TRENTON, NJ – Graduate student Jesse Dellavecchia (Great River, NY/East Islip [Binghamton]) earned his second-straight Mid-American Conference Championship at 157 lbs. and the Rider University wrestling team finished third as MAC Wrestling Championships wrapped up Saturday afternoon at CURE Insurance Arena. All told, Rider sent nine wrestlers to the podium and five – Dellavecchia, Jonathan Tropea (Harrington Park, NJ/Saint Joseph (Montvale)), Richie Koehler (Middletown, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy), McKenzie Bell (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway) and Ethan Laird (Waterford, PA/General McLane) secured NCAA Tournament qualification. For his team's accomplishments, Rider Head Coach John Hangey was named Co-MAC Coach of the Year.

Dellavecchia defeated 2019 MAC Champion Jarrett Jacques of Missouri for the second-straight year to earn his title. Koehler (133 lbs.), Bell (141 lbs.) and Laird (285 lbs.) also wrestled in the finals, but settled for runner-up accolades. Tropea (125 lbs.) won in the consolation semifinals, before falling in the third-place match to finish fourth. Matt Correnti (Delran, NJ/Holy Cross Academy) won two matches in the consolation quarterfinals and semifinals at 197 lbs., before falling in the third-place match to finish fourth.

Jake Silverstein (Hauppauge, NY/Smithtown [Nebraska]) also won a pair of matches to take fifth, while George Walton (Franklin, NJ/Bound Brook) and Wyatt McCarthy (Newton, NJ/Newton) both took sixth place at 184 lbs. and 149 lbs., respectively.

Missouri (188.5 points) took its ninth-straight team title since joining the league in 2013, while Central Michigan (129.0 points) edge the Broncs (120.5 points) for second place.
 
Quotes & Notes
"Do you want to finish stronger? Always. But the second day of the MAC is a shorter day because it's tougher competition. To win this tournament, you've usually got to beat a Top 10 kid in the country. It's a grind. So yah, I wanted to finish stronger. But I'm not disappointed at all in my kids' effort. I thought they came to wrestle both days and gave me everything they had. So, for that, I'm really pleased." – Rider Head Coach John Hangey

- Five Rider wrestlers punched their tickets to NCAA Championships, March 18-20, in St. Louis, Missouri. The Broncs now await potential at-large selections to try to match or eclipse the six NCAA Qualifiers of 2010, 2015 and 2016.    
- Rider jumped a spot from fourth to third from last year's MAC Championships, while gaining 36 points from its 84.5 points a year ago.
- On the year, Dellavecchia remains unbeaten at 7-0.
 
Full Rider MAC Championship Results

125 - Jonathan Tropea – 4^th Place
QF – Won Dec. vs. Josh Jones (GMU), 6-2
SF – Lost Dec. vs. Drew Hildebrandt (CMU), 3-2
Cons. SF – Won Dec. vs. Luke Werner (LH), 7-3
3^rd Place – Lost Dec. vs. Jake Ferri (KENT), 14-9
 
133 - Richie Koehler – 2^nd Place
1st - Won Dec. vs. Andrew Marten (CMU), 7-1   
QF – Won Dec. vs. Bryce West (NIU), 3-2 
SF – Won by Fall over Cole Rhone (BLOOM), 6:05
Final – Lost Dec. vs. Matt Schmitt (MIZZ), 9-6
 
141 - McKenzie Bell – 2^nd Place
1st - Won Maj. Dec. vs. Avry Mutschler (KENT), 13-2
QF – Won Dec. vs. Gabe Willochell (EDIN), 10-5
SF – Won Dec. vs. Allan Hart (MIZZ), 8-6
Final – Lost Dec. vs. Dresden Simon (CMU), 12-5
 
149 - Wyatt McCarthy – 6^th Place
1st - Lost Dec. vs. Marcus Robinson (CSU), 3-1
Cons. – Won Dec. vs. Ben Freeman (BUFF), 9-4
Cons. QF – Won Dec. vs. Corbyn Munson (CMU), 5-4
Cons. SF – Lost Dec. vs. Anthony Cheloni (NIU), 4-1
5^th Place – Lost Dec. vs. Tyler Vath (EDIN), 8-7
 
157 - Jesse Dellavecchia – MAC Champion
QF – Won Dec. Michael Petite (BUFF), 10-3
SF – Won by Fall over Peter Pappas (EDIN) at 4:44
Final – Won Dec. vs. Jarrett Jacques (MIZZ), 3-2
 
165 - Jake Silverstein – 5^th Place
1st - Won Dec. vs. Tanner Updegraff (LH), 4-1
QF – Lost Dec. vs. Alex Cramer (CMU), 4-2
Cons. – Won by Fall over Chase Diehl (SIUE), at 0:49
Cons. QF – Won Dec. vs. Neil Schuster (GMU), 8-4
Cons. SF – Lost Dec. vs. Riley Smucker (CSU), 8-4
5^th Place – Won Dec. vs. Kolby Ho (CLAR), 6-2
 
174 - Angel Garcia
1st - Lost by Fall vs. Logan Stanley (OHIO), 5:15
Cons. – Lost Dec. vs. Mason Kauffman (NIU), 2-1
 
184 - George Walton – 6^th Place
1st - Won Dec. vs. Mason Kroening (OHIO), 9-3
QF – Won Dec. vs. Ethan Ducca (EDIN), 16-11
SF – Lost Dec. vs. Jeremiah Kent (MIZZ), 6-5
Cons. SF – Lost Dec. vs. Max Wohlabaugh (CLAR), 2-1 (OT3)
5th Place – Lost Dec. vs. Ethan Ducca (EDIN), 5-2
 
197 - Matt Correnti – 4^th Place
1st - Won Dec. vs. Gage Braun (NIU), 5-3
QF – Lost Maj. Dec. vs. Greg Bulsak (CLAR), 13-1
Cons. – Won Dec. vs. Samuel Mitchell (BUFF), 6-3
Cons. QF – Won by Fall over Landon Pelham (CMU) at 2:51
Cons. SF – Won Dec. vs. Jake Walker (OHIO), 8-4
3^rd Place – Lost Maj. Dec. vs. Greg Bulsak (CLAR), 10-2
 
285 - Ethan Laird – 2^nd Place
QF – Won Dec. vs. Max Ihry (NIU), 3-2
SF – Won Dec. vs. Zach Elam (MIZZ), 3-2
Final – Lost Dec. vs. Matt Stencel (CMU), 7-2