The 2026 MAC Wrestling Championships Begin on Friday in Buffalo!
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by Mid-American Conference
Rider's Brock Zurawski competing at the 2025 NCAA National Championships
2026 MAC Championships Central | 2026 MAC Championships Brackets
BUFFALO, NY – The 2026 Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships kick off on Friday, March 6, in the University at Buffalo’s Alumni Arena at 10:00 AM. The 10 individual weight classes will crown one winner, along with the overall team champion, on Saturday, March 7.
Rider claimed the 2026 East Division title after compiling a 12-6 record and going an undefeated 6-0 against conference opponents. Tyler Klinsky finished the regular season a perfect 18-0 in dual matches and extended his winning streak to 15 matches.
SIUE captured its first MAC West Division title with a regular season record of 11-2 and a 5-1 record in the MAC. This season, the Cougars upset Northwestern (Big 10), Duke (ACC), and Little Rock (PAC-12).
The 2026 MAC Wrestling Championships will begin on Friday. March 6 at 12:00 PM, with the opening round of 50 matches. On Saturday, March 7, the Consolation Quarterfinals will begin at 11:30 AM. The first whistle for the Championship finals, along with the third- and fifth -place matches, will sound at 3:00 PM.
The 2026 MAC Championship Central houses all links for live stats, live video, brackets, results, and MAC Championship merchandise, here.
Below are the 12 teams’ previews based on the order of the 2025-26 MAC Wrestling Preseason Rankings.
George Mason Patriots
George Mason Wrestling will travel to Buffalo for the 2026 MAC Wrestling Championships on Friday and Saturday, March 6-8 inside the Alumni Arena in Buffalo, NY, on Friday and Saturday.
Ten Patriots will look to punch their ticket to the 2026 NCAA Championships at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Mar. 20-22.
In its seventh season in the MAC, Mason finished the season with an 8-6 record, 4-3 in the MAC.
George Mason has eight wrestlers included in the pre-seedings. Four wrestlers on the team earned three seeds, including two-time NCAA Qualifiers #21 DJ McGee and #25 Malachi DuVall (184). McGee looks to defend his 2025 MAC Championships, while 2024 MAC Champion DuVall hopes to notch his second.
#22 Kaden Cassidy (16-1) hopes to return to the NCAA Championship, while #27 Logan Messer, a three seed, is looking to earn his first NCAA bid.
Four additional Patriots have earned pre-seeds; Ben Monn (125) is a five seed, Jack Kelly (197) is a seven seed, while two freshman Tate Hisey (#4 seed) and Anthony Lucchiani (#7 seed) round out the seeds.
Chasing History: Logan Messer and Malachi DuVall enter the MAC Championship with 97 career wins, recently passing program greats Greg Flourney (95), Eric Cushshon and Matt Voss (96) and ranking 8th all-time at GMU. To move further up the list, they need 99 wins to tie Sean Shea (7th) and 103 to tie Adrian Austin (6th).
DuVall Top 3 in NCAA D1 Falls: Malachi DuVall is ranked third in the 2026 NCAA Men's Wrestling Falls standings with 10. He is one behind leader Joe Curtis of Columbia who stays ahead of teammate Vincent Mueller for first in Division I with 11 falls in 17:52 on the season. Mueller is in second with 11 in 20:32. DuVall has 10 falls in 19:34.
GEORGE MASON LINEUP
125 - Ben Monn (17-11, 5-2 MAC)
133 - Anthony Lucchiani (6-8, 3-2 MAC)
141 - Tate Hisey (14-9, 5-2 MAC)
149 - #22 Kaden Cassidy (16-1, 3-1 MAC)
157 - #21 DJ McGee (21-3, 6-1 MAC)
165 - Drew Dickson (3-5, 2-4 MAC)
174 - #27 Logan Messer (22-6, 6-1 MAC)
184- #25 Malachi DuVall (22-4, 4-1 MAC)
197 - Jack Kelly (16-16, 3-3 MAC)
285 - Herbert Billups (0-14, 0-7 MAC)
Central Michigan Chippewas
Central Michigan will partake in the Mid-American Conference Championships Friday and Saturday, March 6-7, at Alumni Arena in Buffalo, N.Y.
The Chippewas, along with 11 other MAC teams, will vie for the league title, individual league crowns in 10 weight classes, and berths in the NCAA Championships, scheduled for March 19-21 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
Each weight class champion advances to the NCAA Championships. Two MAC wrestlers will advance to the NCAA in the 125-, 141-, 165-, 174-, 197- and 285-pound weight classes; three will advance at 184; and four will advance at 133, 149 and 157.
