Danny Mitcheff named MAC Wrestler of the Year

CLEVELAND – Kent State senior Danny Mitcheff (Lorain, Ohio/Elyria) was named Mid-American Conference Wrestler of the Year Tuesday, following a vote by the league’s head coaches. Mitcheff recently capped off his career by earning All-America status with a sixth place finish at the NCAA Championships in Omaha.

Winning four matches in the 133-pound bracket at the national tournament, Mitcheff bumped his Kent State career-record victory total up to 131. He broke the record two weeks earlier, when we won an individual title at the MAC Championships and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler for the second straight season.

Mitcheff becomes the second Golden Flash grappler in as many seasons to earn Wrestler of the Year honors. Last season Jermail Porter became the first KSU wrestler to do so since Don Horning in 1985.

Starting his season off with 17 straight victories, Mitcheff went 34-6 on the year with 13 major decisions, four technical falls and a pin. Sixteen of his victories came against NCAA qualifiers. Along with a MAC title, he also won individual crowns at the Oklahoma Gold Classic and the Body Bar Invitational. Mitcheff’s only loss of the 2009 portion of the season came in the finals of the Southern Scuffle against eventual national champion Jayson Ness (Minnesota).

Central Michigan’s Tom Borrelli was named Wrestling Coach of the Year on Tuesday and CMU’s Ben Bennett was named Freshman of the Year.

Mitcheff was one of Kent State’s five NCAA qualifiers this season. The Golden Flashes were ranked No. 16 in the final NWCA Coaches Poll.

Courtesy of Aaron Chimenti, Assistant Director, Kent State Athletic Communications