NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Wrestling was picked to finish second in the league, as announced by the Mid-American Conference wrestling coaches recently. The Monarchs finished third in the conference last season and sent six wrestlers to the NCAA Championship, which is the second most in school history.
Missouri (27 points) was selected first in the Conference over second-place Old Dominion (18 points) and third-place Northern Iowa (15.5 points). The 2014-15 preseason ranking also witnessed Kent State (13.5 points) in fourth, followed by Ohio in fifth place and Central Michigan sixth overall. Rounding out the rankings were Northern Illinois, Eastern Michigan and Buffalo.
The Wrestling Monarchs are coming off a solid 2013-14 campaign where they finished 4-4 in the MAC and secured an impressive third-place finish at the conference tournament. ODU sent six wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament and returns 17.5 points from the championships, which ranks 18th in the nation.
Seven ODU wrestlers were ranked in the top-4 MAC Weight Class Rankings, which included: No. 3 Brandon Jeske (125), No. 1 Chris Mecate (141), No. 2 Alexander Richardson (149), No. 3 Tristan Warner (165), No. 1 Jack Dechow (184), No. 4 Kevin Beazley (197) and No. 3 Matt Tourdot (Heavyweight).
The rankings will be released each month throughout the season, with one additional ranking system (two total) in January and February. The 2014-15 preseason rankings were voted on by the league's head coaches in an open forum. The 2015 MAC Wrestling Championships will be held March 7-8 and hosted by the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo.
ODU will kick off the season on Nov. 9 when it travels to the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open in Binghamton, N.Y. The Monarchs return to Norfolk for their home opener on Nov. 23 when they take on No. 6 Missouri at 1:00 p.m.
Purchase your 2014 ODU Wrestling season ticket voucher book for only $25! Each voucher book contains 12 undated ticket vouchers good for any home wrestling match during the 2014-2015 season. To purchase your voucher book online, please visit here.
Keep up to date with all the latest news regarding ODU Wrestling on Facebook; as well as follow @ODUWrestling on Twitter!