The No. 6 Missouri Tigers wrestling team heads north this weekend to compete at the Mid-American Conference wrestling tournament in Ypsilanti, Michigan, hosted by Eastern Michigan.
The tournament will begin Saturday and end Sunday. All nine MAC teams will be present at the tournament: Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Missouri, Northern Iowa, Northern Illinois, Ohio and Old Dominion.
The tournament serves as a qualifier for the NCAA tournament, which will be held at Madison Square Garden in New York from March 17–20.
Missouri claimed the regular season MAC title with a conference dual meet record of 8–0, and a win here would be its fourth straight MAC title this weekend. Here’s a preview of the event by weight class:
####125 pounds
Barlow McGhee looks to earn his first trip to the NCAA tournament. The redshirt sophomore finished sixth place at the conference tournament in 2014 before taking a redshirt last season.
McGhee enters the MAC tournament as the No. 2 seed and should meet up with UNI’s No. 5, Dylan Peters. Peters defeated McGhee earlier this season, 7–5. Peters and McGhee are the only two ranked wrestlers in the weight class and should have no trouble reaching the finals.
####133 pounds
The 133-pound weight class is probably the toughest weight in the entire tournament with five ranked wrestlers. The good news for returning NCAA qualifier Zach Synon is that the top six wrestlers will qualify for nationals.
Despite being ranked No. 15 in the country behind three other conference wrestlers, Synon will enter the tournament as the No. 2 seed. Synon enters the tournament with two conference losses, one from Kent State’s Mack McGuire and the other to Northern Illinois’ unranked Austin Eicher. Synon will get his rematch with Eicher first round Saturday in hopes of booking his second straight trip to the national tournament.
####141 pounds
Not many people would’ve predicted that Missouri’s No. 8 Matt Manley would be entering the MAC tournament as the No. 1 seed at 141 pounds. Manley didn’t even see the varsity lineup last season.
However, this season, Manley has not lost a single conference match. The 141-pound weight class contains four ranked wrestlers total, giving qualification bids to the top four wrestlers. Manley qualified for the NCAA tournament in 2014 with the help of a wild card bid, but that shouldn’t be needed this time around.
####149 pounds
Just like 141-pound class, four ranked wrestlers and four qualifications bids are on the line in the 149-pound weight class. One of the Tigers’ three returning All-Americans, No. 4 Lavion Mayes, recently lost his first match of the season in the Tigers’ dual against Nebraska. Mayes enters the tournament as the No. 1 seed and shouldn’t have too much trouble earning his third straight trip to nationals.
####157 pounds
Le’Roy Barnes didn’t earn the starting position at 157 pounds until about halfway through the season. His 4–1 conference record gives him the No. 5 seed, and if Barnes can manage to finish fifth place or higher, he’ll earn his first bid to the national tournament.
Barnes’ lone conference loss this season came from Central Michigan’s No. 11 Lucas Smith, who will be the No. 2 seed this weekend. Smith only defeated Barnes by a point when they last wrestled.
####165 pounds
Redshirt freshman and No. 4 Daniel Lewis has been wrestling like a veteran all season. Lewis enters the MAC tournament with a 22–4 record. The top four wrestlers will qualify. No. 9 Cooper Moore of UNI is the only other ranked wrestler at 165 pounds.
Lewis beat Moore 8–2 in Las Vegas earlier this season. The young, talented Lewis should breeze past the competition en route to claiming his first conference title and national tournament bid.
####174 pounds
Despite having three wrestlers ranked in the top 15, only three MAC wrestlers will qualify for nationals at 174 pounds. The Tigers’ No. 7 Blaise Butler is seeking his third straight trip to the national tournament, but his first in a Mizzou singlet.
The UVA transfer won an ACC title during his 2014 season and hopes to add a MAC title to his collection.
####184 pounds
Which Willie Miklus will show up at the MAC conference tournament? That’s one of the biggest questions for the Tigers this weekend. Miklus has proved he can hang with the best, but he is also vulnerable to being upset.
In the Tigers’ only two dual defeats this season, Miklus was upset in both of his matches. Fortunately for Miklus, he’s had no trouble with conference opponents. His perfect conference record gives him the No. 1 seed and another opportunity at reaching All-American status for the second straight season.
####197 pounds
Two-time all-American and 2014 national champion J’den Cox has been on a tear of late. In a dual meet this season against Ohio University, Cox launched his opponent Phil Wellington into the scorer’s table.
Cox was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and disqualified from the match, giving him his first and only loss this season, but the No. 2-ranked Missouri Tiger could potentially have a rematch against Wellington in the finals.
####Heavyweight
Redshirt senior Cody Johnston has seen the lineup a couple of times throughout the season, but at 184 pounds. Johnston first appeared in the heavyweight spot in the Tigers’ last dual against Nebraska, in which Johnston was defeated 9–1. Brian Smith is once again going with Johnston at heavyweight.
His lack of matches gives Johnston the No. 9 seed at the MAC tournament. It’ll be a tough task to tackle if Johnston hopes to qualify. The NCAA gave the heavyweight division only one bid in the MAC.
_Edited by Alec Lewis | alewis@themaneater.com_
