2019 MAC WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW
2019 MAC Wrestling Bracket - Friday, March 8
2019 MAC Wrestling Championship Watch Live / Live Results:
Watch Live Friday, March 8 on ESPN+
Watch Live Saturday, March 9 on ESPN+
Track Wrestling Live Results
NORFOLK, Va. -- The 2019 MAC Wrestling Championships will be held Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9 hosted by Old Dominion University. This 2019 MAC Regular Season Champion Missouri Tigers enter this weekend with a No. 5 national ranking and an impressive 16-1 overall regular season record, 7-0 in the MAC. Currently Missouri is the six-time defending MAC Wrestling Champion since joining the MAC as an affiliate member in wrestling in the 2012-13 season. This year's host, Old Dominion finished the regular season with a 9-7 overall record, and a 5-2 record to finish second in the MAC.
Also last week, the NCAA announced the qualifier allocations for the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships and the MAC received 27 allocations, the fifth most of any conference in Division I Wrestling Conference. The results of the MAC Wrestling Championships will determine which wrestlers will qualify for the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships, in Pittsburgh on March 21-23.
The MAC had 31 wrestlers earn spots in the coaches rankings, including one second-place listing, two within the top five of the weight classes and five total ranked in the top ten. In addition 37 MAC wrestlers were ranked in the RPI rankings, including one second-place listing, three within the top five of the weight classes and seven total ranked in the top ten. The final rankings will be one of the tools used as part of the selection process to determine the qualifiers for the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, March 21-23 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pa.
In the Coaches Rankings, Missouri’s Daniel Lewis (174) was ranked No. 2 in his weight class, while Missouri's Jaydin Eierman (141) was ranked No. 4 in his weight class. Missouri's Brock Mauller (149) was ranked No. 6 and teammate John Erneste (133) was ranked No. 7 in their respective weight classes. Old Dominion's Larry Early (157) was ranked No. 8 in his weight class.
In the RPI rankings, which requires a minimum of 17 Division I matches to be eligible for a ranking, Missouri's John Erneste (133) was ranked No. 2, while teammate's Jaydin Eierman (141) and Daniel Lewis (174) were both ranked No. 4 in their respective weight classes. Central Michigan's Drew Hildebrandt (125) and Matt Stencel (285) were both ranked No. 7 in their respective weight classes. Old Dominion's Larry Early (157) was ranked No. 8, while Missouri's Brock Mauller (149) was ranked No. 9 in his weight class.
2019 MAC Wrestling Championships Team Previews:
WATCH Buffalo head coach John Stutzman and senior Alex Smythe
WATCH Central Michigan head coach Tom Borrelli and sophomore Matt Stencel
WATCH Kent State head coach Jim Andrassy and sophomore Andrew McNally
WATCH Missouri head coach Brian Smith, senior Daniel Lewis and junior Jaydin Eierman
WATCH Northern Illinois head coach Ryan Ludwig and senior Alijah Jeffery
WATCH Ohio head coach Joel Greenlee and senior Cameron Kelly
WATCH Old Dominion head coach Steve Martin and junior Larry Early
WATCH SIU Edwardsville head coach Jeremy Spates and freshman Justin Ruffin
2019 MAC Wrestling Championships Schedule of Events:
Friday, March 8
2:00 pm ET Doors Open to Public
2:55 pm ET National Anthem
3:00 pm ET Quarter-Finals (40 Matches, 3 Mats)
6:00 pm ET Consolation Round 1 (20 Matches, 1 Mat)
Championship Semi-Finals (20 Matches, 2 Mats)
Saturday, March 9
11:00 am ET Doors Open To Public
11:55 am ET National Anthem
12:00 pm ET Consolation Semi-Finals (3 Mats)
1:05 pm ET Seventh Place Matches (3 Mats)
1:45 pm ET Championship Finals Parade & Face Off Introductions
2:00 pm ET Championship Finals, Third place Matches & Fifth place Matches (3 Mats)
Recent MAC Wrestling News:
MAC Announces Pre-seeding for 2019 MAC Wrestling Championships
MAC Allocated 27 Qualifiers For 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships March 21-23
Final MAC Wrestling Coaches Rankings
2019 MAC Wrestling Championships Team-By-Team Previews:
Buffalo:
Bulls Head to Norfolk For MAC Championships
WATCH Buffalo Preview
Buffalo Roster
BUFFALO, N.Y, -- The 2019 MAC Wrestling Championships will be held March 8-9 and hosted by Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. The pre-seeding for the MAC Wrestling Championship have been announced following today's conference call with all eight MAC head wrestling coaches. The Bulls have wrestlers seeded three or higher in six of the ten weight classes. Leading the way is Troy Keller who is seeded second at 165. Derek Spann (133), Bryan Lantry (141), Jake Lanning (174), Brett Perry (197) and Jake Gunning (285) are all seeded third in their respective weight classes.
