Spidle, Lovett Alive in Championship Brackets at NCAAs

PHILADELPHIA – Two Central Michigan wrestlers are alive in the championship bracket and three others are in the consolation bracket after Session 1 at the NCAA Championships on Thursday afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center.

Session 2 is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday. The tournament continues through Saturday. The top eight wrestlers in each of the 10 weight classes earn All-America honors.

CMU's Sean Spidle (133 pounds) and Johnny Lovett (157) are alive in their respective championship brackets. The Chippewas' Mason Shrader (149), Chandler Amaker (165) and Alex Cramer (174) are in their consolation brackets.

Spidle, the 23^rd seed, upset 10^th-seeded Dylan Sawver of Rutgers, a returning All-American, 4-1 on Thursday afternoon and is scheduled to wrestle seventh-seed Nick Bouzakis of Ohio State on Thursday night for a spot in Friday's quarterfinals.

Spidle, a redshirt junior, is making his first appearance in the NCAA Championships.

Lovett, the 15^th seed, posted an 11-3 major decision win over Iowa's Jacori Teemer, a four-time All-American who is seeded 18^th. Lovett is scheduled to wrestle Cornell's Meyer Shapiro, the No. 2 seed, in Thursday night.

Shapiro is a returning All-American after finishing third last season at the NCAA Championships. Lovett, a graduate student, is wrestling in the NCAA Championships for the fifth time in his career and has yet to earn All-America honors.

Last year, he fell to Shapiro in a match that, had Lovett won, would have guaranteed him a spot on the podium.

Shrader, the 24^th seed, was pinned by Penn's Cross Wasilewski, the No. 9 seed, in 6:03 on Thursday afternoon. Shrader is slated is scheduled wrestle Malyke Hines of Lehigh, the 25^th seed, on Thursday night. Shrader, a redshirt junior, is making his first appearance in the NCAA Championships.

The 33^rd-seeded Amaker posted an 8-5 sudden victory win over No. 32 Jared Keslar of Pitt in their opening-bout pigtail match and then lost to top-seeded Mitchell Messenbrink of Penn State on a 16-0 technical fall.

Amaker, a redshirt junior who is making his first NCAA appearance, is scheduled to wrestle Noah Mulvaney of Bucknell, the 17th seed, on Thursday night.

Cramer, a graduate student who is seeded 10^th, dropped a 13-2 major decision to MJ Gaitan of Iowa State, the 23^rd seed, in his opening bout and is scheduled to wrestle Brody Baumann of Purdue, the 26^th seed, on Thursday night.

Cramer is a four-time NCAA qualifier who is seeking his first podium finish.

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Players Mentioned

Chandler Amaker

Alex Cramer

Johnny Lovett

Mason Shrader

Sean Spidle