Missouri crowns five champions en route to third consecutive MAC Championship

The Missouri Tigers win the 2015 MAC Championships

VIDEO: 2015 MAC Championships Interviews

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The chants of M-I-Z echoed by Z-O-U shook the rafters at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo. as the hometown Missouri Tigers claimed its third-straight MAC Conference championship, crowning five individual champions on Saturday.

Missouri dominated the field, defeating runner-up Old Dominion by 42 points in the team standings. The Tigers totaled 139.5 points to the Monarchs 97.5 points. Ohio finished in third place with 85.5 points followed by fourth place finisher Kent State with 75.5 points.

The Tigers qualified all 10 of their wrestlers for the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis set for March 19-21.

“It’s pretty emotional because I think of the senior class. It’s a special class,” said Missouri head coach Brian Smith. “These guys are wrestling for a bigger purpose. Every weekend of the year they have been wrestling that way. It’s a very unselfish team, which makes a special team.”

Once again, undefeated and top-ranked Alan Waters set the tone for Missouri to start off the MAC finals by dominating sixth-ranked Dylan Peters of Northern Iowa to the tune of 11-4 in the 125-pound finals. Peters was the defending MAC Champion at 125 pounds.

Waters was named outstanding wrestler of the competition.

“I felt like I wrestled pretty well this weekend. I’ve been opening up a lot more and getting to a lot of my shots. I had a while there was I was wrestling some close matches, but I’ve been expanding that,” said Waters.

Waters is projected to be the No. 1 seed at the NCAA Championships in two weeks. This will mark Waters second trip to the NCAA’s boasting an undefeated record. He finished in fourth place at the 2013 NCAA Championships after coming into the tournament undefeated and the top-seed at 125 pounds.

Extending his NCAA-high winning streak to 53 matches, returning NCAA Champion for Missouri, J’den Cox, controlled Ohio’s No. 17 Phillip Wellington in the 197-pound finals. Cox earned a 3-1 victory in a MAC Championships finals rematch from one year ago, also won by Cox.

“I followed the game plan. He followed his. As you see we know each other pretty well. It’s one of those matches where you have to outsmart the other guy. Really good match though,” said Cox. “I focus on getting ready to wrestle. I don’t prepare for no man. I don’t prepare for no event. I prepare to wrestle. That’s what I come here to do.”

The undefeated Cox will undoubtedly be the top seed at the NCAA Championships at 197 pounds come St. Louis. His win on Saturday gives Cox his second MAC crown as a true sophomore.

Also projecting to be the top seed at the NCAA Championships, No. 1 ranked Tiger Drake Houdashelt topped No. 12 Alexander Richardson of Old Dominion by a 5-2 decision.

With the victory on Saturday Houdashelt became the first four-time conference champion in Missouri wrestling history.

“It’s really exciting to get four, but it’s just another stepping stone for two weekends from now,” said Houdashelt. “It’s a lot of fun. My team is doing well and just having a blast out there this weekend.”

With only one automatic qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships at 133 pounds, extra importance was added to the finals bout between top-seed Zach Synon of Missouri and No. 2 seed Tyler Keselring of Central Michigan.

Synon corralled Keselring with a late third period takedown to eek out a 4-2 win, booking his trip to the NCAA Championships.

The fifth and final MAC champion for Missouri came at 285 pounds as No. 10 Devin Mellon upended rival No. 9 Blaize Cabell of Northern Iowa, 4-2. Cabell had beaten Mellon twice during the regular season.

At 184 pounds, No. 3 Jack Dechow claimed the lone individual title for runner-up Old Dominion as he avenged his lone loss of the season by taking out No. 14 Willie Miklus of Missouri, 6-4, courtesy of a takedown on the edge of the mat as time expired.

“He’s my only loss this year. In the last match I beat myself. This time around I wrestled smart. I knew I was going to take more attempts than him and eventually I was going to get one. Overall I wasn’t happy with my performance but a victory is a victory and I am MAC champ,” said Dechow.

Dechow is now a two-time MAC champion as a redshirt sophomore. He finished in fourth place last year at the NCAA Championships.

Central Michigan’s No. 5 Zachary Horan scored a takedown in sudden victory to edge Old Dominion’s No. 9 Chris Mecate, 5-3, in a battle of top-10 foes.

Defending MAC Champions No. 6 Ian Miller of Kent State, No. 15 Cooper Moore of Northern Iowa and No. 10 Cody Walters of Ohio all added another conference championship to their respective resumes by defeating ranked opponents in the finals.

The electric Miller wrestled a more cautious match against No. 16 Joseph LaValle of Missouri to earn a close 4-2 victory in the 157-pound finals.

Moore exacted some revenge against No. 14 Tristan Warner of Old Dominion in the 165-pound finals, winning by a 7-1 tally. Warner had only lost twice entering the MAC Championships, including a 7-4 win over Moore last month.

