When Zach Synon, Missouri wrestling’s 133-pound starter, picked up Ohio State’s Johnni Dijulius the first time, he knew he had gotten him to where he needed to be for the win.
Unfortunately, the takedown was called out of bounds, and Synon and Dijulius went back to the center of the mat. Right after the third period had started, Synon did the same thing, but this time, pinned Dijulius with 1:01 left in the period.
“Honestly it was just so fast, and there wasn’t really time to think,” Synon said. “But I got him down to his back and tightened him up and told myself I couldn’t let him get out of there. It was huge for the team.”
No. 8 Mizzou made a huge comeback Saturday night at home to beat No. 3 Ohio State, 26-17. After trailing 10-0 due to losses from freshman heavyweight James Romero and sophomore 125-pound Barlow McGhee, Synon picked up the pin to start a trail of wins.
After Synon electrified the crowd during his win, 141-pound junior Matt Manley came back to win against Micah Jordan 4-3, pumping up the crowd and the rest of the team even more.
“Synon and Manley were two big wins,” Missouri coach Brian Smith said. “You could feel the energy, the crowd and the guys had it tonight. That was probably the most fun dual meet I’ve seen, and that’s 18 years.
“A lot of these guys, it’s their first time in the lineup, and they want to compete. You can work with a team like that, with a team that likes to win. They’re stepping up to my expectations.”
At 149 pounds, junior Lavion Mayes won by major decision against Cody Burcher 12-3. Freshman 157-pounder Luke Fortuna lost his match 10-2 and allowed Ohio State to take the lead again, 14-13. After a hard-fought contest with multiple stalling call points given, redshirt freshman Daniel Lewis lost 6-4, putting Ohio State up 17-13.
Senior Blaise Butler then was up at 174 pounds. Wrestling with complete control of the match, he won by decision, 13-3, tying the dual at 17-17 with two matches to go. Sophomore and 184-pound Willie Miklus dominated Ohio State’s Kenny Courts, winning by technical fall, 15-0.
“I expect to go out there and put points on the board, and that’s what I did,” Miklus said. “That’s all I want to do is put points on the board. I know our program has never been looked at as better than (Ohio State’s) in the past, so it felt good to get that win. It was a team effort, those guys went out there and scrapped hard and I couldn’t be more proud of my team.”
After Miklus almost guaranteed the team win, 197-pound junior J’Den Cox wrestled a clean and strong match to win over Ohio State’s Mark Martin, 11-2. Mizzou is 3-0 in duals to start the season, and the team increased its dual winning streak to 31 meets.
Saturday’s meet was also alumni night for the “Tiger Style” program, and Smith said having old teammates helped seal the win for the team. Synon and Miklus also said they enjoyed seeing old teammates on the sides of the mat.
“To have the alumni back means a lot to the team because we have been talking about how important tradition is,” Smith said. “It’s one of the best tradition programs at Mizzou now, we truly believe that. To do this with those guys here, it was really fun.”
Mizzou will stay at home for their next meet this Sunday against Ohio.