The Mid-American Conference landscape will undergo a landscape change next season with the addition of three teams.
The MAC announced Wednesday that Missouri, Northern Iowa and Old Dominion will join the conference as wrestling affiliate members only.
The move brings Missouri and Northern Iowa to the conference for the 2012-13 season, while Old Dominion will make the switch the following fall. With the additions, the MAC is now the third-largest wrestling conference in the country.
Ohio coach Joel Greenlee said the addition is a positive one for the MAC, and that the Bobcats are welcoming the competition with open arms.
“Generally, I like the move," he said. "There’s strength in numbers. I think that any time we can add numbers to our six teams it makes the league stronger.”
The Missouri wrestling program, which took second place in the Big 12 last season, was not allowed to wrestle in the conference again this year because of the Tigers' jump to the SEC. They finished the year ranked 10th in the National Wrestling Coaches Association/USA Today Poll.
"I think, 'Hey, they're a pretty doggone good team,' " Greenlee said. "They're a relatively new tradition within the next ten years."
Northern Iowa, Greenlee's alma mater, has had a wrestling program since 1923 and has a 705-327-28 all-time record. The Panthers most recently made a splash nationally in 2010, when they finished 46th in the NCAA National Tournament.
Greenlee said wrestling is the Panthers' "premiere sport."
Old Dominion, the only new member that will join in 2013, had seven wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships last season, and finished the year ranked 24th in the NWCA/USA Today poll.
Although Ohio's 2012-13 regular season schedule is already established, the Bobcats will face the Tigers and Panthers in the postseason.
Greenlee said he looks forward to when the Bobcats can square off with their new conference competition during the regular season.
"Now you add three good teams and you get more, better home matches," he said. "And you can make some better rivalries."
jr992810@ohiou.edu
