At the end of practice before anyone leaves the room, the Ohio wrestling team huddles together and proclaims, MAC champs! That goal is on the minds of every wrestler.
At 7 p.m. tonight in The Convo, the Bobcats will begin their quest of becoming Mid-American Conference Champions.
Having the team go through various ups and downs during the first half of the season, Bobcats coach ¥Joel Greenlee is looking forward to returning to familiar territory.
(MAC competition) is
far and away the easiest part of our schedule Greenlee said. Not that MAC teams aren't great teams
but it will be a little bit easier than our schedule up until now. We always have -especially this year -taken a lot of pride in how we do in the MAC. We want to do well in the MAC.
165-pound wrestler ¥Tony DeAnna also likes the switch in gear from tournament action to focusing on a more specific opponent.
Duals wear you down a lot
DeAnna said. And against one team you can know exactly who you're wrestling so you can look at tapes. (You) just have a better idea of what you're up against.
The Eagles enter tonight's meet with a 3-6 record this season; last year they finished with a 9-9 record (0-5 MAC) and placed fifth in the conference tournament. Eastern Michigan also has three nationally ranked wrestlers, Jermaine Thompson is 17th at 149 pounds; J.J. Holmes, 18th at 174; and Ed Magrys, 15th at 184.
They've got a pretty good team
assistant coach Luke Moore said. They're rather underrated
but have four guys who are really solid nationally
not just in the MAC but guys that wrestle pretty hard and are well coached.
With ¥Marcus Adelman winning the starting slot at heavyweight, the only starting position still in question for tonight's meet is at 197 pounds. With both ¥Joel Weimer and ¥Nick Terbay out with injuries, the Bobcats might continue to wrestle 174-pound ¥Ryan Knapp at that spot.
Winless in all four matches at the 125-, 133-and 149-weight classes last weekend in Virginia, the Bobcats look to improve their overall performance as they match up against MAC teams.
It's a reoccurring theme after every dual meet
Greenlee said. The bottom half of our lineup still needs some work and that the top half of our lineup is pretty good. I think we'll wrestle better against Eastern Michigan than we have in a while.
BOB
Projected Ohio starters
125 ¥Caleb Metcalf
133 ¥Matt Smith
141 ¥Jon Spires
149 ¥Mike Allen
157 ¥Jake Percival
165 Tony DeAnna
174 ¥Ed Willis
184 ¥Brian Cesear
197 TBA
HWT Marcus Adelman
Source: Post research
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