Saturday-Sunday, March 7-8, 2020 – 1 p.m.
MAC Wrestling Championships
Rider Broncs (12-3, 7-1 MAC)
Location: DeKalb, IL – Convocation Center
Ticket Information – NIUHuskies.com
Buy Tickets – Ticketmaster.com
Saturday Live Video – ESPN+ (Coverage begins 4:55 p.m. ET)
Sunday Live Video – ESPN+ (Coverage begins 2:25 p.m. ET)
Live Scoring – TrackWrestling.com
Live Twitter Updates – Twitter.com/RiderWrestling
MAC Championship Homepage – GetSomeMACtion.com

What You Need To Know
- The Rider University wrestling team heads to the MAC Championships, hosted by Northern Illinois, this Saturday and Sunday.
- The two-day format features eight pre-seeds in each weight class with the remaining wrestlers being randomly placed to fill out the 16-man brackets.
- Rider is in its first year in the MAC, having joined the league with its six other former EWL members. Dean Sherry (174) and Ethan Laird (197) both won EWL Championships a year ago, while Jesse Dellavecchia was runner up at 165 and Anthony Cefolo finished second at 133.
- Seven Rider wrestlers were award pre-seeds for this weekend's tournament, led by top-seeded Jesse Dellavecchia at 157. Sherry (174) and Laird (197) are seeded second, while George Walton (184) is third and Ryan Cloud (285) is fifth. Richie Koehler (133, 6^th) and Peter Lipari (141, 8^th) round out the pre-seeded Rider wrestlers.
- The MAC has been allocated 41 NCAA Automatic Qualifiers. The league received a high of six allocations at 157 lbs. Five spots were awarded at 133 and 141, while four are ticketed at 174, 197 and 285. Three qualifiers were issued at 125 and 184, while the lowest total of two came at 165. To be an NCAA Qualifier without benefit of an at-large bid, wrestlers will have to place within those parameters at this weekend's championships.
- Rider won the MAC East Division Championship with a 7-1 record against league foes, including a 6-0 mark against its East Division foes.  
- Rider won its last two duals of the season against Clarion and Maryland and nine of 10 since the calendar turned to 2020.
- A Feb. 9 loss to Rutgers in front of a sold-out Alumni Gym crowd snapped Rider's seven-match winning streak.
- Seven Rider wrestlers are ranked in the latest rankings released by the NCAA. Jesse Dellavecchia (157), Dean Sherry (174), George Walton (184) and Ethan Laird (197) are all ranked in both the NCAA Division I Wrestling Coaches Panel Rankings and the RPI, with Dellavecchia coming in at fifth in the Coaches Panel and seventh in the RPI. Sherry is 22^nd and 12^th, respectively, and Laird is 16^th and 12^th, respectively. Walton took 33^rd in the Coaches Panel and 31^st in the RPI. Peter Lipari (141) is ranked 30^th in the Coaches Panel, while the RPI has Richie Koehler (133) at 29 and Jonathan Tropea (125) and Ryan Cloud (285) both at No. 31.  
- The Broncs were ranked in the National Wrestling Coaches Association Poll earlier in the season, reaching a ranking as high as No. 20 in the nation.
- FloWrestling currently has ranked Rider No. 2 in the MAC using individual rankings and a tournament scoring rubric that does not factor in bonus points. Missouri is ranked first.  
- Rider earned wins over Duke, Maryland and then-No. 22 Virginia in winning its first-ever championship at the 40^th Annual Virginia Duals. The Broncs' momentum continued with victories over MAC foes Edinboro, Old Dominion, George Mason and Lock Haven.
- In the win over Lock Haven on Feb. 7, the Broncs trailed throughout before winning the final four bouts to take the 20-17, come-from-behind victory.  
- Jesse Dellavecchia has won his last nine matches and has a team-best 26 wins so far this season. Included in the mark was a 1-0 decision in his most-recent match over Old Dominion's Larry Early, who was ranked No. 12 in the nation, had won eight-straight matches and was the reigning MAC East Division Wrestler of the Week entering the bout.
- Walton, Laird and Cloud all have 21 wins so far this season, while Sherry also has 20 victories.
- Cloud's six wins by fall are a team best.
- Peter Lipari had won six-straight matches, prior to a setback Feb. 7 to Lock Haven's Kyle Shoop, ranked No. 20 nationally. Included in his six-match winning streak was a 5-4 decision over Old Dominion's Sa'Derian Perry, who was ranked No. 1 at 141 lbs. by the MAC's Coaches, both before and after the match. The win avenged a major decision loss in the Journeyman Classic Championship match in November, before Lipari had joined the Broncs.
- Peter Lipari, Jesse Dellavecchia and Dean Sherry each went 3-0 at the Virginia Duals, while Jonathan Tropea and Joe Casey posted 2-0 marks. 
- Rider earned a statement victory over then-No. 6 Minnesota on Nov. 15. In the upset victory, Dean Sherry pinned nationally-ranked No. 6 Devin Skatzka. For his performance, Sherry was named MAC East Division Wrestler of the Week.
- The Broncs also had strong tournament showings at the Princeton Open, Keystone Classic and Southern Scuffle. The Broncs placed eight on the podium in Princeton and 12 more at the Keystone Classic, with Jesse Dellavecchia winning the title at both events. George Walton also took the title at 184 at the Keystone Classic. Dellavecchia, Laird and Sherry each reached the podium at the Southern Scuffle, placing second, third and sixth, respectively.  
- Dellavecchia was named Rider Athlete of the Month for November and January. 
- Rider, along with its six other former Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) teams joined the Mid-American Conference (MAC) for 2019-20, creating a 15-team league that's the second-largest in NCAA Division I wrestling. The Broncs now face tough new competition from the likes of perennially top-ranked Missouri, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Old Dominion, Ohio and Northern Illinois.
- Rider returned four national qualifiers this season in Dean Sherry, who made his second-straight NCAA Championship appearance at 174 last year, along with Anthony Cefolo, Jesse Dellavecchia and Ethan Laird.
- The Broncs were picked fourth in the MAC Preseason Coaches Poll, while five Broncs were ranked in the top six in their weight classes, led by Ethan Laird in the top spot at 197. Dean Sherry was picked second at 174, Jesse Dellavecchia and Anthony Cefolo took third at 157 and 125, respectively, while Chris Wright took sixth at 133.
- A Rider wrestler has achieved All-American status on 17 occasions, including 15 different wrestlers. Current assistant coaches Chad Walsh and Ryan Wolfe were the last Broncs to earn All-American in 2017.