A wrestler who does not qualify for the NCAA Championships through the MAC Championships could also qualify for the NCAA as an at-large participant.
Wrestling begins at noon on Friday and 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. Place matches are scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday.
Lock Haven Bald Eagles
The Lock Haven men's wrestling team is set to compete at the 2026 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 6-7 at Buffalo University's Alumni Arena.
The Bald Eagles are seeking their fourth MAC team title in five years and will look to go back-to-back for the second time.
The 2019-20 season marked Lock Haven's debut campaign in the Mid-American Conference. Since then, the Bald Eagles have crowned 11 individual MAC champions, and The Haven has won team titles in 2022, 2023 and 2025.
MAC Pre-Seeds
No. 30 Avery Bassett leads the way for The Haven after earning the top seed at 174 pounds. No. 22 Wyatt Henson and No. 21 Lucas Kapusta both earned No. 2 seeds at 141 and 149 pounds, respectively.
Tucker Hogan (197, No. 3), Gable Strickland (133, No. 4), Nick Stampoulos (157, No. 5) and Sam Gautreau (184, fifth) also earned top-5 seeds. Kade Sottolano came in at eighth at heavyweight.
Strickland looks to regain the throne at 133 after winning the title in 2023 and 2024, while Henson will look to three-peat his individual title at 141.
2025-26 Regular Season
The Haven concluded the 2025-26 regular season with a 13-5 overall record and 6-1 mark in the MAC, finishing second in the Eastern Division.
Strickland, Henson, Kapusta all earned MAC East Wrestler of the Week during the year, while Strickland, Henson and Bassett went over 100 victories in their careers. Head Coach Scott Moore also earned his 100th career victory as the leader of The Haven.
LH went 4-1 at home and won nine straight matches from Jan. 4 to Feb. 5.
Rider Broncs
What You Need to Know
- Ten Broncs will look to punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships this weekend as the Rider wrestling team competes at the MAC Championships, hosted by the University at Buffalo on Friday and Saturday.
- Three Broncs earned No. 1 seeds in their respective weight classes: Tyler Klinsky (125), Elijah Griffin (141), and Brock Zurawski (197).
- Nine additional Broncs earned top-eight seeds in the tournament field.
- Rider finished the regular season 12-6 overall and a perfect 6-0 in conference duals to claim the MAC East title.
- The Broncs closed the regular season ranked No. 9 in the final NWCA Mid-Major Coaches Poll.
MAC Championships History
- Rider is seeking its first MAC team championship this weekend.
- The Broncs have finished fourth (2020), third (2021), eighth (2022), fifth (2023), second (2024), and fifth (2025) at the MAC Championships.
- Rider crowned four individual MAC champions last season, the most in the tournament field, and returns two in Enrique Munguia and Brock Zurawski.
- The Broncs last captured a conference team title in 2017 while competing in the EWL.
Broncs in the Rankings – Intermat/NCAA Coaches' Poll
125: #14/15 Tyler Klinsky
141: #15/16 Elijah Griffin
149: #32/32 Dylan Layton
174: NR/33 Enrique Munguia
197: #14/17 Brock Zurawski
Undefeated in MAC Duals
- Five Broncs finished the regular season undefeated in MAC competition: Klinsky, Betancourt, Layton, Griffin, and Zurawski.
MAC Championship Lineup
*() seed*
125: (1) Tyler Klinsky (22-3)
133: (3) Will Betancourt (21-7)
141: (1) Elijah Griffin (22-6)
149: (4) Dylan Layton (22-8)
157: (6) James Farina (5-3)
165: (8) Brendon Abdon (12-15)
174: (4) Enrique Munguia (13-12)
184: Giovanni Alejandro (7-15)
197: (1) Brock Zurawski (18-4)
285: (6) Hogan Swenski (10-8)
Edinboro Fighting Scots
The Edinboro men's wrestling team will travel to Buffalo for the MAC Championships Friday and Saturday inside the University of Buffalo's Alumni Arena.
On Saturday, the consolation quarter finals begin at 11:30 a.m. and rolls into the consolation semis at 1 p.m. The Championship finals as well as the 3rd, fifth and seventh place matches start at 3 p.m.
