BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — Two-time defending champion Glenville State has been voted the preseason favorite for the upcoming Mountain East Conference wrestling season.

The MEC’s eight wrestling head coaches participated in the preseason poll, although coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team. The Pioneers received five first-place votes, while West Liberty, picked to finish second, received the other three first-place votes.

Glenville State held off West Liberty for the 2025 MEC team title. The Pioneers advanced a wrestler to all 10 championship matches, winning individual titles at 125 pounds, 157, 165, 174, 197 and 285 (heavyweight). Glenville State then won the Super Region 3 title and qualified seven wrestlers for the NCAA Division II national championships, which accounted for half of the MEC’s 14 representatives.

Last week, the National Wrestling Coaches Association announced its preseason national rankings, and Glenville State and West Liberty were ranked No. 8 and No. 19, respectively. The MEC had 13 wrestlers appear in the NWCA’s national rankings, six of which came from West Liberty and four from Glenville State.

In the MEC’s preseason poll, Frostburg State was voted third, followed by a tie between Fairmont State and Wheeling for fourth. Salem is sixth, Davis & Elkins seventh, and first-year program Point Park is eighth.

The MEC is loaded with returning wrestlers who are in the national conversation. West Liberty’s Khyvon Grace, ranked No. 2 in the NWCA preseason poll at 141 pounds, is a two-time All-American who advanced to the national championship match a season ago.

In the same weight class is Fairmont State’s Colton Stoneking, who is No. 5 in the preseason poll and was named the MEC Most Outstanding Wrestler at last year’s conference championship at West Liberty.

Glenville State teammates Nick Johnson (No. 3, 197 pounds) and Colton Drousias (No. 5, 125 pounds) are both in the NWCA preseason poll top five in their respective weight classes. Drousias, Stoneking, Glenville State’s Hayden Pummel and Johnson are back after winning MEC titles last season, as well as 2025 MEC Freshman of the Year James Armstrong, Jr., who wrestles for West Liberty.

The MEC wrestling season gets underway Saturday, and the 2026 MEC Wrestling Championships are set for Jan. 31.

2025-26 MEC Preseason

Wrestling Poll

1. Glenville State (5) — 47

2. West Liberty (3) — 45

3. Frostburg State — 34

4. Fairmont State — 29

4. Wheeling — 29

6. Salem — 20

7. Davis & Elkins — 12

8. Point Park — 8