Redshirt freshman 174-pounder Ben Bennett pinned his opponent 44 seconds into the third round of his consolation match to secure All-America honors for the first time in his career.

Bennett followed that performance with another first-round pin to advance in the tournament. He takes on Virginia junior Christopher Henrich in the final day of the tournament for the opportunity to wrestle in the third-place match.

No. 14 CMU achieved something never accomplished in school or Mid-American Conference history in sending a wrestler from all 10 weight classes this weekend to the NCAA Championships.

The Chippewas are one of four programs to have 10 qualifiers, along with Iowa, Iowa State and Oklahoma.

Staff Reporters Matthew Valinski and D.J. Palomares break down each weight class at the NCAA wrestling tournament and the chances of CMU wrestlers to obtain All-America status.

CMU wrestling coach Tom Borrelli waved to the home crowd and took his place on the podium with the rest of his team after being announced the Mid-American Conference tournament champions.

Borrelli went to the tournament with high expectations for his team and came away with five individual championships, eight automatic bids to the NCAAs and his ninth consecutive MAC tournament title.

Staff Reporters Matthew Valinski and D.J. Palomares make their predictions for how the Mid-American Conference tournament will be won Sunday at Rose Arena.

The CMU wrestling team has the opportunity to win a Mid-American conference tournament title in front of its home crowd for the first time in seven years. No. 6 CMU strives for its ninth consecutive tournament title Saturday and Sunday at Rose Arena. “It is a good year for us to host the tournament with six seniors on our roster,” said coach Tom Borrelli.

Senior Conor Beebe knew he was in for a change this season after wrestling at 133 pounds his entire career — but did not know the extent of the switch.

CMU coach Tom Borrelli decided Beebe would drop down to 125 pounds before the season began. However, Beebe now will finish the season at 141

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.