David BolyardCleveland, Ohio -- The Mid-American Conference announced today three wrestling postseason awards for the 2018 season. Eastern Michigan's David Bolyard was named MAC Coach of the Year, while Missouri's Jaydin Eierman was selected as MAC Wrestler of the Year and Old Dominion's Michael McGee was named MAC Freshman of the Year.
All three awards were voted on by the conference's head wrestling coaches following the conclusion of the 2018 NCAA Wrestling Tournament.
The 2017-18 campaign was David Bolyard's most successful season at Eastern Michigan as the Eagles finished with an 8-8 dual record, including 3-5 in the MAC and perfect 3-0 mark at home. Eastern Michigan proceeded to tear up the MAC Championships, as they took third place, finishing behind nationally ranked Missouri and Central Michigan. The third-place finish was the best for the Eagles since 2012.
Bolyard coached four grapplers into the finals of their respective weight classes, including an individual title for Kayne MacCallum at 184 lbs., Eastern Michigan's first individual champion since 2009. In addition, the Eagles qualified five total grapplers into the 2018 NCAA Championships, tying a program record set 1989 and matched in 1996.
At the NCAA Championships, Bolyard capped off the momentous year by guiding 141 pounder Sa'Derian Perry to All-American status, as the redshirt sophomore took eighth place at the weight class. It was Eastern Michigan's fifth All-American in program history and first since 1999.
Missouri sophomore Jaydin Eierman wrestled to a fourth-place finish at 141 pounds at the 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships to earn his second consecutive All-America honor. Eierman won his second MAC title at the MAC Championships, and recorded a 32-3 record over the season, as two of his three defeats came to the NCAA finalists at 141 pounds. Eierman was a bonus point machine in his second season, as he won 24 matches by bonus points, including 16 falls, which rank ninth all-time in program history for falls in a season.
A native of Columbia, Mo., Eierman was a perfect 16-0 in duals this season, as his 79 points ranked second while his eight falls in dual competition ranked tied-for-first. Overall, Eierman defeated 10 ranked wrestlers in 2017-18, including a 9-6 win over eventual National Champion Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell at the South Beach Duals on Dec. 30, and a pin over two-time defending National Champion Dean Heil of Oklahoma State in a Jan. 27 dual to help the Tigers beat No. 5 Oklahoma State. Eierman's win over Heil helped him earn MAC and NCAA Wrestler of the Week honors.
Old Dominion true freshman Michael McGee won the 125-pound 2018 MAC Championship. McGee routed his opponents by a 24-7 margin on the way to the title. In the finals, the Illinois native avenged his only MAC loss of the season in an overtime battle to Brock Hudkins of NIU. After earning an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship, McGee took the fifth seed into overtime in the first round of the tournament as an unseeded wrestler.
A native of Bolingbrook, Ill., McGee finished his freshman campaign with a 29-10 overall record. Throughout the regular season, McGee appeared in the national rankings several times, ranking as high as No. 20. In the regular season, McGee had just eight losses, four of those losses coming to nationally ranked opponents.
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