MAC Sends 31 To 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships In Pittsburgh
2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships Bracket
ESPN Media Zone - NCAA Wrestling Championship Coverage
Live Stats - Track Wrestling
Thursday, March 21
Sesssion I: Noon on ESPNU
Watch Live / ESPN3 Eight Mats
Session II: 7:00 pm ET on ESPN
Watch Live / ESPN3 Eight Mats
Friday, March 22
Session III: 11:00 am ET on ESPNU
Watch Live / ESPN3 Eight Mats
Session IV: 8:00 pm ET on ESPN
Watch Live / ESPN3 Six Mats
Saturday, March 23
Session V: 11:00 am ET on ESPNU
Watch Live / ESPN3 Three Mats
Session VI: 8:00 pm ET on ESPN
Watch Live / ESPN3 One Mat
CLEVELAND, Ohio. -- The 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships begin March 21-23 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. The Mid-American Conference will send 31 wrestlers to represent the MAC in the NCAA Championships. On March 9th, the Missouri Tigers won their seventh consecutive MAC Wrestling Championship. Prior to the MAC Wrestling Championship, Missouri was ranked No. 5 in the nation in the USA Today/NWCA Coaches Rankings. The MAC's 31 allocations are fifth most of any conference in Division I Wrestling.
MAC Wrestling Programs Ranked Nationally In The USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll:
No. 5 Missouri (16-1 overall, 7-0 in the MAC)
Latest Individual Rankings by RPI and Coaches Poll
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 NCAA Wrestling Championships ESPN’s Television and Streaming Coverage
ESPN’s coverage of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships returns with three prime-time sessions airing on ESPN, its early sessions on ESPNU and every one of the 640 matches available on ESPN3 via the ESPN App. The nearly 20 hours of competition from PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh begins Thursday, March 21, continues Friday, March 22, and concludes with the sport’s final day on Saturday, March 23. This year, ESPN3 will add a postgame show to its previously existing pregame show and complementary Championship night coverage, serving fans with even more content on the sport’s pinnacle night.
ESPN’s Championship Saturday night coverage will conclude the three-day event, with the network airing each national championship match beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Simultaneously, ESPN3 will offer Off the Mat, a special program providing a combination of live matches, highlights and interviews with newly crowned champions. Off the Mat programming will also surround Championship Saturday night, as ESPN3 debuts the program as a postgame show (approximately 10 p.m.), and the it returns as a pregame show (6:30 p.m.). Earlier in the day, ESPNU and ESPN3 will begin the final day of competition with coverage of the Medal Round at 11 a.m.
ESPN prime-time coverage begins with the Second Round on March 21, at 7 p.m., and continues with the Semifinals on March 22, at 8 p.m. On the same two days, ESPNU will air the First Round at noon and the Quarterfinals at 11 a.m.. As with all sessions, ESPN3 will offer individual feeds of each mat, including all eight mats for the first three sessions and all six mats for the semifinals.
MAC's 31 Qualifiers For NCAA Wrestling Championships Fifth Most In Division I Wrestling
The NCAA announced the brackets and qualifiers for the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. The MAC received four at-large selections as a total of 31 wrestlers will head to the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 21-23 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. There were a total of 45 at-large selections for the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, as the at-large selections will join the 285 students that qualified automatically through individual Conference Championships over the last two weeks. The MAC's four at-large selections brings the Conference total to 31 wrestlers headed to the 2019 NCAA Wrestling Championships. The four at-large selections from the MAC were Mario Guillen of Ohio (133), Zac Carson of Ohio (157), Connor Flynn of Missouri (165) and Jake Gunning of Buffalo (285).
Missouri Wins Seventh Consecutive MAC Wrestling Championship
The Missouri Tigers won their seventh consecutive MAC Wrestling Tournament Championship in dominating fashion with180 total team points and six Tigers were crowned as individual champions -- including John Erneste (133), Jaydin Eierman (141), Brock Mauller (149), Jarrett Jacques (157), Daniel Lewis (174) and Dylan Wisman (184) who all won their respective weight classes. Missouri senior Daniel Lewis is a four-time MAC Champion after winning the 174 weight class in 2019 and 2018, while winning the 164 lb. title in 2017 and 2016. Lewis becomes just the eighth MAC wrestler in league-history as a four-time champion. Both Erneste and Eierman won their third consecutive MAC titles (2019, 2018 and 2017) at their respective weight classes. Eierman was also named the MAC Outstanding Tournament Wrestler.
The Championship witnessed five teams separated by only 15 points from second to sixth-place as Buffalo finished second with 113.5 team points, while Central Michigan finished third with 112.5 team points and host Old Dominion was fourth with 111.0 team points. Ohio finished fifth with 99.5 team points and Northern Illinois sixth with 98.0 team points. SIU Edwardsville and Kent State rounded out the team scoring. Buffalo finished with two individual champions as No. 2 seed Troy Keller won the 165 lb. weight class and No. 3 seed Brett Perry won the 197 lb. weight class. Old Dominion sophomore Michael McGee won the 125 lb. weight class for the second consecutive year, while Central Michigan junior Matt Stencel at 285 lb. also won the heavyweight for the second straight year.
MAC Wrestling Programs Team-By-Team Previews:
Buffalo:
Bulls Set For NCAA Wrestling Championships
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo wrestling team has qualified six for the upcoming NCAA Championships beginning on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. The six wrestlers ties the most national qualifiers for UB since 2011. Beginning at 133 lbs., Derek Spann is seeded 25th and will wrestle eighth-seeded John Erneste of Missouri. It will be a rematch of the finals of the Mid-American Conference Championships where Erneste earned a 6-2 decision. Spann is having a breakout season for the Bulls. He is 21-4 on the year and went 16-1 in duals on the season. Bryan Lantry will be making his school-record fourth appearance at the national tournament. The redshirt-senior is the first wrestler in school history to qualify for nationals four times. Lantry is seeded 18th and will wrestle 15th-seed Kaid Brock. The two have not wrestled this season, but did meet in the quarterfinals of the 2017 NCAA Championships where Brock earned a 7-3 decision.
