Eastern Michigan Athletics
Saturday, March 8
Kent, Ohio
All Day
Eastern Michigan University
at
MAC Championships
Photo by: Walt Middleton Photography
Wrestling Gears Up for MAC Championships in Kent, Ohio
3/7/2014 10:27:00 AM | Wrestling
Redshirt-senior Phillip Joseph will look to qualify for his third NCAA Championship
Complete MAC Championship Notes
The 2014 Mid-American Conference Championships take place Saturday, March 8 through Sunday, March 9, on the campus of Kent State University. The Eagles look to build off last season's eighth-place finish, when they sent redshirt seniors Phillip Joseph and Nick Whitenburg to the NCAA Championships.
SCOUTING THE FIELD: The Mid-American Conference has built itself into one of the most formidable wrestling leagues in the nation. This year's field boasts two nationally-ranked teams including No. 5 Northern Iowa, who is the only wrestling team to finish the season undefeated, and No. 8 Missouri, who will be trying to reclaim the MAC title after a decisive win in 2013.
Additionally, the conference has 46 nationally-ranked wrestlers between the 10 different weight classes with No. 8 Missouri holding a ranked wrestler in every division, while Central Michigan, Kent State and Ohio each have six ranked wrestlers. No. 5 Northern Iowa boasts five ranked wrestlers between the 10 weight classes. Eastern rounds out the field with four ranked grapplers and neither Northern Illinois or Buffalo have anyone on the list.
LAST TIME OUT AT MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Eagles had a disappointing outing in the 2013 Mid-American Conference Championships, compiling 44.5 team points for an eighth-place finish. The Green and White had two fourth-place finishers in then-senior Aaron Sulzer and Phillip Joseph, while Nick Whitenburg took third at 197 lbs. Joseph and Whitenburg each nabbed automatic NCAA bids, while Sulzer fell just short of a third NCAA appearance.
Jared Germaine and Vincent Pizzuto each look to make runs at this year's MAC Championships as both returned from injury just in time to compete a year ago, going 1-3, while Nicholas Barber, Brandon Zeerip and James Klosz will be making their first conference championship appearances.
FIGHT TO THE TOP: Redshirt-senior Jared Germaine has posted the best season of his four-year career donning the Green and White thus far. After returning from injury to compete in the 2013 MAC Championships, Germaine found disappointment going 1-3 and not returning to the NCAA Championships for the second-straight year. This season, the Saginaw, Mich. native boasts a 17-1 overall record and a 6-1 MAC record and is at the peak of his EMU wrestling career
Germaine is one-of-five MAC wrestlers nationally-ranked in the 125 lb. weight class, coming in at No. 27 in RPI rankings and No. 15 in TheOpenMat.com rankings. Furthermore, the redshirt-senior has been ranked in the top-four of the conference all season at 125 lbs. and has not dropped below No. 18 in Amateur Wrestling News (AWN) polls in the past month.
In his five years at Eastern Michigan, Germaine boasts a 92-40 overall record and is just eight wins shy of 100 career wins, while riding a seven-match win streak heading into the conference tournament. Germaine currently ranks fifth in EMU laurels in wins and will be one-of-five wrestlers to surpass the 100 win mark if he is able to capture eight wins to finish the 2013-14 season. To cap off his stellar senior campaign, Germaine has his eyes set on becoming the first individual MAC champion since John McClure accomplished the feat at 197 lbs. in 2009.
SENIORS WANT BACK IN: Redshirt-seniors Phillip Joseph and Nick Whitenburg have their eyes set on the NCAA Championships after making appearances in the 2013 season.
A NCAA berth for Joseph would mark the third of his career as the Lapeer, Mich. native has posted two wins on the big stage with one apiece in his two previous trips. Joseph clinched the third 20-win season of his career with a 3-2 decision over Buffalo's Tony Lock, Feb. 16, and has fallen just once in MAC competition. The redshirt-senior will enter his final conference tournament as the No. 4 seed at 184 lbs., while he currently ranks as No. 27 in the national rankings.
