCAA Division II Champion, is ranked No. 2 at 197 lb. and also pulls in at No. 8 in FloWrestling’s pound-for-pound rankings. Sophomore Christopher Donathan (26-5 record as a freshman) is viewed as a national title threat at 149 and is already ranked second based on his 2019-20 accomplishments.
 
Mason is also the conference’s active all-time leader in wins with 52 and pins (32). LaVearn racked up 33 wins last season and ranked 12th in a deep weight class.
 
Lake Erie is also leaning heavily on senior leadership in the form of senior NCAA qualifier Chris Droege (197) and Brandon Tenney (141). Droege is coming off a 23-7 record and his 38 career victories ranks third among current Great Midwest wrestlers.
 
Droege is ranked seventh and Tenney will start the year nationally ranked 14th. Both were first team all-conference performers last season.
 
Findlay also broke through with 2019-20 co-Freshman of the Year Branson Proudlock, another first team all-conference honoree. The sophomore is ranked sixth at 149 pounds after going 23-7 as a rookie.
 
The start of the Great Midwest wrestling season will be delayed until the new calendar year in January of 2021 as teams continue to line up their competition dates. The full composite schedule will be released at a later time.
 
Tiffin is slated to host the NCAA Super Region 3 tournament in the Heminger Center. The 2020 NCAA Championships were halted on site prior to the start of competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Great Midwest Wrestlers - FloWrestling Rankings

141 Pounds
No. 6 - Branson Proudlock (Findlay)
No. 14 - Brandon Tenney (Lake Erie)

149 Pounds
No. 2 - Christopher Donathan (Tiffin)
No. 4 - Carson Speelman (Ashland)

165 Pounds
No. 12 - Bryan LaVearn (Tiffin)

184 Pounds
No. 3 - Aidan Pasiuk (Ashland)

197 Pounds
No. 2 - Nick Mason (Tiffin)
No. 7 - Chris Droege (Lake Erie)
No. 12 - Peter Abraham (Ashland)

HWT
No. 9 - Tristen Weirich (Ashland)