Preview: Mizzou dominance expected at 2018 MAC Championships in Michigan, March 3-4

The favorite: The Missouri Tigers enter the postseason in search of their sixth-straight MAC title and seventh-consecutive conference championship. Mizzou joined the MAC in 2013 and have run the tables ever since. Prior to joining, Mizzou was a long-time member of the Big 12, where it finished its final season with a Big 12 title.

Ranked No. 3 in the nation in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll, the Tigers are a clear favorite. Last season, they put up an impressive performance, winning six of the 10 weights and putting up 154.5 point to outscore second-place Northern Iowa by 48 points. This year, Mizzou enters with eight No. 1 seeds and five returning champions, including Barlow McGhee (125, 2016), John Erneste (133, 2017), Jaydin Eierman (141, 2017), NCAA finalist Joey LaVallee (157, 2017) and Daniel Lewis (165, 2016-17). Lewis has bumped up to 174 pounds this season.

No. 1 seeds for the Tigers are Erneste, Eierman, Grant Leeth at 149, Lavallee, Connor Flynn at 165, Lewis, Canten Marriott at 184 and Willie Miklus at 197.

Other contenders: If they wrestle to their seeds, the Central Michigan Chippewas could finds themselves in second place. CMU boasts No. 2 seeds in Mason Smith at 141, Justin Oliver at 149, Christian Brucki at 174, Jordan Ellingwood at 184 and Jordan Atienza at 197. All five own spots in the FloWrestling individual rankings as do Collin Heffernan (No. 12 at 157) and Matt Stencel (No. 16 at 285.)

Ellingwood is the only returning conference champion for the Chippewas. He won the 184-pound title in 2016 and finished third last year.

The teams: Buffalo, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Missouri, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Old Dominion

Venue: McGuirk Arena, Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

Best weight class:

• If you’re looking at weights that feature the most ranked athletes, then go with 133 and 174. The 133-pound weight class spotlights No. 11 Erneste, No. 13 Bryan Lantry (Buffalo) and No. 15 Cameron Kelly (Ohio), while 174 has No. 4 Lewis, No. 12 Brucki and No. 19 Seldon Wright (Old Dominion).
• If you want a weight with the most highest-ranked guys, it would be 149 pounds, which could set up nicely for a top-five matchup in the finals as it boasts No. 3 Leeth and No. 4 Oliver, who are on opposite sides of the bracket.
• Look at 285 and you’ll see an unranked No. 1 seed Jake Gunning of Buffalo on the same side as a nationally ranked No. 5 seed in Stencel. It should be an interesting quarterfinal match to see who moves on. The two have not yet met this season. Gunning is the returning champ at the weight.

Notes:

• The MAC received 25 automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Championships.
• With Mizzou holding eight of the No. 1 seeds, the other two come from Old Dominion with Michael McGee at 125 and Buffalo with Jake Gunning at 285.
• Northern Iowa, who threatened Mizzou for the conference crown each year, joined the Big 12 this season.

Nationally ranked wrestlers, pre-seeds and returning placers
(FloWrestling rankings as of Feb. 26)

125 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 20 Michael McGee (Old Dominion)
Pre-seeds: 1. Michael McGee (Old Dominion), 2. Kyle Akins (Buffalo), 3. Brock Hudkins (Northern Illinois), 4. Drew Hildebrandt (Central Michigan), 5. Barlow McGhee (Missouri), 6. Tomas Gutierrez (Eastern Michigan), 7. Jake Ferri (Kent State), 8. Trevor Giallombardo (Ohio)
Returning 2017 MAC placers: Hudkins (3rd)

133 pounds (4 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 11 John Erneste (Missouri)
No. 13 Bryan Lantry (Buffalo)
No. 15 Cameron Kelly (Ohio)
Pre-seeds: 1. John Erneste (Missouri), 2. Cameron Kelly (Ohio), 3. Bryan Lantry (Buffalo), 4. Anthony Tutolo (Kent State), 5. Noah Gonser (Eastern Michigan), 6. Caleb Richardson (Old Dominion), 7. Dresden Simon (Central Michigan), 8. Alijah Jeffery (Northern Illinois)
Returning 2017 MAC placers: Erneste (1st), Lantry (2nd)

141 pounds (3 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 2 Jaydin Eierman (Missouri)
No. 10 Mason Smith (Central Michigan)
Pre-seeds: 1. Jaydin Eierman (Missouri), 2. Mason Smith (Central Michigan), 3. Alex Madrigal (Old Dominion), Tim Rooney (Kent State), 5. Mario Guillen (Ohio), 6. Sa’Derian Perry (Eastern Michigan), 7. Jason Estevez (Buffalo), 8. Anthony Rubino (Northern Illinois)
Returning 2017 MAC placers: Eierman (1st), Smith (3rd)

