ASHLAND, Ohio- The first winter championship of the 2023 calendar year takes place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference this weekend at Ashland University on Saturday, Jan. 21.
 
Matches are set to begin on Saturday at 9:00 A.M. ET. Coaches will rank eight wrestlers per weight class, with six being seeded. After the top six seeds, wrestlers will then randomly be drawn into the bracket.
 
The awards ceremony will take place in Kates Gymnasium following a brief coaches meeting to determine all-conference teams as 30 total student-athletes are honored. The team champion will also be announced as well as the Elite 26 Award winner.
 
All fans in attendance are strongly encouraged to purchase e-tickets prior to arrival. Additional ticket and facility information can be found by visiting the wrestling championship page.
 
All matches will be streamed live on the Great Midwest Digital Network with separate video feeds on Mat 1 and Mat 2. This year’s championship is an individual bracket style tournament with a winner crowned at each weight class.
 
Brackets on TrackWrestling will be released following the coaches meeting and will be updated in real time on Saturday. Each school was permitted two (2) entries per weight class and the top advancing wrestler will count towards the team point scoring totals.
 
The Great Midwest is well-represented on an individual level in various Division II national rankings published this season. The NWCA/Intermat recognizes nine (9) wrestlers from the league in its weight class rankings.
 
In the initial NWCA team rankings, Ashland and Lake Erie were ranked at No. 16 and No. 21, respectively.
 
Ashland was crowned Great Midwest Champions at the 2021-22 championship, which took place at Lake Erie College. The Eagles are currently slotted at No. 24 in the most recent coaches poll and have a trio of nationally-ranked wrestlers. Drew Wiechers is ranked third in the 165 Lbs. weight class. Wiechers earned Division II All-American honors last season and finished fifth at the national tournament. Wiechers is joined by Daniel Beemer and Walker Uhl in the national rankings. Beemer is coming off Great Midwest Wrestler of the Week status after recording several wins over West Liberty and Lake Erie last weekend. He currently ranks sixth in the 184 Lbs. weight class. Walker Uhl rounds out nationally-ranked wrestlers from Ashland. He ranks eighth at 197 Lbs.
 
Christian Small and James Penfold from Lake Erie are also nationally-ranked in their respective weight classes. Small is slotted at the No. 6 spot in the 141 Lbs. weight class, while Penfold ranks fourth at 174 Lbs. Penfold returns after being named First-Team All-Conference last season.
 
Both Tiffin and Findlay each have a pair of athletes featured in the national rankings as well.
 
In the 125 Lbs weight class, Tiffin’s Brandon Mendoza ranks fourth and teammate Matt Zuckerman is 12^th at 149 Lbs. Mendoza was awarded Great Midwest First-Team after a stellar performance at last year’s championship.
 
The Oilers lose 2022 Wrestler of the Year in Brandon Proudluck but First-Team selection Hunter Reed will return for this year’s championship. Reed is ranked seventh in the 174 Lbs weight class and is joined by 11^th ranked Logan Sanom at 157 Lbs.