Walters topped Missouri’s No. 5 Johnny Eblen in a tight 6-4 battle. Walters scored the winning takedown late in the third period and was able to ride Eblen out for the victory.

Walters is now a three-time MAC champion as a redshirt junior.

The MAC has secured 33 automatic berths to the NCAA Championships. An additional 70 at-large spots from all conferences will be awarded on Wednesday, March 11.

Mid-American Conference Championships
March 7-8 at Hearnes Center, Columbia, Mo.

Finals Results

125 pounds (2 NCAA Qualifiers)
1st: No. 1 Alan Waters (Missouri) dec No. 6 Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa), 11-4
3rd: Derek Elmore (Northern Illinois) fall Brent Fleetwood (Central Michigan), 2:52
5th: Brandon Jeske (Old Dominion) dec Edilberto Vinas (Kent State), 5-4
True 2nd: No. 6 Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa) maj dec Derek Elmore (Northern Illinois), 13-1

133 pounds (1 NCAA Qualifier)
1st: Zach Synon (Missouri) dec Tyler Keselring (Central Michigan), 4-2
3rd: Mackenzie McGuire (Kent State) dec Kagan Squire (Ohio), 3-2
5th: Michael Hayes (Old Dominion) Med For Vincent Pizzuto (Eastern Michigan)

141 pounds (3 NCAA Qualifiers)
1st: No. 5 Zachary Horan (Central Michigan) dec No. 9 Chris Mecate (Old Dominion), 5-3 SV1
3rd: No. 6 Lavion Mayes (Missouri) dec Jake Hodges (Northern Iowa), 6-4
5th: Tyler Small (Kent State) dec Michael Shaw (Eastern Michigan), 6-2

149 pounds (5 NCAA Qualifiers)
1st: No. 1 Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) dec No. 12 Alexander Richardson (Old Dominion), 5-2
3rd: Michael Depalma (Kent State) fall No. 14 Tywan Claxton (Ohio), 1:52
5th: No. 15 Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan) dec Nick Barber (Eastern Michigan), 6-5 TB1

157 pounds (3 NCAA Qualifiers)
1st: No. 6 Ian Miller (Kent State) dec No. 16 Joseph LaValle (Missouri), 4-2
3rd: Sparty Chino (Ohio) dec Cody LeCount (Central Michigan), 6-5
5th: Brandon Zeerip (Eastern Michigan) dec Jarrett Jensen (Northern Iowa), 5-4

165 pounds (4 NCAA Qualifiers)
1st: No. 15 Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa) dec No. 14 Tristan Warner (Old Dominion), 7-1
3rd: Harrison Hightower (Ohio) dec Shaun’Qae McMurty (Northern Illinois), 8-4
5th: Mike England (Missouri) dec Jordan Wohlfert (Central Michigan), 4-1
True 4th: Mike England (Missouri) dec Shaun’Qae McMurty (Northern Illinois), 4-1

174 pounds (3 NCAA Qualifiers)
1st: No. 10 Cody Walters (Ohio) dec No. 5 Johnny Eblen (Missouri), 6-4
3rd: Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan) dec Caleb Marsh (Kent State), 4-3
5th: Trace Engelkes (Northern Illinois) dec Austin Coburn (Old Dominion), 5-4

184 pounds (2 NCAA Qualifiers)
1st: No. 3 Jack Dechow (Old Dominion) dec No. 14 Willie Miklus (Missouri), 6-4
3rd: Andrew Romanchik (Ohio) fall Austin Severn (Central Michigan), 7:21
5th: Cody Caldwell (Northern Iowa) Med For Jerald Spohn (Kent State)

197 pounds (6 NCAA Qualifiers)
1st: No. 1 J’den Cox (Missouri) dec No. 17 Phillip Wellington (Ohio), 3-1
3rd: Kevin Beazley (Old Dominion) inj def Shawn Scott (Northern Illinois), 0:03
5th: Anthony Abro (Eastern Michigan) dec Basil Minto (Northern Iowa), 3-1 SV1

285 pounds (4 NCAA Qualifiers)
1st: No. 10 Devin Mellon (Missouri) dec No. 9 Blaize Cabell (Northern Iowa), 4-2
3rd: Jacob Henderson (Old Dominion) dec Mimmo Lytle (Kent State), 2-1
5th: Jesse Webb (Ohio) maj dec Arthur Bunce (Northern Illinois), 13-5
True 4th: Mimmo Lytle (Kent State) dec Jesse Webb (Ohio), 1-0

Team Standings
1. Missouri 139.5
2. Old Dominion 97.5
3. Ohio 85.5
4. Kent State 75.5
5. Central Michigan 74.5
6. Northern Iowa 72.5
7. Northern Illinois 40
8. Eastern Michigan 28.5