COLUMBIA, Mo. - Missouri opens today's Mid-American Conference wrestling tournament in Norfolk, Va., with seven of the 10 No. 1 seeds in the tournament and 10 of the conference's 27 allocated NCAA qualifier spots.
In two of those weight classes, Tiger wrestlers earned the MAC's only qualifier bid: Brock Mauller at 149 and Wyatt Koelling at 197.
The program's goal is to send all 10 wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament, scheduled for March 21-24 in Pittsburgh, and break the conference record for points, which No. 5 Missouri (16-1, 7-0 MAC) set last year at 177 en route to winning its sixth-straight MAC tournament title, and seventh-straight dating back to its final season in the Big 12.
"This will be the seventh year, I think, we're in the MAC, that we have probably averaged eight or nine guys going to the national tournament, and this year we're looking to take all 10," Missouri coach Brian Smith said Tuesday. "That's a good thing, the more guys you can qualify out, then you're winning the championship, that's a good thing. Confidence is never a bad thing going into the national tournament."
First-round bouts in the eight-man brackets at the Ted Constant Convocation Center start at 2 p.m. today, with consolation matches starting at 11 a.m. Saturday, with the championship matches to follow at 1 p.m.
125 pounds: Missouri's Dack Punke, ranked No. 22 in the country, earned the No. 4 seed after an injury early in the season with a 9-8 record, 4-2 against MAC opponents. Seeded above him are No. 1 Michael McGee (Old Dominion), No. 2 Drew Hildebrandt (Central Michigan) and No. 3 Shakur Laney (Ohio). Punke is the Missouri's lowest-seeded wrestler at the tournament.
133: John Erneste locked up the top seed at the MAC tournament and No. 7 nationally by wrestling the second-hardest schedule at 133 this season and emerging with a 15-4 record. He pinned both MAC opponents he faced this season, and is a two-time defending MAC champion at 133 and two-time NCAA qualifier.
141: No. 4 Jaydin Eierman has the No. 4 RPI at 141 this season and pinned 14 of his 24 opponents, the most of anyone at his weight, going 21-3. Eierman is the defending MAC wrestler of the year, a two-time defending champ at 141 and, as a two-time All-American, one of the favorites to win a national title this season. He is 6-0 against conference wrestlers with five pins and a tech fall.
"I feel like it's the last test we have right before the big stage to see where we're at mentally," Eierman said. "Go out there and see if we can execute right, and what we don't do we can go back to work for a week and then get back out there. But it's just time to go out there and have fun."
149: No. 6 Brock Mauller slid in almost seamlessly as a freshman to replace Grant Leeth, who injured his shoulder early in the year and was granted a medical redshirt. Mauller is 25-2 and 5-0 against MAC opponents. He was the only MAC wrestler to earn an NCAA bid at his weight.
157: Jarrett Jacques just missed out on the top seed at 157 as a true freshman: he went 23-6 this season, while top-seeded Larry Early of ODU is No. 9, went 19-3 this season and beat Missouri's Lane Stigall 12-5 in November.
165: Connor Flynn (17-6, ranked No. 13) got the nod as top seed at 165 with a 7-0 record against conference opponents, including two tech falls. He is defending his tournament title from last season.
174: Daniel Lewis is Missouri's other favorite to win an individual title this season. The No. 2 wrestler nationally at 174, he went 21-1 and beat two top-10 opponents, and can become the third-ever four-time All-American at Missouri, after Cox and Ben Askren, with a win this weekend and a top-8 finish in Pittsburgh.
"I feel confident, I know the other guys feel confident," Lewis said. "We're rolling again from that Okie State match, we got some things to work on, our younger guys got on that, and I think all pistons, all cylinders are firing."
184: An injury and a 13-7 record made this a less-than-perfect season for Dylan Wisman, but his No. 12 RPI and No. 18 ranking, as well as a 4-0 record against MAC wrestlers earned him the top seed.
197: Wyatt Koelling posted an impressive 17-9 record and a 7-0 record in the MAC despite wrestling down a weight class. He finished eighth at heavyweight in the MAC tournament a year ago. Koelling's allocation at 197 is the MAC's only NCAA bid.
285: Zach Elam, the program's third true freshman with a shot at NCAAs this season, also just missed out on top billing. At 19-8 this season and 9-1 in the MAC, Elam will have to upset Central Michigan's Matt Stencel (24-4) to win, but just needs a top-3 finish to qualify for NCAAs.