From Coach Hill
"I truly believe our guys are ready. For the past two months, they've been disciplined, focused, and committed to doing things the right way. This group has everything it takes to make a real run at the MAC Title, and I'm extremely excited to watch them leave it all out there this weekend. One match at a time — no looking ahead. Look for the Fighting Scots to compete hard, have fun, and give every ounce they've got at this championship."
Fighting Scot Pre-Seeds
The Scots have eight wrestlers who received pre-seeds. Jared McGill at 184 and Ryan Burgos at 165 were each seeded second. Jacob Brenneman and Ryan Michaels were each seeded fifth at 141 and 149, respectively. Edinboro also had a pair of six seeds in Chris Vargo at 125 and Brody Evans at 197. At 174, Tate Geiser is seventh and Garrett McChesney is eighth at 157.
SIUE Cougars
The 2026 Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships run Friday and Saturday with SIUE holding two No. 1 seeds heading into the event.
SIUE, the MAC West Division champion, earned No. 1 seeds at 149 pounds by Caleb Tyus and 165 pounds by Brock Woodcock. Nine SIUE wrestlers in all are seeded in the top eight.
The other seeds for the Cougars include Drew Davis (7th/125 pounds), Marcel Lopez (2nd/133 pounds), Ben Lunn (6th/141 pounds), Hayden Whidden (7th/157 pounds), Dominic Lopez (8th/174 pounds), Deron Pulliam (4th/184 pounds), and Bryson Buhk (3rd/285 pounds).
The NCAA also announced allocations for the upcoming NCAA Division I Championships. The Mid-American Conference has been guaranteed 27 spots over the 10 weight classes. Below are the guaranteed allocations by weight class.
SIUE has five wrestlers ranked in the top 33 nationally in the final coaches ranking. Marcel Lopez (23rd), Caleb Tyus (2nd), Brock Woodcock (24th), Deron Pulliam (32nd) and Bryson Buhk (33rd) all are nationally-ranked by the coaches heading into the MAC Championships.
After the conclusion of the MAC Championships and all of the conference championships nationwide, the final wild card selections for the NCAA Division I Championships will be made.
Northern Illinois Huskies
Markel Baker and Devon Dawson are the top-seeded wrestlers at 133 and 285 pounds as the Northern Illinois University Huskies wrestling program is set to compete at the 2026 Mid-American Conference Championship. Action will take place at Alumni Arena on the campus of the University at Buffalo's campus.
Blake West is the defending MAC Champion at 125 pounds. West became NIU's first champion at that weight class since 2007 (Pat Castillo).
The Huskies last won the MAC title in 1985. NIU has crowned 46 MAC Champions since 1975 and seven since the 2020 season.
Four additional Huskies are seeded as they enter the championships this weekend. West is the second seed at 125 pounds. Charles Curtis and Brett Smith are the No. 3 seeds at 141 and 165 pounds, respectively. Tommy Bennett is the No. 5 seed at 174 pounds.
Last year at the MAC Championships, NIU finished in seventh place as a team with West's championship performance. Landen Johnson came from behind in the third-place match at 157 pounds to earn his ticket to the 2025 NCAA Championships.
Baker and Bennett also placed at the tournament in their respective championships.
This season, NIU finished in second place in the MAC West standings after falling 16-15 to SIUE on tie-breaker criteria. Baker has posted 12 straight wins for the Huskies and is undefeated in conference duals alongside Dawson and West. The trio is ranked in the national polls with the Huskies landing at No. 17. Additionally, NIU defeated Northwestern in February and took fourth at the NWCA National Duals in January.
West has reached two milestone marks this season. On November 20, he became the sixth wrestler in program history to reach 100 career wins. In the final dual of the regular season, West tied the NIU All-Time Win record at 116.
Ohio Bobcats
- 157 lbs: #2 Derek Raike (Point Pleasant, W. Va.)
- 174 lbs: #2 Garrett Thompson (Murrysville, Pa.)
