KENT, Ohio --- Cam Pine earned a spot in the 184-pound finals and five more Golden Eagles kept their dreams of earning NCAA bids alive on the first day of the 2024 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championships, hosted at Kent State's Memorial and Convocation Center.
 
Pine earned his first-ever trip to the conference final with a pair of wins on Friday afternoon, picking up convincing victories over Lock Haven's Colin Fegley in the quarterfinal round and Buffalo's Chase Kranitz in the semifinals. The top seed in the 184-pound bracket, Pine beat Fegley by 15-4 major decision, going ahead early with a takedown and a four-point near-fall and never looking back from there. The senior followed up with a solid win over Kranitz, earning his first takedown by countering a shot late in the first period. Pine reversed Kranitz from the bottom position to start the second period, and he fought off a shot early in the third to take a 10-4 lead.
 
Pine will face George Mason's Malachi DuVall in the 184-pound finals on Saturday afternoon. The two met in the team's dual earlier this year, with Pine winning by 5-4 decision. That is the only previous meeting between the two wrestlers.  
 
Just missing out on a return trip to the finals was 174-pounder John Worthing, who won his first two matches of the day before losing in a rematch of last year's MAC championship bout against Central Michigan's Alex Cramer. Worthing made quick work of his first two opponents, beating them by fall in the first period. He first defeated Bloomsburg's Nolen Zeigler, taking him down to his back and pinning him with 24 seconds left in the first period. Worthing followed up with a fall over Lock Haven's Tyler Stoltzfus, working him quickly and decisively for a pin at the 2:21 mark.
 
However, Worthing was unable to avenge his loss to Cramer from the previous year in the semifinal bout. Cramer took him down and turned him for a four-point near fall early in the match, and eventually locked up the 11-0 major decision. Worthing still has a path to qualify for an automatic NCAA bid on Saturday; should he win the third-place match, and in addition Cramer wins the 174-pound championship, he would have the opportunity to wrestle a true second place match.
 
Four other Golden Eagles kept their own NCAA Championships dreams alive on Friday, though like Worthing, they will need to earn their ways into and win true second place matches.
 

• Joey Fischer won his opening round match against Ohio's Ryan Meek, taking a 5-0 decision there before falling to Central Michigan's Sean Spidle. He went on to win a heated contest against Edinboro's Caleb Edwards by 8-4 decision.
• Kyle Schickel went 1-1 on the day, losing in the championship bracket to Rider's Quinn Kinner by major decision before rallying for a high-scoring win in the consolation bracket. He beat Bloomsburg's Cade Ballestrini in a true shootout, winning by decision with a score of 17-15.
• Ethan Wiant dropped a 6-3 decision in the opening round match to Kent State's Blake Schaffer, but he advanced in the consolation bracket after Ohio's Austin Starr injury forfeited.
• In the 285 pound bracket, John Meyers won a pair of consolation matches, beating SIU-Edwardsville's Dan McKiernan by 6-3 decision and Northern Illinois's Jacobi Jackson in a 4-1 sudden victory.

 
Also still in competition for the Golden Eagles on Saturday will be Ryan Sullivan. He started his afternoon with a 9-0 major decision over George Mason's Dominic Hargrove, but then dropped a tight 2-0 decision to Central Michigan's Jimmy Nugent. Sullivan went on to beat Rider's Will Betancourt by a 2-0 decision in the consolation bracket.
 
Clarion scored 54.5 team points on Friday, putting them in eighth place.