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Central Michigan:
Three Chippewas Punch Tickets To Pittsburgh
MT. PLEASANT, Mich. – One champion, one runner-up, three NCAA qualifiers. Three Chippewas – Stencel, Hildebrandt and Logan Parks (157) – are headed to the NCAA Championships which are March 21-23 in Pittsburgh.
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Kent State:
Rooney and McNally Ready for NCAA Championships
KENT, Ohio -- Andrew McNally and Tim Rooney will represent Kent State University at the 89th NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships March 21-23, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. The Ohio natives are both making first-time appearances in the season-ending tournament. All 10 weight classes will have 33-men brackets battling for All-America (Top 8) honors. The 2019 tournament marks the first time all wrestlers are seeded 1-33. Thursday's opening session begins at noon Eastern. Since 2009, seven Flashes have combined for 12 All-American finishes, including two national final appearances by Dustin Kilgore, who became Kent State's first national champion in 2011. From 2009-16, Kent State carried an eight-year trend of having at least one All-American. It stood as the 10th longest streak in the nation. Last year, Kyle Conel became the cinderalla story of the tournament, beginning his journey in the pigtail match of the 197-pound backet. Conel went 6-1 in his thrd place finish, while becoming the adopted fan favorite. He defeated No. 1 seed Kollin Moore (Ohio State) in both the quarterfinals and the consolation finals and had wins over the No 8 and 9 seeds. As a team, the Golden Flashes finished tied for 22nd place.
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Missouri:
Tigers Head To NCAA Championships In Search Of Fifth Straight Top-10 Finish
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Wrestling is in search of its fifth consecutive top-10 finish as it heads to the 2019 Division I NCAA Championships, which begin Thursday (March 21) in Pittsburgh, Pa., at PPG Paints Arena. Mizzou is fresh off its eighth straight conference tournament title and is ranked fifth nationally heading into the tournament. Mizzou is sending nine wrestlers to this year's national tournament, marking the second straight year that it has accomplished that feat. In every year since 2010-11, Mizzou has had at least eight NCAA qualifiers. The Tigers enter the national tournament with three top-five seeds: No. 2 Daniel Lewis (174), No. 4 Brock Mauller (149) and No. 5 Jaydin Eierman (141). Eight of Mizzou's nine qualifiers earned a seed of No. 20 or better in their respective weight classes, with all but two earning top-15 nods.
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Northern Illinois:
Wilson amd West Punch Tickets To Pittsburgh
DeKALB, Ill. -- The Northern Illinois University wrestling team extended its streak of qualifying a wrestler to the NCAA Tournament to 48 years as two Huskies punched their ticket to Pittsburgh at the 2019 Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on March 9. Brit Wilson (Mexico, Mo./Mexico) and Bryce West (Solon, Iowa/Solon) each earned NCAA bids after finishing second and third, respectively, in their respective weight classes. Wilson place second at 174 after falling to Missouri's Daniel Lewis by an 11-2 maj. dec. in the finals match. Bryce West opened the day with an impressive victory over Kyle Akins, pinning the Sycamore, Ill. native in 22 seconds. He then posted a 4-2 victory over Missouri's Dack Punke in the third-place bout.
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Ohio:
Four Bobcats Head To NCAA Wrestling Championships
ATHENS, Ohio -- Four members of the Ohio wrestling team are headed to the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. Redshirt junior Zac Carson (Akron, Ohio), redshirt sophomore Mario Guillen (Perrysburg, Ohio), senior Cameron Kelly(Bellbrook, Ohio) and redshirt senior Zack Parker (Felton, Del.) will represent the Bobcats at nationals, which will be held March 21-23 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. Kelly (141 pounds) and Parker (285 pounds) were among 285 student-athletes that qualified automatically through their conference tournament finishes last weekend. Kelly placed third in his weight class at the 2019 Mid-American Conference Championships last Saturday (March 9) in Norfolk, Va., while Parker placed fourth and won a challenge match to punch his ticket to Pittsburgh. Kelly is slated to make his second-straight appearance at the NCAA Championships and third overall while Parker qualified for the second time in his career.
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Old Dominion:
McGee Two-Time MAC Champion, Monarchs Send Three to NCAA Championships
NORFOLK, Va. – Top seeded Michael McGee earned a 5-2 win by decision over Drew Hildebrandt in the 125-pound final on Saturday afternoon. This is the sophomore's second-straight title at 125 pounds. ODU will be sending three automatic qualifiers in McGee, Sa’Derian Perry and Larry Early to the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh on March 21-23. As a team, the Monarchs took a fourth place finish. In the 149-pound final, Budock fell to top-seeded Brock Mauller of Missouri by a 6-2 decision. Early was edged by Jarrett Jacques, 3-1 in the 157-pound final. Early earned a spot to the NCAA Championships with his semifinal win on Friday night.
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SIU Edwardsville:
Ruffin and McKiernan Set For NCAA Championships
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The brackets for the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships have been released. SIUE's Justin Ruffin, 17-10, drew eighth-seeded Josh Humphreys, 19-6, of Lehigh in the opening round at 157 pounds. Colton McKiernan, 21-12, faces off against Minnesota's Gable Steveson, 30-1 (the No. 3 seed), at 285 pounds.
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