Missouri wrestling has eight wrestlers moving on to the finals of the Mid-American Conference Championships after a strong showing in the quarter and semifinal rounds March 7 at the Hearnes Center.
The Tigers lead the field by a wide margin. Their 122.0 team points put them 45.5 ahead of second-place Old Dominion, who have 76.5. Northern Iowa rounds out the top three with 63.0.
Mizzou has already qualified seven wrestlers for the NCAA Championships set for March 19-20 and have the potential to qualify wrestlers in each of the 10 weight classes.
But the team wasn’t thinking about nationals, Missouri coach Brian Smith said. Today, the Tigers’ attention was focused on racking up intra-conference wins in order to win a third consecutive conference championship.
“We keep wrestling, we don’t change anything we do,” Smith said. “You don’t want that mindset where you’re thinking too far ahead, no, there were people here to watch us wrestle today.”
No. 1 seed Alan Waters started the day for the Tigers by getting out to a 14-1 lead on Eastern Michigan’s No. 8 seed Blake Caudill by the end of the first period by way of two takedowns and four near falls. Waters put the stamp on Caudill early in the second, recording another near fall and securing a 17-1 technical fall.
Waters treated the Hearnes Center crowd to an even greater display of dominance in his second dual, against Northern Illinois’ Derek Elmore. Waters recorded three takedowns and four near-falls without letting Elmore score a point and defeated the Husky grappler via technical fall 18-0.
Waters said he wished he had been able to pin Elmore and get more bonus points for his team.
“I was really trying to work for the pin,” he said. “We need those bonus points. I think that’s going to be really big for us in the future. Getting pins and bonus points can really make the difference.”
No. 2 seed Lavion Mayes dominated Eastern Michigan’s No. 7 seed Michael Shaw, recording two takedowns, two escapes and a reversal over three periods, cruising to a 8-1 victory via decision.
Old Dominion’s Chris Mecate defeated Mayes by 3-1 decision in overtime, handing Mayes his second dual loss of the year. Mecate took very few shots during the match, which frustrated Tiger fans in attendance and led to jeers calling for more action. Mecate did not oblige and the two wrestlers entered the overtime period locked at 1-1. Mecate put an end to the match with a takedown and won 3-1.
Smith wasn’t concerned with Mayes having to take all of the shots during his match. In fact, he praised the aggression of Mayes and all of the other Tiger wrestlers.
“We’re the team taking the shots and I love that,” Smith said. “When we get to nationals, the team that’s attacking is the team that is going to do well. Our team is really getting after it and attacking our opponents.”
No. 1 seed Drake Houdashelt recorded a takedown just 25 seconds into his opening dual versus No. 8 seed Austin Culton of Northern Illinois. Houdashelt kept the pressure on Culton throughout the match and secured a 16-1 victory by technical fall. Spurred by Houdashelt’s impressive performance, the Hearnes Center crowd broke out into a spirited “MIZ-ZOU” call and response cheer.
Houdashelt faced off with Ohio’s Tywan Claxton in his second dual and came away with a 7-4 victory by decision. Claxton tested him, closing the gap to 6-4 with 45 seconds left in the third, but he was unable to upset the No. 1 seed. With the victory, Houdashelt advances to the finals tomorrow.
No. 1 seed Willie Miklus struggled early against Eastern Michigan’s No. 8 seed Michael Curby. The match was deadlocked until Miklus recorded a takedown with 1:20 left in the first period. The grapplers remained close and the period closed with the score 2-1 in favor of Miklus. The second period saw Miklus open up a 7-3 advantage over Curby and secure a victory by fall at 6:19.
Miklus is on his way to the finals tomorrow after defeating Ohio’s Andrew Romanchik via major decision 12-4. Romanchik was overmatched at every stage and was called for stalling in both the first and third period. The third period saw a flurry of scoring that drove Miklus’ point total up to 12 and left little doubt about why he was given the No. 1 seed.
Miklus did, however, let up in the final seconds of his match against Romanchik in an effort to secure the major decision and get more points for his team.
Smith said that the move was entirely intentional.
“The kids know that there’s more than just getting a win,” he said. “We have to put extra points on the board, not only this week, but also in the future. It’s what we have to do at nationals if we want to be successful.”
No. 1 seed J’den Cox imposed his will on No. 8 seed Jackson Lewis of Central Michigan, recording over four minutes of riding time during their quarterfinal match. Cox broke the match open early, finishing the first period with a 6-1 advantage over Lewis. Cox continued to apply pressure throughout the match and secured the victory over Lewis by 17-3 major decision.
Cox advanced to the MAC Championship finals by way of a medical forfeit over Shawn Scott of Northern Illinois.
Missouri wrestling will be back at the Hearnes Center tomorrow at 2 p.m. for the final day of the MAC Championships.