Whitenburg looks to make his second-straight NCAA Championships after being riddled with injuries in his five-year career at EMU. The Temperance, Mich. native posted a second-place finish at the MAC Championships in his sophomore season, but fell short of making the NCAA tournament before returning for his junior year in which he posted 18 wins, including a 3-0 MAC record and made his first NCAA appearance with a fourth-place finish at the conference championships. This season, Whitenburg enters the MAC Championships as the No. 5 seed at 197 lbs with a 10-7 overall record and a 78-42 career record.
NEW FACES ON THE BIG STAGE: Head Coach Derek DelPorto will show a different team at the 2014 MAC Championships when three new faces take the mat for the first conference championships of their careers at EMU.
Redshirt-freshman Nicholas Barber will make his first MAC Championships appearance at 149 lbs., having wrestled most of the season at 141 lbs. for the Green and White. The Cleveland, Ohio native posts an 11-10 overall record and a 2-5 conference record with his latest win coming against Buffalo, Feb. 26. Barber enters the tournament as the No. 7 seed at 149 lbs. for the Eagles.
Redshirt-senior Brandon Zeerip will also take the mat for the first time at the MAC Championships having transferred from University of Michigan to compete for two final seasons at Eastern. Zeerip was a two-year starter for the Wolverines before transferring to EMU to take the starting spot at 157 lbs. after current student assistant coach Aaron Sulzer exhausted his eligibility. The Fremont, Mich. native is just one win shy of a 20-win campaign with a 19-9 overall record and a 4-3 conference record. Zeerip will enter the tournament as the No. 6 seed at 157 lbs.
The final fresh face at the MAC Tournament for the Eagles will be redshirt-freshman James Klosz at 165 lbs. Having participated in only one conference dual on the season, Klosz will be the underdog heading into the conference championships. The redshirt-freshman is no slouch when it comes to participating in tournaments as the Parma, Ohio native has placed in the top-10 in each of his three appearances this year. Klosz grabbed a third-place finish at the MSU Open in the freshman/sophomore division before going on to a sixth-place finish at the EMU Open. He capped off his tournament season with a second-place finish at the Cleveland State Open falling to Old Dominion's Jordan Marshall at 157 lbs. Moving up a weight class for the tournament, Klosz is ranked at No. 7 in the 165 lb. weight class.
MAC PARTNERS WITH FLOWRESTLING TO STREAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Mid-American Conference announced Monday, Feb. 10 that the 2014 MAC Wrestling Championships on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9 will be streamed live by Flowrestling. The 2014 MAC Wrestling Championships will be hosted by Kent State University. Flowrestling (www.flowrestling.org) provides the largest wrestling premium video library available on demand, as well as live wrestling events, and original wrestling productions. The fee for viewing the 2014 MAC Wrestling Championships will be $20 and provides the viewer with access to the website for an entire month.
NCAA SETS NATIONAL QUALIFIER ALLOCATIONS: The NCAA announced the 290 qualifier allocations for the 2014 national tournament. Each of the 10 weight classes received 29 automatic bids. Those bids were then divided among the 10 participating conferences. The Mid-American Conference received 41 of the 290 bids, which was the third most out of any conference, behind only the Big Ten (74 bids) and The Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (47 bids).
The MAC receives four automatic qualifying bids at 125 lbs., five at both both the 133 lb. and 141 lb. weight class, four at 149 lbs., five at 157 lbs., three at 165 lbs., five at both 174 lbs. and 184 lbs., two at 197 lbs. and three in the heavyweight division.
After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in person to select the remaining 40 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced March 12. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.
OKLAHOMA CITY IS THE PLACE TO BE: The 2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships return to Oklahoma City March 20-22 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
COVERAGE OF THE 2014 MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS: The 2014 Mid-American Conference Championships will be available for fans to watch on www.flowrestling.org. The fee for viewing the 2014 MAC Wrestling Championships will be $20 and provides the viewer with access to the website for an entire month.
Fans can also listen in to free internet audio on Kent State's iHeart channel. The Golden Flashes radio personel will be giving live play-by-play for every bout as well as interviews with the winners of each division.
Finally, fans are encouraged to follow @EMUWrestling on Twitter for live updates and can join in on coversation using #FlyingHigher.
