WRESTLING

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

BUFFALO, NY - Eighteen wrestlers will earn berths to the NCAA National Championships at the conclusion of the annual Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships being hosted by the University at Buffalo this Saturday and Sunday at Alumni Arena.

This will be the first MAC championship conducted at UB since Buffalo joined the league last year. The event will begin on Saturday, March 4th at 1:00 pm with consolations and championships scheduled for 1:00 pm on Sunday, March 5th.

The event will feature wrestlers from Buffalo (11-5, 2-3 in the MAC), Central Michigan (9-4-1, 5-0), Eastern Michigan (2-12, 0-5), Kent (13-3-1, 3-2), Northern Illinois (3-12, 1-4) and Ohio University (15-5-1, 4-1). The Chippewas of Central Michigan are the defending champions and are currently ranked 18th in the nation in the Division I rankings by InterMat Wrestling. Ohio, meanwhile, is receiving votes for the Top 25.

The event will feature five wrestlers currently ranked among the Top 20 at their weight class by Intermat, three of which are looking to defend their MAC titles earned last year at Northern Illinois. At 125 pounds, Kent's Brent Thompson looks to defend his crown with Central Michigan's Ahmad Sanders and Buffalo's Charlie Voorhees (Warsaw, NY/Warsaw) top contenders as well.

At 133 pounds, two of last year's top finishers return in Ryan Egan (N. Illinois) and Brian Baughman (Kent) while Buffalo has a titelist hopeful in junior Shawn Kegel (Wantagh, NY/MacArthur). At 141 pounds, Central Michigan's Chris Marshall seeks a repeat and is currently ranked fifth in the nation. The favorites at 149 pounds are Central Michigan's Jordan Webster, Ohio's Aaron Cooper and Buffalo's Ryan Bentley (Ripley, NY/Ripley). Another UB wrestler, Jake Partlow (Kennonsburg, OH/Shenandoah), is the favorite at 157 pounds after not losing a MAC match this season.

A great battle looms at 165 pounds as Buffalo's Gary Cooper (Adams, NY/South Jefferson) -last year's MAC co-Freshmen of the Year -will face a major challenge from Central Michigan's Vernon Cannon, whom Cooper pinned in their dual meet battle in February.

Two of the nation's best battle at 174 pounds as Central Michigan's Ryan Cunningham - the defending champ and ranked sixth in the nation - could face Eastern Michigan's Mike Feeney, currently seventh in the nation, who finished third last season.

At 184 pounds, Northern Illinois' David Potter is ranked 17th in the country but will have to fend off Buffalo's Josh States (Lockport, NY/Lockport) and Central Michigan's Phil Baroni. The 197-pound weight class features 20th-ranked Chris Vike of Central Michigan while Buffalo's Joe Downey (Norwich, NY/Norwich) ended his season on a roll and is a candidate for Freshman of the Year honors.

The clear favorite at heavyweight is Ohio's Tim Courtad who has lost just twice this season with Buffalo's Mike Garofalo (Sharpsville, PA/Kennedy Christian) and Central's Jack Leffler looking for an upset.

The ten weight class champions as well as eight wild cards will go on to represent the MAC at the NCAA Championships at the Kiel Center in St. Louis from March 16-18th.