149 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 3 Grant Leeth (Missouri)
No. 4 Oliver (Central Michigan)
Pre-seeds: 1. Grant Leeth (Missouri), 2. Justin Oliver (Central Michigan), 3 Kade Kowalski (Ohio), 4. Kyle Springer (Eastern Michigan), 5. Kenan Carter (Old Dominion), 6. Nolan Baker (Northern Illinois), 7. Nick Monico (Kent State), 8. Nick Palumbo (Buffalo)
Returning 2017 MAC placers: Oliver (3rd)

157 pounds (3 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 4 Joey Lavallee (Missouri)
No. 12 Heffernan (Central Michigan)
Pre-seeds: 1. Joey Lavallee (Missouri), 2. Larry Early (Old Dominion), 3. Casey Sparkman (Kent State), 4. Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan), 5. Cullen Cummings (Ohio), 6. J.J. Wolfe (Eastern Michigan), 7. Caden McWhirter (Northern Illinois), 8. Eric Fasnacht (Buffalo)
Returning 2017 MAC placers: Lavallee (1st), Sparkman (3rd)

165 pounds (1 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
None ranked at 165
Pre-seeds: 1. Connor Flynn (Missouri), 2. Zac Carson (Eastern Michigan), 3. Logan Parks (Central Michigan), 4. Isaac Bast (Kent State), 5. Joseph Terry (Ohio), 6. Andrew Scott (Northern Illinois), 7. Noah Grover (Buffalo), 8. Shane Jones (Old Dominion)
Returning 2017 MAC placers: N/A

174 pounds (3 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 4 Daniel Lewis (Missouri)
No. 12 CJ Brucki (Central Michigan)
No. 19 Seldon Wright (Old Dominion)
Pre-seeds: 1. Daniel Lewis (Missouri), 2. Christian Brucki (Central Michigan), 3. Seldon Wright (Old Dominion), 4. Andrew McNally (Eastern Michigan), 5. Dylan Barreiro (Kent State), 6. Quinton Rosser (Northern Illinois), 7. Arsen Ashughyan (Ohio), 8. Austin Weigel (Buffalo)
Returning 2017 MAC placers: Lewis (1st at 165), Brucki (3rd), Wright (4th at 165)

184 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 15 Canten Marriott (Missouri)
No. 16 Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan)
Pre-seeds: 1. Canten Marriott (Missouri), 2. Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan), 3. Kayne MacCallum (Eastern Michigan) 4. Bryce Gorman (Northern Illinois), 5. Brett Perry (Buffalo), 6. Antonio Agee (Old Dominion), 7. Hunter Yeargan (Ohio), 8. Colin McCracken (Kent State)
Returning 2017 MAC placers: Ellingwood (3rd)

197 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 2 Willie Miklus (Missouri)
Pre-seeds: 1. Willie Miklus (Missouri), 2. Jordan Atienza (Central Michigan), 3. Joe Ariola (Buffalo), 4. Aaron Naples (Ohio), 5. Kyle Conel (Kent State), 6. Derek Hillman (Eastern Michigan), 7. Noah Bushman (Old Dominion), 8. Max Ihry (Northern Illinois)
Returning 2017 MAC placers: N/A

285 pounds (3 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 16 Matt Stencel (Central Michigan)
Pre-seeds: 1. Jake Gunning (Buffalo), 2. Gage Hutchison (Eastern Michigan), 3. Zack Parker (Ohio), 4. Stephen Suglio (Kent State), 5. Matt Stencel (Central Michigan), 6. Ali Wahab (Old Dominion), 7. Caleb Gossett (Northern Illinois), 8. Wyatt Koelling (Missouri)
Returning 2017 MAC placers: Gunning (1st) , Hutchison (2nd), Parker (4th)

Ranked teams (final NWCA rankings)
No. 3 Missouri
No. 17 Central Michigan

2017 MAC Champions
125 – Shakur Laney (Ohio)
133 – John Erneste (Missouri)
141 – Jaydin Eierman (Missouri)
149 – Lavion Mayes (Missouri)
157 – Joey Lavallee (Missouri)
165 – Daniel Lewis (Missouri)
174 – Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa)
184 – Jack Dechow (Old Dominion)
197 – J’den Cox (Missouri)
285 – Jake Gunning (Buffalo)

MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE (Eastern Time)

Saturday, March 3
12 p.m.  – Quarterfinals
3 p.m. – Semifinals and consolation

Sunday, March 4
1:05 p.m. – 7th-place matches
2 p.m. – 1st, 3rd and 5th-place matches

Broadcast: All sessions will be available to watch live on ESPN 3/WatchESPN.

Tickets can still be purchased here.