The 2014 Mid-American Conference Championships take place Saturday, March 8 through Sunday, March 9, on the campus of Kent State University. The Eagles look to build off last season's eighth-place finish, when they sent redshirt seniors Phillip Joseph and Nick Whitenburg to the NCAA Championships.
SCOUTING THE FIELD: The Mid-American Conference has built itself into one of the most formidable wrestling leagues in the nation. This year's field boasts two nationally-ranked teams including No. 5 Northern Iowa, who is the only wrestling team to finish the season undefeated, and No. 8 Missouri, who will be trying to reclaim the MAC title after a decisive win in 2013.
Additionally, the conference has 46 nationally-ranked wrestlers between the 10 different weight classes with No. 8 Missouri holding a ranked wrestler in every division, while Central Michigan, Kent State and Ohio each have six ranked wrestlers. No. 5 Northern Iowa boasts five ranked wrestlers between the 10 weight classes. Eastern rounds out the field with four ranked grapplers and neither Northern Illinois or Buffalo have anyone on the list.
LAST TIME OUT AT MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Eagles had a disappointing outing in the 2013 Mid-American Conference Championships, compiling 44.5 team points for an eighth-place finish. The Green and White had two fourth-place finishers in then-senior Aaron Sulzer and Phillip Joseph, while Nick Whitenburg took third at 197 lbs. Joseph and Whitenburg each nabbed automatic NCAA bids, while Sulzer fell just short of a third NCAA appearance.
Jared Germaine and Vincent Pizzuto each look to make runs at this year's MAC Championships as both returned from injury just in time to compete a year ago, going 1-3, while Nicholas Barber, Brandon Zeerip and James Klosz will be making their first conference championship appearances.
FIGHT TO THE TOP: Redshirt-senior Jared Germaine has posted the best season of his four-year career donning the Green and White thus far. After returning from injury to compete in the 2013 MAC Championships, Germaine found disappointment going 1-3 and not returning to the NCAA Championships for the second-straight year. This season, the Saginaw, Mich. native boasts a 17-1 overall record and a 6-1 MAC record and is at the peak of his EMU wrestling career
Germaine is one-of-five MAC wrestlers nationally-ranked in the 125 lb. weight class, coming in at No. 27 in RPI rankings and No. 15 in TheOpenMat.com rankings. Furthermore, the redshirt-senior has been ranked in the top-four of the conference all season at 125 lbs. and has not dropped below No. 18 in Amateur Wrestling News (AWN) polls in the past month.
In his five years at Eastern Michigan, Germaine boasts a 92-40 overall record and is just eight wins shy of 100 career wins, while riding a seven-match win streak heading into the conference tournament. Germaine currently ranks fifth in EMU laurels in wins and will be one-of-five wrestlers to surpass the 100 win mark if he is able to capture eight wins to finish the 2013-14 season. To cap off his stellar senior campaign, Germaine has his eyes set on becoming the first individual MAC champion since John McClure accomplished the feat at 197 lbs. in 2009.
SENIORS WANT BACK IN: Redshirt-seniors Phillip Joseph and Nick Whitenburg have their eyes set on the NCAA Championships after making appearances in the 2013 season.
A NCAA berth for Joseph would mark the third of his career as the Lapeer, Mich. native has posted two wins on the big stage with one apiece in his two previous trips. Joseph clinched the third 20-win season of his career with a 3-2 decision over Buffalo's Tony Lock, Feb. 16, and has fallen just once in MAC competition. The redshirt-senior will enter his final conference tournament as the No. 4 seed at 184 lbs., while he currently ranks as No. 27 in the national rankings.
Whitenburg looks to make his second-straight NCAA Championships after being riddled with injuries in his five-year career at EMU. The Temperance, Mich. native posted a second-place finish at the MAC Championships in his sophomore season, but fell short of making the NCAA tournament before returning for his junior year in which he posted 18 wins, including a 3-0 MAC record and made his first NCAA appearance with a fourth-place finish at the conference championships. This season, Whitenburg enters the MAC Championships as the No. 5 seed at 197 lbs with a 10-7 overall record and a 78-42 career record.
