After a loss last week to Chattanooga, Ohio will begin a string of matches that are a bit more meaningful.
The Bobcats travel to Northern Illinois tonight for their first conference match of the season. It matters because a good start now affects rankings all the way to the conference tournament. A wrestler's league record influences his seed in the Mid-American Conference Championships. A favorable tournament seed can go a long way toward winning a MAC title. And a MAC title is one of the only guaranteed ways to earn a bid to the NCAA Championships, which in turn leads to the ultimate goal of becoming an All-American. It carries a little more weight
coach •Joel Greenlee said of tonight's match. Seeds can make a difference in the MAC Tournament.
Greenlee said that even a difference of one spot in a bracket can make or break a wrestler. He cited the disparity between the fourth and third-seeded athletes in a tournament, in which the fourth-seeded wrestler draws the No. 1 wrestler in the semifinals, while the three-seed faces the No. 2 wrestler.
That's a little easier road to go Greenlee said with a laugh.
Of course, conference matches are not all-important for the Bobcats, just as their previous dual meets weren't completely unimportant.
Winning a MAC Championship isn't the only ticket to the NCAA Championships. Second, third or even fourth-place finishers can still earn automatic bids if their weight earned enough of them from the qualifier allocations.
In this process, weight divisions are awarded as many automatic bids to the national tournament as there are qualified wrestlers at the weight. And the stipulations that determine if a wrestler earns a bid for his weight include winning percentage against all Division I wrestlers, not just conference foes.
Despite the implications of Ohio's first conference match, Greenlee said he won't change his cautious approach to the Bobcats' injuries.
As much as I don't want to say it's early it's still early
Greenlee said. We've got about another six weeks to grind it out with guys. If one of these injuries that isn't that bad
if we turn it into a serious injury
than we're in trouble.
@ThePostSports
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Nathaniel Maund
