125 LBS The favorite — No. 9 Matt Steintrager (CMU) The challenger — Dan Bishop (Buffalo) Bishop comes into the tournament as the second-ranked wrestler in the Mid-American Conference. Bishop, 4-1 in the MAC, lost his only conference match in a 6-3 decision against Steintrager. Bishop came away with one win in the tournament last season, enough for a fourth-place finish. Steintrager is the only nationally ranked 125-pounder in the MAC.

133 LBS The favorite — No. 7 Scotti Sentes (CMU) The challengers — No. 8 Dan Mitcheff (KSU) and No. 18 Kevin Smith (Buffalo) The deepest weight class in the MAC this year is at 133 pounds. While Sentes may be the favorite to win it, there is a reason the MAC gets four automatic bids toward the National tournament. Since losing four of six matches midway through the season, Sentes is 8-1 with his only loss coming in a 5-3 decision to No. 4 Franklin Gomez of Michigan State on Feb. 5. The All-American from last season also defeated No. 8 Dan Mitcheff of Kent State 3-2 Feb. 21 in the two teams’ final dual. Mitcheff is a three-time national qualifier who won the MAC Championship last year at 133 pounds.

141 LBS The favorite — No. 18 Germaine Lindsey (Ohio) The challenger — Conor Beebe (CMU) Lindsey was undefeated in the conference before losing a 6-1 decision to Beebe. Lindsey fell in the top 20 rankings after the loss, but remains the only ranked MAC 141-pounder. Beebe was picked as the top 141-pounder by MAC coaches, but a loss to unranked Chase Skonieczny from Kent State has left Beebe out of the top 20.

149 LBS The favorite — No. 19 Desi Green (Buffalo) The challengers — No.12 Matt Cathell (KSU) and No. 13 Tony D’Alie (CMU) It should be a three-man race for the championship with CMU’s D’Alie and Kent State’s Cathell also challenging. Green is expected to be back for the MAC Championships after suffering an injury on February 3. Still, Green leads Buffalo in wins with 25 with four of his losses coming to opponents ranked at the time. Cathell overcame an early deficit against D’Alie with a pin in the teams’ dual.

157 LBS The favorite — No. 14 Steve Brown (CMU) The challenger — Bryan Deutsch (NIU) Deutsch is the returning champion at 157 pounds, but was picked by MAC coaches as the second-best in the conference. Deutsch finished the regular season with one conference loss in the last dual of the season in a fall to Buffalo senior Andrew Stella.

165 LBS The favorite — No. 20 Tyler Grayson (CMU) The challenger — John-Martin Cannon (Buffalo) Grayson sits at 4-0 in the MAC this season while splitting time with Eric Cubberly at 165 pounds. Grayson comes in the favorite a season after losing in the first round of the MAC tournament as a No. 1 seed.

174 LBS The favorite — No. 9 Ben Bennett (CMU) The challenger — Jacob Ison (Ohio) Bennett rolled through his MAC opponents, as he earned a technical fall or pin against every opponent except Kent State freshman Keith Witt. Ison is ranked second in the MAC with a 3-1 record and could still qualify for nationals with a second-place finish. Ison has never finished higher than third in the tournament. CMU junior Mike Miller won the 174-pound tournament last season, but has bumped up to 184 pounds this season.

184 LBS The favorite — No. 5 Dustin Kilgore (KSU) The challengers — No. 14 Mike Miller (CMU) and No. 17 Nick Purdue (Ohio) Kilgore sits at 30-1 on the season with his 6-3 win against Purdue as his only non-bonus points win in the MAC. A season after winning the MAC as a redshirt freshman, Kilgore has yet to lose a MAC match in his career, but has only won seven matches against ranked opponents this season.

197 LBS The favorite — No. 19 Erik Schuth (Ohio) The challenger — Eric Simaz (CMU) Despite Schuth being the only ranked wrestler, Simaz has been picked by MAC coaches as the top wrestler in the conference. Simaz is undefeated in the MAC, but did not face Schuth in the match against Ohio. Simaz also won two of his conference matches by one-point decisions. Schuth finished with a 3-1 conference record and seven pins. He finished fifth in the tournament last season at 184 pounds.

285 LBS The favorite — No. 4 Jarod Trice The challenger — Brandan Barlow (KSU) It took extra time to decide the regular season match between Trice and Barlow with Trice coming out with the win. It headlines a regular season where Trice only lost one match and rides a 19-match winning streak. However, Trice has kept it close with MAC opposition, winning by one point once and two points twice.