TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Washington & Jefferson College was voted as the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) wrestling preseason favorite for 2023-24 season when the results of the vote by league coaches and sports information directors, as well as the conference's wrestlers to watch list, were released Tuesday.

W&J garnered four first-place votes and totaled 19 points to edge Thiel College, who finished with two first-place votes and 16 points. Saint Vincent College, who collected the final first-place vote, and Waynesburg University tied for third with 14 points.

The thin margin between the top two teams should come as no surprise since Thiel and W&J tied for the PAC Championship a season ago. Although the Tomcats won five weight classes while the Presidents claimed four, Thiel needed a winning decision in the final match at 285 to tie for the crown, as both teams scored 105.5 points. Waynesburg finished third a season ago with 38 points.

The 2023-24 season will be its first season of competition for Saint Vincent since the program was restarted. Saint Vincent, which formerly offered wrestling as varsity sport from 1963-75, announced in March 2022 that wrestling would return as the College's 24th NCAA Division III varsity offering.

W&J and second-year head coach Sonnie Blanco, who was the PAC Coach of the Year last season, now have seven PAC championships in program history. Last year's crown was its first since the 2019-20 campaign and second since 1988-89.

Among W&J's Wrestlers to Watch this season are a pair of returning conference champions. The Presidents went back-to-back in two early weight classes last year when junior Hunter Swedish (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) won the title at 133 and sophomore Bryce Rodriguez-Uram (Carnegie, Pa./Carlynton) won at 141. Rodriguez-Uram, who won perhaps the match of the day in last year's 141 final by a 6-4 score in extra time, was voted the PAC Newcomer of the Year by the coaches of the conference. 

With their title last year, Thiel, led by 21st-year head coach Craig Thurber, has won 24 PAC wrestling championships, which surpassed John Carroll University (23 straight from 1966-67 to 1988-89) for the most in conference history.

The Tomcats feature a trio of PAC titlists on their Watch List for the new season. Junior Evan Whiteside (Monroeville, Pa./gateway) won his second consecutive crown at 125, while senior Jared Curcio (Avonmore, Pa./Kiski Area) captured first place in the 184 weight class. Also back is the defending champion at 285 in junior Seth Phillips (Hubbard, Ohio/Western Reserve), whose 3-2 victory in the final match at the 2023 Championships gave the Tomcats the record-breaking PAC title.

Waynesburg, led by second-year head coach Aaron McKinney, has won seven PAC titles, claiming three straight from 2016-17 to 2018-19. The Yellow Jackets' lone champion last year is back again in senior Colby Morris (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg Central). He entered the Championships with a 21-1 record and posted a fall in the third period of the semifinal and a fall in the opening period of the championship match to win the 174 title and become the first Yellow Jacket since Rocky McGeary in 2019-20 to be named the PAC Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament.

Morris was the lone PAC wrestler to advance through Regionals and earn a spot in the NCAA National Championships. Going in as the eight-seed, Morris battled against the best in the country, but came one win shy of All-American status with a 2-2 record at nationals.

Saint Vincent's new program is guided by first-year head coach Dominick Nania. He was announced as the new Bearcat wrestling coach in May, 2022 and has spent the last nearly 18 months building towards this first season back in competition. Nania brought more than six years of wrestling coaching experience at both the collegiate and high school levels to Latrobe, most recently serving as assistant coach at Division II Seton Hill University for three seasons prior to accepting the SVC position.

W&J will host the league's wrestling championships at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 16. The conference championships will feature eight-wrestler, double-elimination brackets with each participating school entering a pair of student-athletes in each of the 10 weight classes.

All four PAC schools will compete at the Division III Southeast Regional Championships from Friday-Saturday, March 1-2 at Lycoming College in Williamsport, Pa. The Division III Championships are scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 15-16 at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, Wisc.
 

2023-24 PAC Wrestling Preseason Poll
School (first-place votes)	Points	2022-23 dual meet record (PAC); PAC Championships finish
1. Washington & Jefferson College (4)	19	3-7 (1-1); T1st (3), 105.5 pts.
2. Thiel College (2)	16	9-2 (2-0); T1st (3), 105.5 pts.
3T. Saint Vincent College (1)	14	First season as a varsity program
3T. Waynesburg University	14	0-13 (0-2); 3rd (3), 38 pts.

 

PAC Wrestlers to Watch in 2023-24
Saint Vincent
Name	Yr.	Wt. Class	Hometown/High School
Chase Brandebura	Fr.	165	Carnegie, Pa./Carlynton
Kyle McColllum	So.	133/141	Beallsville, Pa./Beth-Center
Ryan Yocum	Fr.	133/141	Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon

   

Thiel
Name	Yr.	Wt. Class	Hometown/High School
Jared Curcio	Jr.	184	Avonmore, Pa./Kiski Area
Frank Gill	Sr.	165	North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin
EJ McCarthy	So.	125	Hubbard, Ohio/Hubbard
Seth Phillips	Jr.	285	Hubbard, Ohio/Western Reserve
Evan Whiteside	Sr.	133	Monroeville, Pa./Gateway

   

W&J
Name	Yr.	Wt. Class	Hometown/High School
Christian McChesney	Fr.	197	Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Salem
William Mitchell	Fr.	174	Baltimore, Md./Kiski Prep
Bryce Rodriguez-Uram	So.	141	Carnegie, Pa./Carlynton
Joshua Searle	Jr.	157	Red Creek, N.Y./Red Creek Central
Hunter Swedish	Jr.	133	Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley

 

Waynesburg
Name	Yr.	Wt. Class	Hometown/High School
Seth Evans	Jr.	149/157	Sharon, Pa./Sharon
Josh Kuslock	Grad.	141	Hickory, Pa./Chartiers-Houston
Christian Michaels	So.	125/133	West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin
Colby Morris	Sr.	174	Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg Central
Jessie Orbin	Fr.	184/197	Houston, Pa./Chartiers-Houston