BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The Mountain East Conference today announced its 2022-23 major award winners for wrestling, following a vote of the league's seven head coaches. West Liberty's Ty McGeary and Glenville State's Gavin Quiocho headlined the postseason honors as the co-winners of the Wrestler of the Year award. West Liberty's Khyvon Grace was honored as the league's Freshman of the Year.
 
The postseason honors continued with Fairmont State's Gennero Bonaventura and Glenville State's Dylan Cottrell sharing Coach of the Year honors.
 
McGeary, a junior from McDonald, Pa., finished the year with a 28-1 record competing in the 184-pound weight class. McGeary won the MEC Championship in his weight class before finishing runner-up at the Super Region III championship at 184. He avenged his only loss of the season against Ashland's Daniel Beemer with a 6-5 decision in the national semifinals, before moving on to win the national championship with a sudden victory over Lander's Logan Hall in the title bout in Cedar Rapids, Michigan. Following his performance at the NCAA National Championships, McGeary was named the event's Most Dominate Wrestler.
 
Quiocho, a sophomore from Parkersburg, W.Va., finished the year with a 38-5 record wrestling in the 133-pound weight class for the Pioneers. Quiocho was a Midwest Classic placewinner and finished runner up at 133 at the Mountain East Conference Wrestling Championships in late January. A month later, he won the Super Region III Championship and went on to avenge his MEC Championship loss with a national semifinal win over West Liberty's Vincent Scollo. In the 133 National Championship bout, Quiocho topped Chadron State's Quentevious Campbell by a 4-3 decision. He is the first national champion in Glenville State wrestling history.
 
Grace, a freshman from Coraopolis, Pa., was named the MEC Freshman of the Year after winning the Mountain East Conference Championship at 141 pounds. In his first season with the Pioneers, Grace went 30-9 and ended the campaign with a fourth-place finish at the Super Region III Championships. He was also a winner at the John Summa Invitational earlier in the season.
 
Bonaventura, Fairmont State's first-year head coach, led the Falcons to a 13-13 record in dual meets this season, including a 4-2 mark against MEC foes. The Falcons also turned in their top finish ever at MEC Championships, finishing third in the team standings. Individually, four wrestlers turned in third-place finishes for FSU at the event. At 184-pounds, Fairmont State's Austin Gibson qualified for nationals after finishing third at the Super Region I Championships. Bonaventura was also named a finalist for the 2023 NCAA Division II Bob Bubb Award for Coaching Excellence back on Feb. 10.
 
In his second season leading the program, Cottrell and the Pioneers went 16-9 in dual meets and finished 4-0 against Mountain East Conference programs. At the MEC Wrestling Championships, Glenville State finished second with eight wrestlers advancing to conference championship bouts. Two Pioneers finished atop the podium. A month later three Pioneers won Super Region III Championships and two others earned a trip to nationals. At the NCAA National Championships, Quiocho led the Pioneers with a national title in the 133-weight class, while heavyweight Jared Campbell finished runner-up. Both were named All-Americans for the Pioneers. Glenville State finished ninth in the team standings at the 2023 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships in Cedar Rapids, Michigan.
 
The MEC Wrestling all-conference teams were recognized back on January 28 based on the results at the 2023 MEC Wrestling Championships (CLICK HERE).
 
Wrestler of the Year (co-winners):
Ty McGeary, West Liberty
Gavin Quiocho, Glenville State
 
Freshman of the Year:
Khyvon Grace, West Liberty
 
Coach of the Year (co-winners):
Gennero Bonaventura, Fairmont State
Dylan Cottrell, Glenville State