- 184 lbs: #1 Sal Perrine (Northfield, Ohio)
- 197 lbs: #2 Zayne Lehman (Akron, Ohio)
Clarion Golden Eagles
- The Golden Eagles will compete for the seventh time in program history at the Mid-American Conference championships, hosted over two days at Buffalo's Alumni Arena
- In each of their first four years in the conference, Clarion improved on their standing at the conference tournament, finishing as high as third in 2023
- Clarion finished the 2025-26 season with a 7-6 dual record, representing a four-win improvement on a year ago, and their 4-4 MAC dual match record was a two-win improvement
- The Golden Eagles have had at least one MAC finalist in each of their first six years in the conference, with a high of three finalists at the 2023 championships hosted by George Mason
- Since starting the year with an 0-3 record in dual matches, Clarion won seven of their final 10 duals, with four of those wins coming away from Tippin Gymnasium
- Travis Clawson enters this weekend's action as the one Golden Eagle wrestler to allocate an NCAA berth, doing so at 125 pounds, and is ranked 23rd in the most recent RPI release
- Clawson was a finalist in the 125 pound bracket a year ago, making him the first Clarion true freshman to reach a MAC final since Joey Fischer made the 125 pound finals in 2022
- Clawson leads all Golden Eagles at this year's MAC Championships in takedowns (35) and total match points (236)
- Now entering his fourth career MAC championships - more than any other active Clarion wrestler - Joey Fischer enters the weekend with a career record of 8-5 at the conference tournament
- Fischer and Clawson are the only two active Golden Eagles to compete in a MAC final
- Fischer accounted for 56.5 team points over the course of the season, the most for any Golden Eagle competing this weekend
- Of the wrestlers competing for the Golden Eagles this weekend, Alejandro Herrera-Rondon leads with 18 total near falls, including 15 four-point near falls
- Thirteen of Herrera-Rondon's 17 wins this year have come with bonus points attached, including five tech falls and six major decisions
- Since the beginning of January, the Golden Eagles have won every dual where John Meyers has competed; he is 5-2 in that span with three wins by fall, including a walkoff win by fall over Buffalo
- Clarion has competed in Buffalo - or, at the least, against the University at Buffalo on the road - 11 times over the years, with a 3-7 record in the City of Good Neighbors
Clarion joined the MAC in 2019 along with Bloomsburg, Edinboro, George Mason, Lock Haven, and Rider following dissolution of the Eastern Wrestling League at the end of the 2018-2019 season.
The Golden Eagles experienced success at their first MAC tournament. Greg Bulsak won the 197-pound championship in 2020 and Brock Zacherl was runner-up at 149-pounds. Neither would compete at the NCAA tournament, however; that event cancelled due to the nascent COVID pandemic. Both Bulsak and Zacherl were named All-Americans by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.Clarion had its greatest success at the 2023 tournament, finishing third as a team and boasting two MAC champions – Seth Koleno (141 pounds) and Will Feldkamp (184 pounds). Feldkamp went on to place seventh at that year's NCAA Championships, becoming Clarion's first All-American on the mat since Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (third) and James Fleming (eighth) in 2013. Outside its MAC champions, Clarion has had its share of Top 5 finishers and NCAA qualifiers.At the 2021 tournament, the season after he became Clarion's first MAC champion, Bulsak (197 pounds) placed second, again advancing to the NCAAs. Max Wohlabaugh (184 pounds) was fourth, one victory shy of qualifying for the national championships.In 2022, current Golden Eagle Joey Fischer was runner-up at 125 pounds. Feldkamp's second place at 197-pounds foreshadowed what was to come the next season. Ty Bagoly (285 pounds) took third. All were one win shy of automatically advancing to the national tournament, though Feldkamp eventually received an at-large bid.John Worthing (174 pounds) joined Koleno and Feldkamp at the 2023 NCAAs, earning an automatic berth after his runner-up finish at that year's conference event.Cam Pine (184 pounds) placed second at the tournament in 2024, qualifying for NCAAs. Worthing was fourth, coming up one win short of an NCAA allocated spot.
A year ago, Travis Clawson was the Golden Eagles' stand-out, finishing second at 125 pounds after coming into the event as the seventh seed.
After what could be fairly described as a disappointing season in 2024-25, the Golden Eagles have bounced back with a strong effort in 2025-26, improving by four dual wins and posting a winning record of 7-6 overall in dual matches. That includes a 4-4 mark against Mid-American Conference opponents, with Clarion owning wins over Buffalo, Bloomsburg, Kent State and Ohio.
