Ohio had plenty of reasons to be optimistic going into the Mid-American Conference championships. After the first day of competition, several of those reasons were gone.
After Saturday's matches, the Bobcats didn't have a single wrestler remaining in the championship bracket. Ohio's lone No. 1 seed, 141-pound wrestler Albert Madsen, dropped his first two bouts and wouldn't even see action yesterday.
Madsen said there was no specific reason for his early exit or the Bobcats' fourth-place finish.
It was just one of those days
he said. I just let the team down with those two matches.
I don't think we really wrestled to our potential this weekend.
The Bobcats couldn't catch a break dropping many close matches on the first day. Coach Joel Greenlee said that can be a tough thing to go through.
It's hard, he said. We were close in a lot of places. I think we worked hard; we did all the right things. We just weren't ready to pull those matches out.
The performance forced the 'Cats to fight through the consolation bracket. Ohio's Jake Frerichs worked his way to a second-place finish after topping Central Michigan's Andy Keller in a 2-0 decision in a wrestle-back match.
The win also gave Frerichs an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships something he just missed a year ago.
This feels pretty good, Frerichs said. I'm proud I get the chance to represent my school.
Frerichs was the only Bobcat to move on to the NCAA championship but not the only one to find some success yesterday.
Jacob Ison wrestled to third place at 165 pounds
going 2-1 during the weekend. Antoine Love also finished third in the 174-pound bracket. Marcus Adelman snagged a third-place finish with an 11-0 major decision over Northern Illinois' David Benner.
Greenlee said the trio of bronze finishes should not go unnoticed.
Wrestling back is tough, he said. That's one of the hardest things to do in wrestling, when you've already lost and you're fighting for a spot in the national tournament.
Although Frerichs was the only Bobcat to get one of those spots
Greenlee said that he won't be the only one involved in the preparation.
We're going to prepare the whole team for NCAAs, he said. I think that's their goal, and I think we have some guys who are on the verge of getting there, so that's what we're going to do.
QUICK STATS
MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday and yesterday
Buffalo
N.Y.
Alumni Arena
1. Central Michigan - 106.5
2. Kent State - 73.5
3. Northern Illinois - 61.5
4. Ohio - 37
5. Eastern Michigan - 29.5
6. Buffalo - 16.5
- Ohio's Jake Frerichs earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Championships.
- Despite being a No. 1 seed
141-pound Albert Madsen dropped his only two matches of the weekend.,",17,Archives,Jess Mosser,",",",",",","
18291,2007-03-05 06:10:00,Loss at Buffalo leaves Bobcats saying 'bye' to 1st-round pass,",As early as January
coach Tim O'Shea harped constantly on the importance of obtaining a first-round bye in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Hovering near the fourth and final seed all season
the Bobcats found themselves in control of their own destiny before tipoff at Buffalo last night. Earlier in the day
Miami had lost at Bowling Green
and Toledo had clinched the MAC Championship with a win over Central Michigan.
All the Bobcats had to do was beat the Bulls