Central Michigan:
NCAA Berths On The Line At MAC Championships
WATCH Central Michigan Preview
Central Michigan Roster
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – It would take some doing for the Central Michigan wrestling team, or anybody else, for that matter, to knock off fifth-ranked Missouri this weekend at the Mid-American Conference Championships. But that is not to suggest that there is nothing for the Chippewas and their MAC brethren to strive for. On the contrary, berths in the NCAA Championships are at stake and at the end of the day, that is the Holy Grail for a college wrestler. The Chippewas and seven other teams will partake in the MAC Championships on Friday and Saturday at Old Dominion.
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Kent State:
Flashes Prepare For MAC Championships
WATCH Kent State Preview
Kent State Roster
KENT, Ohio -- Kent State travels to Old Dominion's Ted Constant Center this weekend where 27 automatic bids to the NCAA Championships will be on the line at the 2019 Mid-American Conference Championships. The two-day, eight-team tournament in Norfolk features 80 wrestlers seeking 10 individual titles. No. 5 Missouri (16-1) enters the tournament nine No. 1 seeds. Sophomore 184-pounder Andrew McNally (Uniontown, Ohio) ranks fifth in the nation in pins with 12. A transfer from Eastern Michigan, McNally also leads the Flashes in wins (29), bonus-point victories (23) and major decisions (9). In the final NCAA Coaches Rankings, McNally was No. 17 at 184.
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Missouri:
Tigers Aim For Seventh Straight MAC Championship
WATCH Missouri Preview
Missouri Roster
COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 5 Mizzou Wrestling is in search of its eighth consecutive conference title as it travels to the MAC Championships, which will be held Friday-Saturday, March 8-9, at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va. Action will begin at 2 p.m. (CT) Friday with the quarterfinals. Consolation matches will be at 11 a.m. (CT) Saturday with the championship finals beginning at 1 p.m. (CT). Dating back to Mizzou's final year in the Big 12, the Tigers have won seven straight regular season or tournament conference titles. Mizzou has already won the regular season MAC title in 2018-19 and will look to earn the tournament title this weekend. Last year, Mizzou won the MAC Tournament with a record 177 total points as seven Tigers earned individual titles. Of those seven, four will defend their titles from a season ago – RS senior John Erneste (133), RS junior Jaydin Eierman (141), RS junior Connor Flynn (165) and RS senior Daniel Lewis (174).
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Northern Illinois:
Huskies Ready For MAC Championships
WATCH NIU Preview
Northern Illinois Roster
DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois Wrestling team travels to Norfolk, Va. to compete in the 2019 Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships Friday at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. Day One of the Championships starts at 2 p.m. CT, while Day Two begins at 11 a.m. CT. Fans can watch all the action of the MAC Wrestling Championships through ESPN+ or follow the live scoring on trackwrestling.com. For those not near a computer, fans follow all the Huskies via Twitter on @NIUWrestling. While the Huskies (8-10, 2-5) are looking to win the MAC Championship, this weekend's event has national ramifications as well.
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Ohio:
Bobcats Set For MAC Wrestling Championships
WATCH Ohio Preview
Ohio Bobcats Roster
ATHENS, Ohio -- The Ohio wrestling team is set to compete in the 2019 Mid-American Conference Championships this weekend (March 8-9) at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va. The Bobcats have captured 15 MAC Championships (1955-56-57-70-71-72-73-74-75-76-93-94-95-97-2001) -- the second-most of any program in the conference. Ohio placed fifth at the MAC Championships in 2018 with 84.5 points. Missouri has captured each of the last six MAC Championships. Ohio wrestlers have accounted for 108 individual MAC titles. Shakur Laney accounted for Ohio's last individual MAC title, taking home first place at 125 pounds in 2017.
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Old Dominion:
Monarchs Set To Host MAC Wrestling Championships
WATCH Old Dominion Preview
Old Dominion Roster
NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion wrestling team is set to compete in the 2019 Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships on Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9. Old Dominion will host their first MAC Wrestling Championship at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. Both days will be streamed on ESPN+. The MAC will send 27 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, with a possibility of others receiving an at-large bid. Last season, the Monarchs sent two automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Championships, while two received at-large bids. Closing the MAC dual season 5-2, the Monarchs finished in a tie for second with Buffalo. ODU notched a top-25 win this season with a 30-10 victory over Northwestern.
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SIU Edwardsville:
Cougars Head To MAC Championships
WATCH SIU Edwardsville Preview
SIU Edwardsville Roster
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- SIUE wrestling is headed to its first-ever Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships set for Friday and Saturday at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. The eight-team tournament features teams from SIUE, defending champion Missouri, Northern Illinois, Central Michigan, Ohio, Buffalo, Kent State and host Old Dominion. SIUE's Christian Dulaney earned SIUE's best seed of the tournament as the No. 2 seed at 197 pounds. Both Tyshawn Williams (149) and Justin Ruffin (157) were tabbed as No. 4 seeds.
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