At one point in the season Clarion ripped off six straight dual wins, starting with a home dual win over the Bulls on Jan. 16. They clipped Gardner-Webb and Campbell on the road before returning home to make it four straight with a win over Bloomsburg, and then topped LIU and Kent State at the M.A.C. Center to make it a half-dozen in a row.The team's improvement after the calendar turned over to 2026 correlated with a handful of Golden Eagles rounding into form, rattling off long individual win streaks of their own. At 125 pounds, Travis Clawson - Clarion's returning MAC finalist from a year ago - has not lost a match since falling on the second day of the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 3, winning eight straight matches in duals. That run helped propel him into 23rd on the NCAA RPI rankings and 33rd on Intermat's ranking on Feb. 24. Another wrestler on an impressive streak of his own is redshirt senior Joey Fischer, who will try to get over the hump and reach the NCAA Championships for the first time in his career. The 133-pounder went undefeated in MAC dual meet competition this year and enters the tournament on a five-match win streak. Helping his NCAA cause is, ironically, the strength of the weight in the conference; the MAC will send four automatic qualifiers at 133 pounds to Cleveland, tying it with 149 and 157 pounds for the most allocations in the tournament.At 165 pounds, Alejandro Herrera-Rondon has rounded into form, winning five of his six matches. Four of those wins have come with bonus points, including two falls and two major decisions. His lone blemish in the last month came against Edinboro's Ryan Burgos, a 5-4 decision for the Fighting Scot on Feb. 5.Of late, though, the bellwether for Clarion has been John Meyers. The heavyweight is 5-2 in his last seven matches, including three falls and a major decision; the Golden Eagles have won every dual when he's competed since the beginning of January.Buffalo Bulls
The Mid-American Conference announced the pre-seeds for this weekend's 2026 MAC Wrestling Championships, hosted by the University at Buffalo in Alumni Arena. The MAC released the brackets for the 2026 MAC Wrestling Championships which are set to begin on Friday at noon on Friday.
The Bulls have seven wrestlers seeded. Kaleb Burgess (157) and Magnus Bibla (285) are seeded fourth. Kelin Laffey is seeded sixth at 165. Tyler Roark (141) and Sam Ewing (149) are seeded seventh. Marcus Petite (184) and Connor Jacobs (197) seeded eighth.
Kent State Golden Flashes
The Kent State Wrestling team will put all of their season's hard work on the mat in Buffalo, New York this weekend for the 2026 Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships.
The Tournament will be a two-day double elimination event with each of the 12 teams in the conference entering one wrestler in 10 weight classes to compete for the title. This will be the first postseason under Josh Moore as he and his staff produced eight dual victories in the regular season which was the most in a season for Kent State in eight years.
KSU is also looking for their first top five finish in the MAC Championships since that same season(2017-2018). With many accomplishments in the regular season this year, Kent State believes they have the roster to make some noise.
MAC Championship Roster
125- Nico Calello(17-16; 3-6 MAC)
133- Nick Molchak(19-15; 4-5 MAC)
141- Landen Duncan(10- 14; 1-5 MAC)
149- Silas Stits (20-11; 1-5 MAC)
157- Reese Stephen(10-11; 2-6 MAC)
165- Chris Earnest(15-6; 5-2 MAC)
174- Ethan Barr(21-11; 4-5 MAC)
184- Ronnie Dimmerling(11-12; 2-5 MAC)
197- Blake Schaffer(21-8; 6-3 MAC)
285- Brentan Simmerman(13-10; 3-3 MAC)
Kent State MAC Championship History
The Golden Flashes have won the MAC Tournament team title a total of 10 times, which is good for third-most in the conference all-time with the last coming in 1990. However, Kent State has claimed three regular season team titles more recently.
As a team, the Flashes have finished in 11th place out of 13 teams each of the last two seasons. The last individual champion for the program came in 2022 as Kody Komamra took home the 149-pound title that year.
Five at-large bids throughout all conferences will be additionally awarded after championship weekend at the 125 and 165-pound weight classes. All other classes will receive four.
The 2026 NCAA Division One Men's Wrestling National Championships will take place right down the road from Kent this year at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio from March 19-21. The Flashes will hope to advance a few wrestlers to the national tournament, depending on results from the MAC Brackets and qualifying matches this weekend.
Bloomsburg Huskies
The Mid-American Conference announced the pre-seeds for this weekend's 2026 MAC Wrestling Championships, hosted by the University at Buffalo in Alumni Arena.
Junior Mason Rebuck has the highest pre-seed for the Huskies at No. 5 in the 285 pound bracket. Rebuck is 19-7 overall on the season and 17-5 in dual matches. The junior is second on the team with 11 bonus point wins this year while leading the Huskies with six falls. Graduate student Jace Schafer is the No. 8 seed at 125 pounds after posting an 18-7 record this season. He is 14-7 in dual matches and leads the team with 13 total bonus point wins. He has six tech falls, four major decisions, and three pins this year for the Huskies.
