Missouri heavyweight Devin Mellon said he was scared when he felt a pop in his hamstring.

The redshirt freshman was wrestling against Oklahoma’s Kyle Colling in the third-place match of the Big 12 Conference Championships after a first-round loss to Oklahoma State’s Austin Marsden. That’s when the 285-pounder hit the mat in pain, draping an eerie silence over the Hearnes Center.

“I just started thinking about all the hard work and stuff we did,” Mellon said. “I thought it all came to an end.”

The match, which was for an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, was over. Colling won by injury default after Mellon’s failed attempt to stand up on an injured leg.

Mellon spent the rest of the night in the stands, sporting a full leg brace. After his team won the first Big 12 Championship in program history, teammates carried him from the stands to join the celebration.

“One of the best feelings I’ve had is the whole team winning it,” sophomore Alan Waters said after the tournament.

Missouri’s heavyweight was the only wrestler in the lineup not to qualify for the national tournament that night. Mellon’s injury made him a long shot for one of the four wildcard spots at the heavyweight division, but his resume, which includes victories over multiple ranked opponents, was enough to win over the selection committee and make him the 10th and final Tiger to qualify.

“I think that’s awesome, having all 10 guys going,” Waters said. “We can support each other through the whole tournament and build off each other’s wins.”

Despite Mellon’s injury, coach Brian Smith said he was confident his heavyweight would qualify for nationals.

“I knew he had a good resume,” Smith said. “He was definitely a top-33 guy in the country. I knew he had a good chance.”

Although the Tigers qualified all 10 wrestlers, Mellon’s status is still not certain. The injury to his hamstring has ranged in classification from partially torn to badly pulled. The training staff has been working with Mellon four times per day, and the injury that was supposed to keep him off the mat for at least three weeks only took him out of action for a week and a half.

“We’ve been really pushing it,” Mellon said. “We’re almost there.”

Mellon said another week would put him at 100 percent, and he is slated to face American University’s Ryan Flores, the No. 1 wrestler in his weight class, at the NCAA Championships on Thursday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Mellon’s hamstring injury will force him to change his approach.

“I’m just going to have to change my style a little bit,” said Mellon, who is known for his quickness despite his size. “I’m actually going to have to wrestle like a heavyweight. It’s going to be different.”

Injury aside, Mellon did not wrestle as well as he would have liked to at the Big 12 Tournament, which has shaken his confidence. He knows he has much to prove this weekend.

“I have nothing to be scared of,” Mellon said. “I’ve beaten top-ranked guys. I’m ready to see what I can do.”

That mental approach is what has the freshman on track to wrestle for a national championship in his first season in the lineup.

“He wants the opportunity, so the mind can overcome a lot of things.” Smith said. “His body’s been injured, but he wants to be there.”