Bluffton High School outstanding student athlete DeAndre Nassar will compete in this month’s Division I NCAA wrestling national championships in St. Louis March 18-20.

The Cleveland State University sophomore, (184) is one of three Vikings to qualify for the tournament.

The Cleveland State wrestling team wrapped up action at the 2021 Mid-American Conference Championships in late February with Nassar, Marcus Robinson (149 and Ben Smith (197) all qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.

Cleveland State finished the weekend in sixth place with 68 points, as the Vikings have now finished in the top-half of the championship standings in each of its first two years as a member of the MAC.

Nassar's MAC results
After dropping his semifinal match, Nassar earned a spot in the consolation semifinal at 184 pounds, where he picked up a 3-2 decision over Edinboro's Ethan Ducca to earn a spot in the consolation final.

Fourth-seeded Nassar then went the distance in his final match of the weekend, as he battled for a 5-3 sudden victory decision over Clarion's Max Wohlabaugh to earn the third and final NCAA automatic qualifying spot for the Vikings.

This was the second match between Nassar and Wohlabaugh in this year's championship, as Nassar also picked up a win in yesterday's quarterfinal matchup between the two wrestlers. 

Robinson and Smith both earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships by virtue of their runner-up finishes, while Nassar earned his trip to the NCAA Championships after winning his third place match.

This marks the first time since 2007 that Cleveland State has had three NCAA Qualifiers.

Nassar ranked nationally
The BHS graduate was listed in the first NCAA coaches ranking that was released in late February in conjunction with the announcement of the conference pre-allocation allotments.

Nassar checked in at No. 33 in the rankings at 184 pounds. He was the fourth-highest ranked wrestler in the Mid-American Conference at his weight.

Nassar is off to a team-best 5-1 start in this shortened season. His only loss of the campaign came in a sudden-victory session to David Key of Navy, who checked in at No. 18 in the rankings.

Nassar placed seventh at the 2020 MAC Championships as a true freshman after having entered the event unseeded. He was the highest placing freshman at his weight and finished the season with 21 wins overall.

How rankings work
The NCAA coaches' rankings are determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each conference. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler who has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class.

For the first ranking, wrestlers must have two Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one coming within the last 30 days.