Trenton, N.J. -- The 2021 MAC Wrestling Championships will be held Friday, February 26 and Saturday, February 27 at Cure Insurance Arena in Trenton, N.J. The event will be hosted by Rider University. 
 

The No. 5 Missourii Tigers (10-0, 4-0 MAC) will look to win their ninth straight MAC Tournament title and tenth straight conference title. Mizzou has been crowned the MAC Champion every year since joining in 2012-13. Before joining the MAC, the Tigers won the Big 12 Championship in the 2011-12 season. Six Tigers enter this weekend with undefeated records: redshirt junior Allan Hart (141), junior Brock Mauller (149), freshman Keegan O'Toole (165), redshirt sophomore Peyton Mocco (174), redshirt sophomore Jeremiah Kent (184) and freshman Rocky Elam (197).

No. 21 Central Michigan had just seven competitions – all dual meets – during the season. CMU's Drew Hildebrandt (125), Matt Stencel (285) and Dresden Simon (141) are the defending champions in their respective weight classes. Stencel, the 2020 MAC Wrestler of the Year, is gunning for his fourth-consecutive MAC title. He would be just the ninth man to accomplish that feat, and the third Chippewa. CMU's Wynn Michalak did it from 2005-08 and current Chippewa assistant coach Ben Bennett did it from 2010-13.

The only other nationally ranked squad in the field is host Rider who comes in at No. 24. The Broncs were 4-1 in an abbreviated dual season, falling at Binghamton on Jan. 9, before earning four-straight wins at Clarion, against George Mason, at then-No. 25 Lehigh and at home against Drexel. Seven Broncs drew pre-seeds for the tournament, all in the top five, led by Jesse Dellavecchia (#1) at 157 lbs. and Ethan Laird (#2) at 285 lbs.

The champion in each of the 10 weight classes advances to the NCAA Championships, which are scheduled for March 18-20 in St. Louis. Each weight class also carries with it additional national-qualifying spots and it varies from weight class to weight class. The MAC has been pre-allocated 35 NCAA Qualifiers, including a high of four at 133 lbs.

Live video be available from all sessions. Early round action on Friday will be broadcast on GetSomeMACtion.com, with coverage of all four mats. The action moves to ESPN+ for the Semifinals at 4:30 p.m. with the feature matches being shown.