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.

125 pounds – Matt Steintrager (CMU) vs. Dan Bishop (UB) Steintrager may already have won the MAC title as it is unlikely for Bishop to be able to compete. Bishop was slammed on the back of his head in his semi-final match against Gabe Ramos from Ohio. Bishop had opened a 4-0 lead before he was unable to finish. Steintrager earned a fall in his first-round match and defeated Kent State sophomore Troy Opfer with a 5-1 decision.

Prediction – Steintrager takes his first MAC Championship in his first year in the starting lineup.

133 pounds - Scotti Sentes (CMU) vs. Dan Mitcheff (KSU) Sentes won his first-round match with a 10-3 decision agianst NIU's Tristen Deshazer and then battled Eastern Michigan's Sean Clair to a 11-8 win. Mitcheff got the bye and then defeated Buffalo's Kevin Smith 5-2. When Sentes and Mitcheff met earlier this season, Sentes came away with the 3-2 victory, but could not score a takedown against Mitcheff. It will be interesting to see if Mitcheff will go down. Sentes's strength is on top, and he rode Mitcheff out the entire period last time they wrestled.

Prediction - Sentes's length is too much for Mitcheff to deal with. Sentes by decision.

141 – Conor Beebe (CMU) vs. Pat McLemore (NIU) Beebe has yet to give up a point in the MAC tournament as he shutout Kent State freshman Chase Skonieczny 4-0 to advance to the finals. McLemore upset Ohio junior Germane Lindsey, defending MAC champion, in a narrow 6-4 decision to advance to the finals against Beebe. McLemore took the MAC tournament title two season ago. Beebe defeated McLemore in a 5-3 decision in their regular season match.

Prediction – Beebe finally gets over the hump and wins his first MAC Championship.

149 pounds- Desi Green (UB) vs. Seth Morton (OU) Green advanced after defeating NIU's Dan Ruettiger in the semifinals 3-2 after a first-round bye. Morton advanced on a bye and then pulled the upset against Central's Tony D'Alie 6-5. Green is great at making his matches third-period matches. He is used to being in close matches and it showed in his semifinal match. Morton, on the other hand, has been on a roll winning six of his last seven matches.

Prediction- Morton continues to be the surprise of the tournament scoring a win against the No. 1 seed Green by decision.

157 – Steve Brown (CMU) vs. Bryan Deutsch (NIU) Brown narrowly defeated Ohio senior Clay Tucker in the semifinal match. The 3-2 decision was Brown’s only match of the tournament as he had a bye in the first round. Deutsch also had a first-round bye, but defeated Kent State freshman Mallie Shuster in a 12-3 decision. Brown was injured when the Chippewas defeated Northern Illinois, and the two did not face off.

Prediction – Brown scores his third consecutive MAC Championship.

165 pounds- Tyler Grayson (CMU) vs. John Martin-Cannon (UB) Grayson got the bye to start the day and then defeated KSU's Ross Trice 6-1 to get into the championship bout. Martin-Cannon also got the bye and beat EMU's Alex Ortman 9-4 and seemed to get stronger as the match continued. Grayson took the bout earlier this season with a pin in the third period.

Prediction - Grayson scores another championship for the Chippewas. The 165 pound weight class just isn't very deep this year.

174 – Ben Bennett (CMU) vs. Keith Witt (KSU) Bennett has rolled through his MAC competition this year with a number of techincal falls. Bennett continued that streak against Buffalo junior Brian Sheehan with a 14-2 major decision. Witt advanced to the finals by earning a fall against Ohio senior Jacob Ison with one second remaining in the bout. Witt was the only MAC wrestler that Bennett did not earn at least a technical fall against, but still lost in a 9-3 decision.

Prediction – Bennett is too much for anyone in the MAC this year.

184 pounds- Dustin Kilgore (KSU) vs. Nick Purdue (OU) Kilgore scored major decisions in his two bouts with a 15-6 win against UB's Josh Peters and then a 11-2 win against Eastern's Phillip Joseph. Purdue got his team a bonus point scoring the pin in the first round against Zach Benzio of NIU and then took out CMU's Mike Miller 7-5 in the semifinals. Kilgore has dominated the MAC in his career, having never lost a MAC match. Purdue kept it close against Kilgore in their second match of the year while losing 6-3.

Prediction- Kilgore continues to dominate the MAC and claims the championship.

197 – Jimmy Hamel (UB) vs. Erik Schuth (OU) These two wrestlers narrowly made it to the finals as Hamel won a 3-1 decision in overtime and Schuth pulled out a 1-0 decision. Hamel had an impressive performance in the first round as he was the only wrestler in the championship bracket to earn a major decision. Hamel upset Schuth in their regular season match up with a 4-3 decision. At No. 19 in the nation, Schuth is the only nationally ranked 197-pounder in the MAC.

Prediction – Schuth avenges the regular season loss with a win.

285 - Jarod Trice (CMU) vs. Brendan Barlow (KSU) Trice took out OU's Andy Hartshorn 7-3 in the semifinals after a first-round bye. Barlow likewise had the bye and then defeated NIU's Dakota Greenhaw 3-1 to get into the championship in his first year as the starter. Trice has been living on the edge lately against MAC opponents and, although the 7-3 score might not indicate it, his semifinal went down to the end. Barlow barely lost to Trice in the regular season as the two had to go into extra time until Trice was able to pull it out.

Prediction- Trice's talent trumps his emotion and he pulls off the win for his first ever MAC Championship.