KENT - Nine precious at-large bids were awarded to Mid-American Conference wrestlers Saturday following the completion of the 2008 MAC Wrestling Championships.
Kent State wrestlers Dan Mitcheff, Drew Lashaway, Kurt Gross and Jermail Porter all earned trips to the Gateway to the West. All four individuals finished second at the MAC Tournament, with Mitcheff and Lashaway losing back-to-back matches in the late third period during the championship round. It is the second straight trip to the dance for Mitcheff and Porter, while Gross makes his third appearance. Lashaway has never been to the NCAA Wrestling Championships. It will be the third year in a row KSU has sent five wrestlers to the national tournament.
MAC Champion Central Michigan added a pair of qualifiers through the session. 125-pound senior Luke Smith and 133-pounder Conor Beebe both earned at-large bids to bring the Chips' total to nine. The Chippewas had seven individual champions at the MAC finals.
Northern Illinois' Duke Burk also earned an at-large bid during the process. He finished second at the tournament with a tough loss to fourth-ranked Brandon Sinnott of CMU. Burk is 26-5 for the year.
Eastern Michigan's Charlie Pienaar - the runner-up at 184 earned an at-large ticket and so did Ohio's Germaine Lindsey, who was third in the tournament at 141 pounds.
Alternates for the tournament will be Kent State's Eric Chine and Andrew Novak of Eastern Michigan.
Below are the nine MAC At-large Wrestlers headed to the NCAA Tournament March 20-22 in Missouri.