NEW FACES ON THE BIG STAGE: Head Coach Derek DelPorto will show a different team at the 2014 MAC Championships when three new faces take the mat for the first conference championships of their careers at EMU.
Redshirt-freshman Nicholas Barber will make his first MAC Championships appearance at 149 lbs., having wrestled most of the season at 141 lbs. for the Green and White. The Cleveland, Ohio native posts an 11-10 overall record and a 2-5 conference record with his latest win coming against Buffalo, Feb. 26. Barber enters the tournament as the No. 7 seed at 149 lbs. for the Eagles.
Redshirt-senior Brandon Zeerip will also take the mat for the first time at the MAC Championships having transferred from University of Michigan to compete for two final seasons at Eastern. Zeerip was a two-year starter for the Wolverines before transferring to EMU to take the starting spot at 157 lbs. after current student assistant coach Aaron Sulzer exhausted his eligibility. The Fremont, Mich. native is just one win shy of a 20-win campaign with a 19-9 overall record and a 4-3 conference record. Zeerip will enter the tournament as the No. 6 seed at 157 lbs.
The final fresh face at the MAC Tournament for the Eagles will be redshirt-freshman James Klosz at 165 lbs. Having participated in only one conference dual on the season, Klosz will be the underdog heading into the conference championships. The redshirt-freshman is no slouch when it comes to participating in tournaments as the Parma, Ohio native has placed in the top-10 in each of his three appearances this year. Klosz grabbed a third-place finish at the MSU Open in the freshman/sophomore division before going on to a sixth-place finish at the EMU Open. He capped off his tournament season with a second-place finish at the Cleveland State Open falling to Old Dominion's Jordan Marshall at 157 lbs. Moving up a weight class for the tournament, Klosz is ranked at No. 7 in the 165 lb. weight class.
MAC PARTNERS WITH FLOWRESTLING TO STREAM CHAMPIONSHIPS: The Mid-American Conference announced Monday, Feb. 10 that the 2014 MAC Wrestling Championships on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9 will be streamed live by Flowrestling. The 2014 MAC Wrestling Championships will be hosted by Kent State University. Flowrestling (www.flowrestling.org) provides the largest wrestling premium video library available on demand, as well as live wrestling events, and original wrestling productions. The fee for viewing the 2014 MAC Wrestling Championships will be $20 and provides the viewer with access to the website for an entire month.
NCAA SETS NATIONAL QUALIFIER ALLOCATIONS: The NCAA announced the 290 qualifier allocations for the 2014 national tournament. Each of the 10 weight classes received 29 automatic bids. Those bids were then divided among the 10 participating conferences. The Mid-American Conference received 41 of the 290 bids, which was the third most out of any conference, behind only the Big Ten (74 bids) and The Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (47 bids).
The MAC receives four automatic qualifying bids at 125 lbs., five at both both the 133 lb. and 141 lb. weight class, four at 149 lbs., five at 157 lbs., three at 165 lbs., five at both 174 lbs. and 184 lbs., two at 197 lbs. and three in the heavyweight division.
After all of the qualifying events have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in person to select the remaining 40 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced March 12. All weight classes will consist of 33 wrestlers.
OKLAHOMA CITY IS THE PLACE TO BE: The 2014 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships return to Oklahoma City March 20-22 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
COVERAGE OF THE 2014 MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS: The 2014 Mid-American Conference Championships will be available for fans to watch on www.flowrestling.org. The fee for viewing the 2014 MAC Wrestling Championships will be $20 and provides the viewer with access to the website for an entire month.
Fans can also listen in to free internet audio on Kent State's iHeart channel. The Golden Flashes radio personel will be giving live play-by-play for every bout as well as interviews with the winners of each division.
Finally, fans are encouraged to follow @EMUWrestling on Twitter for live updates and can join in on coversation using #FlyingHigher.
Eastern Michigan - 2018 MAC Wrestling Championships Preview
Monday, June 04
2018 MAC Wrestling Championships 165-lb Match:
Monday, June 04
2018 MAC Wrestling Championships 197-lb Match:
Monday, June 04
2018 MAC Wrestling Championships 285-lb Match:
Monday, June 04