MOUNT PLEASANT - Central Michigan University will host the 2010 Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships at Rose Center this weekend.

Competition begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The finals begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday.

The host Chippewas have won the conference tournament each of the past eight seasons, the longest winning streak in conference history. Head coach Tom Borrelli's squad enters the tournament with eight individuals ranked in the top 20 nationally at their respective weight classes.

Each of this weekend's 10 weight class champions will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The MAC has been allocated multiple automatic qualifiers in seven weight classes.

The CMU Sports Zone will provide live video streaming of both mats throughout both days of competition. A one-month subscription to the CMU Sports Zone ($9.95) is required to view the stream.

Updated brackets and team scoring will be available throughout the tournament on the MAC Championships Central page on cmuchippewas.com.


CMU Seeking Ninth Straight MAC Championships Crown: CMU has won eight consecutive MAC Championships titles and 11 of the last 12 conference tournament crowns. CMU’s current streak of eight straight titles is the longest streak in MAC history.
• The Chippewas have won 13 MAC Championships titles overall. Ohio, the only other program besides CMU to win the conference tournament since 1998, has won 15 MAC Championships titles.
• CMU won the 2010 MAC regular season title, its 11 conference championship in the past 12 seasons. The Chippewas have won 62 of their last 64 MAC duals dating back to the 1998-99 season.

Reviewing the 2009 MAC Championships: CMU scored 111.5 team points, the third highest total in MAC Championships history, to claim its eight straight conference tournament title in 2009. Kent State finished runner-up with 82.5 points. Four Chippewas - Scotti Sentes (125), Steve Brown (149), Trevor Stewart (165) and Mike Miller (174) - won individual titles, and all 10 Chippewas placed in the top three of their respective weight classes.

MAC Championships Return to Mount Pleasant: CMU is hosting the MAC Championships for the first time since 2003. The Chippewas won the team title with 93 points in 2003, while Northern Illinois was second (70.5) and Ohio was third (60.5). CMU claimed three individual conference titles: Kyle Stoffer (125), Jason Mester (141) and Brett Faustman (197).

Hitting the Century Mark: Nine times the winning team at the MAC Championships has scored at least 100 points, and CMU has accounted for seven of those instances. The nine teams to score at least 100 points at the MAC Championships:

Team (Year) - Points
1. Central Michigan (1999) - 124.5
2. Central Michigan (2005) - 119.5
3. Central Michigan (2009) - 111.5
4. Central Michigan (1998) - 116
5. Central Michigan (2008) - 110
6. Central Michigan (2007) - 106.5
7. Ohio (1972) - 104
8. Ohio (1973) - 103
9. Central Michigan (2006) - 102.5

MAC Allocated 22 NCAA Bids: Twenty-two individuals will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships based on their placement at the MAC Championships. Breaking down the 22 NCAA allocations by weight class:

125: 1
133: 4
141: 1
149: 3
157: 1
165: 2
174: 2
184: 3
197: 3
285: 2

Brown Aims for Third Straight Title: Senior 157-pounder Steve Brown can become the ninth Chippewa to win three individual MAC titles. Brown won the 157-pound title in 2008 and the 149-pound title in 2009. With a title this weekend, Brown would be the MAC's first three-time champion since 2008, when CMU's Wynn Michalak won his fourth straight and Brandon Sinnott won his third in a row.

Bennett Blanks 'em: Ben Bennett enters the week on a nine-match winning streak. He has shut out six of his last seven opponents.

Tracking Trice: Sophomore heavyweight Jarod Trice enters the MAC Championships 22-1 overall and ranked fourth nationally. He has won 19 consecutive matches since a 2-1 loss in the second tiebreaker to Maryland's Pat Gilmore at Northeast Duals on Nov. 28. Ranking the longest winning streaks in CMU history:

In the Rankings: CMU remains sixth in the InterMat top 25 poll. Eight Chippewas are ranked in the top 20 of their respective weight classes by InterMat.

125: No. 9 Matt Steintrager
133: No. 7 Scotti Sentes
149: No. 12 Tony D'Alie
157: No. 13 Steve Brown
165: No. 20 Tyler Grayson
174: No. 10 Ben Bennett
184: No. 14 Mike Miller
285: No. 4 Jarod Trice


CMU Matches Wins Record: The Chippewas posted an overall dual record of 17-2 this season, matching the program record for victories in a season. The 2006-07 team finished 17-4-1, and the 2008-09 squad posted an overall mark of 17-3-1.

Home Sweet Home: The Chippewas are 46-6-2 (.870 winning percentage) at home dating back to the start of the 2000-01 season.

Finishing Strong: CMU has a history of finishing the dual season strong, having won 38 of its last 39 duals in the month of February. The Chippewas' 18-14 loss to Kent State on Feb. 19, 2009 snapped a streak of 33 consecutive February wins for CMU.

CMU vs. the Top 25: CMU was 6-2 this season against opponents ranked in the InterMat top 25. Since the start of the 2006-07 season, the Chippewas are 27-9-2 (.737) against ranked opponents.