Ohio wrestling coach Joel Greenlee began his collegiate wrestling career as a freshman at Northern Iowa, a perennial wrestling powerhouse he proclaimed is the university’s “premiere program.”
Since graduating in 1989 and moving on to become an assistant coach for the Panthers through 1997, Greenlee has squared off against his alma mater only once, in his first season at the helm for the Bobcats. Beginning next season, Greenlee will regularly make a trip to Cedar Falls, Iowa as the Mid-American Conference league office announced five-year agreements with the Northern Iowa, Old Dominion and Missouri wrestling programs Wednesday.
With the new additions, two of which finished the season ranked in the National Wrestling Coaches Association/USA Today Top 25, the MAC became the third largest wrestling conference in the country.
The teams’ introduction, of course, pleased Greenlee and other MAC coaches and administrators.
“…The (MAC) has made a move that will take what is already a very strong wrestling conference and make it one of the elite wrestling conferences in the country,” said Jon Steinbrecher, MAC commissioner, in a news release.
Both Missouri and Northern Iowa will compete in postseason play this season and will enter the conference schedule regularly the following year.
Missouri, the most widely recognized addition, joined the Southeastern Conference in 2012. Perhaps the nation’s most prestigious conference is not home to a single varsity wrestling program, prompting the Tigers’ move to the MAC.
Although the move doesn’t directly affect Ohio, Greenlee said having such a high-profile opponent on its conference slate could pose an advantage for preexisting MAC teams.
He said it’s tough for teams such as Ohio to schedule top-tier opponents from larger conferences because they might not want to risk a loss to a smaller school.
“That’s one of the things we’ve tried to hang out hats on, and it’s tough to get those teams on the schedule,” he said. “When we can get a Big Ten team (for example) on our schedule and beat them, they don’t want to wrestle (anymore.)”
Greenlee also said he could see an uptick in interest from recruits, being that they will square off against higher-profile teams on a regular basis.
Old Dominion, the only of the three additions that will not join the MAC until the 2013-14 season, will also pose a test to the Bobcats. The Monarchs finished last season ranked24th in the NWCA/USA Today poll and received seven individual NCAA bids, fourth-most in the nation.
Expanded conference play will also give the Bobcats an opportunity to take the mat at The Convo more often, beginning in the 2013-14 season.
"Now you add three good teams and you get more, better home matches," Greenlee said. "And you can make some better rivalries."
jr992810@ohiou.edu
