Once again, the Missouri wrestling team is sending wrestlers to the NCAA wrestling national tournament. This year, Missouri will send nine of 10 wrestlers to the tournament, which starts Thursday in New York City.
Last year, Mizzou finished fourth overall in the team standings, crowning six All-Americans and one national champion. Lavion Mayes, Willie Miklus and J’den Cox are all returning All-Americans. On the other hand, 125-pounder Barlow McGhee, 157-pounder Le’Roy Barnes, and 165-pounder Daniel Lewis will all be making their national tournament debuts in the Big Apple. The Tigers enter the tournament as the No. 7 team in the country. Here’s a preview:
####125 pounds
After claiming his first Mid-American Conference title in his career at Mizzou, 125-pounder Barlow McGhee was awarded the No. 8 seed in the 33-man pool.
McGhee will face Wyoming’s Drew Templeman in the first round and will most likely have a MAC finals rematch with Northern Iowa’s Dylan Peters in the second round. If McGhee can manage to takedown Peters as he did the in MAC finals, he’ll face returning national champion, No. 1 Nathan Tomasello of Ohio State on Friday morning. Tomasello defeated McGhee 10–1 this season.
####133 pounds
Last season, Zach Synon earned himself a bid to the national tournament. However, this season, Synon qualified via wildcard due to his poor performance at the MAC tournament.
Synon’s performance from the conference tournament matches him up with Wisconsin’s No. 12-seed Ryan Taylor, a returning All-American. If Synon can’t get passed Taylor, he’ll most likely face Central Michigan’s Corey Keener, who placed second in the MAC tournament, in an elimination match. Synon will have to wrestle at his best if he hopes to avoid a quick exit from the tournament.
####141 pounds
Matt Manley made the finals at the MAC tournament but never got the opportunity to wrestle for first.
The 141-pounder suffered an injury in the semi-finals match, which forced him to forfeit in the finals. Manley’s injury could play a role in his performance this week.
Despite being the No. 5-seed, the road to the finals is far from easy for Manley. Manley’s side of the bracket features five returning all-Americans, including reigning All-American Jimmy Guilbon of Penn State in the first round.
####149 pounds
For the second straight season, returning all-American, Lavion Mayes, had a disappointing showing at the conference tournament. Mayes finished fourth last weekend, but surprisingly earned the No. 3-seed in the national tournament.
Mayes will open against Oklahoma’s Davion Jeffries, who Mayes defeated this year, 4-2. Mayes could potentially face No. 6-seed Jason Tsirtis of Northwestern on Friday morning in the quarterfinals and the winner of that match will earn their second medal, while the loser will have to fight for one on the consolation side of the bracket.
####157 pounds
The 2013 NJCAA national champion, Le’Roy Barnes, is starting to turn some heads.
Barnes picked up an individual MAC title — and a national tournament bid — last weekend at 157 pounds as the No. 5-seed.
Barnes will face Cornell’s Dylan Palacio in the first round.
####165 pounds
Redshirt freshman Daniel Lewis already won himself a MAC title in his first year of eligiblity, and he’s not satisfied yet.
Lewis enters the tournament as the No. 4-seed and should breeze into the quarterfinals. Lewis is projected to wrestle NC State’s Max Rohskopf, who Lewis beat by a decision of 6-1 last month.
####174 pounds
Blaise Butler looks to earn a medal in his third and final try at the national tournament. He enters the tournament as the No. 3-seed.
Much like his teammate, Daniel Lewis, Butler is projected to get his rematch in the semifinals against Brian Realbuto of Cornell. Realbuto defeated Butler 3-2 earlier this season.
If Butler wrestles the way he has all season, he should have no trouble becoming an All-American and picking up team points for the Tigers.
####184 pounds
Willie Miklus entered the NCAA tournament last season unranked, and ended up in seventh place.
All eight of the 184-pound place winners from 2015 are back for the 2016 national tournament. This year, Miklus enters as the No.14-seed and much like last season, he will have to wrestle better than projected to return to the podium.
Miklus is projected to face No. 3-seed Victor Avery of Edinboro in the second round. Avery took third at last year’s tournament.
Five of the eight returning all-Americans are on the same side of the bracket as Miklus, making it one of the toughest roads to the finals in the entire tournament.
####197 pounds
Only one person stands in the way of J’Den Cox, and that’s Penn State’s Morgan McIntosh. McIntosh defeated Cox in the consolation semi-finals in last year’s tournament, 3-1.
McIntosh and Cox are both undefeated this year and are projected to wrestle Saturday night in the finals.
With the win, Cox can earn his second NCAA title and third medal —the only other Mizzou wrestler to do so was Ben Askren.
