GREENVILLE, Pa. (pacathletics.org)--Washington & Jefferson College was selected as the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) preseason wrestling favorite, according to a vote of league coaches, sports information directors and the conference office.

The league released the results of its preseason poll and its wrestlers to watch list Tuesday afternoon.

W&J and 11th-year head coach Tommy Prairie secured four of seven first-place votes and totaled 14 points to headline this year's preseason poll.

Thiel College, led by 19th-year head coach Craig Thurber, finished second in this year's poll with two first-place votes and 12 points. Thiel owns 22 PAC titles, just one shy of John Carroll University's league-leading 23. Waynesburg University and 14th-year head coach Ron Headlee, winners of seven PAC titles, finished third with one first-place vote and 10 points. 

Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the PAC Athletic Administrator's Council canceled the league's wrestling championships in 2020-21.

On February 15, 2020 W&J won its first PAC title since the 1998-99 season at the Salvitti Family Gymnasium in Washington. It was the school's sixth conference title. W&J totaled 106.50 points in the three-team championship field, edging three-time defending PAC champion Waynesburg by one-half of a point (106) for the top spot. Thiel finished third (91.50).

Five of the league's individual champions from the 2019-20 PAC Championships are slated to return to the mat this season. Headlining this year's returners is Waynesburg junior Rocky McGeary (McDonald, Pa. | West Allegheny), who enters the season as the No. 2 wrestler at 285 pounds in the recently released National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division III Coaches Rankings. During the 2019-20 campaign, his first as a collegiate competitor, McGeary went 38-3 overall and won individual titles at Messiah's Petrofes Invitational, the Long Island Open, the Will Abele Invitational, the PAC Championships and the NCAA Division III Southeast Regional Championships. McGeary had his ticket punched to the NCAA Division III national championships that season, but the event was cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Waynesburg will host the league's 63rd wrestling championships at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 12, 2022 inside the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. The conference championships will feature six-wrestler, double-elimination brackets with each participating school entering a pair of student-athletes in each of the 10 weight classes.

Thiel, W&J and Waynesburg will compete at the Division III Southeast Regional Championships from Friday-Saturday, Feb. 25-26 at Messiah College. The Division III Championships, scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 11-12, will be held at the U.S. Cellular Center in Grand Rapids, Iowa.
 

2021-22 PAC Wrestling Preseason Poll
School (first-place votes)	Points	2019-20 dual meet record (PAC); PAC Championships finish
1. Washington & Jefferson College (4)	14	8-7 (0-2); 1st (3), 106.50 points
2. Thiel College (2)	12	6-3 (1-1); 3rd (3), 91.50 points
3. Waynesburg University (1)	10	12-4 (2-0); 2nd (3), 106 points

 

PAC Wrestlers to Watch in 2021-22
Thiel
Name	Yr.	Wt. Class	Hometown | High School
Jake Alberts	Jr.	133	Ellwood City, Pa. | Lincoln
Austin Bonacci	Sr.	165	West Mifflin, Pa. | West Mifflin
Peyton Hearn	Jr.	157	Conneaut, Pa. | Conneaut
Khalil Messai	Sr.	285	Jamestown, Pa. | Jamestown
Dylan Proper	Sr.	197	Titusville, Pa. | Maplewood

   

W&J
Name	Yr.	Wt. Class	Hometown | High School
Jaden Datz	Sr.	174	Ruffs Dale, Pa. | Southmoreland
Alex Donahue	Sr.	197	Indiana, Pa. | Indiana
Manny Dovshek	Sr.	125	Scenery Hill, Pa. | Bentworth
Logan Marko	Jr.	157	Roaring Spring, Pa. | Central
Brayden Roscosky	Fr.	184	Vandergrift, Pa. | Kiski

 

Waynesburg
Name	Yr.	Wt. Class	Hometown | High School
Harley Constable	Jr.	133/141	Smithfield, Pa. | Albert Gallatin
Garrett Cook	Jr.	184	Weirton, W.Va. | Madonna
Alex Coppolo	So.	141/149	Bellefonte, Pa. | Bellefonte
Rocky McGeary	Jr.	285	McDonald, Pa. | West Allegheny
Colby Morris	Jr.	165/174	Waynesburg, Pa. | Waynesburg Central

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