Eight of nine schools to be represented in 2017 MAC finals

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The finals are set for the 2017 MAC Wrestling Championships, featuring eight of the nine conference members. Mizzou leads the way with six Tigers and Northern Iowa put five Panthers in the mix.

Sending six wrestlers to finals gave Missouri a huge lead in the team race with 117.5 points. Northern Iowa is the No. 2 team with 90.5 points.

 “We’re seeing a lot of action from our guys,” Missouri head coach Brian Smith said. “Guys are getting after it. We scored some bonus and got a few falls in there from the semis. Tomorrow is another day so we have to go get some more wins tomorrow and put the tournament away.”

Bonus points seemed to be the theme for the Tigers on Saturday afternoon.

J’den Cox and Daniel Lewis, both returning MAC champions for the Tigers, shined on day one, registering wins by fall in each of their matches.

“One more pin [in the finals] would really cap it off,” Lewis said. “Pins are nice because you get off the mat and get to save some energy for those tougher matches. Also, I want to set the pin record for our team every year, so I’m two steps in the right direction.”

Lewis, who will face Bryce Steiert of UNI in the 165-pound finals, spent less than five minutes on the mat, while Cox competed for 6:54.

At 197, Cox, in search of his fourth MAC title, will face Old Dominion’s Kevin Beazley, who outlasted NIU’s Shawn Scott in a tight 4-3 match.

Cox and Beazley wrestled earlier this year with the Tiger taking a 5-0 victory.

“I’m just excited to wrestle [Cox],” Beazley said. “He’s pretty much the pinnacle of folkstyle wrestling, and he’s at the top, so I’m excited for this matchup. I’m going to give him all I’ve got and I hope he gives me all he has.”

Other bonus points for Mizzou came from Joey Lavallee at 157 pounds and John Erneste at 133 pounds.

Lavalle picked up a 14-1 major in the semis, while Erneste improved on a 1-0 quarterfinal win with a pin against Kent State’s Anthony Tutolo.

Moving on for the Tigers with wins by decision were Jaydin Eierman (141) and Lavion Mayes (149).

The semifinals featured several upsets, including wrestlers at 133 and 285 pounds knocking off the No. 1 seeds at their weight.

Fourth-seeded Bryan Lantry of Buffalo took out home crowd favorite and 11th-ranked wrestler in the nation Josh Alber of Northern Iowa in the 133-pound semis. Lantry tallied an escape, followed by a takedown to take a 3-1 lead in the third period. At the end of the bout, Alber, trailing 3-2, executed a takedown, but it was too late with the clock expiring.

Lantry will take on Mizzou’s Erneste in tomorrow’s finals.

The heavyweight finals will pit No. 5 against No. 6.

Jake Gunning of Buffalo and Gage Hutchison of Eastern Michigan put together impressive performances to earn their spots in the finals.

No. 5 Gunning knocked off top-seeded Zack Parker of Ohio with a 9-1 major decision, while No. 6 Hutchison notched his second win of the day against a top-3 seed, defeating two-seed Austin Myers of Missouri in the tiebreaker, 5-2.

As the No 6-seed, two-time All-American Dylan Peters returns to the finals for the fourth year in a row, edging out Northern lllinois’ Brock Hudkins, 4-2, in the 125-pound semifinals. Peters seeks his second MAC title as he matches up with top-seeded Shakur Laney of Ohio.

At 149 pounds, UNI’s Max Thomsen, the No. 3 seed, took an early 4-0 lead against All-American and second-seeded Justin Oliver of Central Michigan that he was able to hold on to for an eventual 5-3 win. Thomsen’s win avenges a 4-1 loss to Oliver from January.

“I know I made jumps through the season,” Thomsen said. “I’m peaking at the right time as you can see, and I’m flipping a 4-1 loss into a 6-3 win. There’s more to be done. I have a MAC title to wrestle for, and then there’s the big show.”

Thomsen will wrestle Mayes of Mizzou in the finals. The two wrestled three weeks ago in a dual with Thomsen taking a decisive 9-2 win.

Another Panther in the finals is top-seed Taylor Lujan at 174 pounds. Lujan, who recorded a fall earlier in the day, won an 11-8 decision against MU’s Dylan Wisman.

Lujan will take on NIU’s Trace Engelkes, who picked up an exciting overtime win, knocking off No. 2 Christian Brucki with a blast double in sudden victory.

“That was a really big one for me because going into it was a mental battle,” Engelkes said. “I wrestled Brucki a few weeks ago and it didn’t go so well. In fact, I got teched. I knew deep down that I was a better wrestler than what I showed. I knew that I could beat him. Shutting him down with my offense was huge in this match and a great sense of security.

The tournament continues tomorrow at 12 p.m. CT with consolation rounds. The finals are scheduled for 2 p.m. on ESPN3.

2017 MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS

March 4-5 at McLeod Center, Cedar Falls, Iowa

Finals pairings
125: No. 1 Shakur Laney (OHIO) vs. No. 6 Dylan Peters (UNI)
133: No. 4 Bryan Lantry (BUFF) vs. No. 2 John Erneste (MIZ)
141: No. 1 Jaydin Eierman (MIZ) vs. No. 2 Noah Forrider (OHIO)
149: No. 1 Lavion Mayes (MIZ) vs. No. 3 Max Thomsen (UNI)
157: No. 1 Joey Lavallee (MIZ) vs. No. 2 Collin Heffernan (CMU)
165: No. 1 Daniel Lewis (MIZ) vs. No. 2 Bryce Steiert (UNI)
174: No. 1 Taylor Lujan (UNI) vs. No. 4 Trace Engelkes (NIU)
184: No. 1 Drew Foster (UNI) vs. No. 2 Jack Dechow (ODU)
197: No. 1 J'den Cox (MIZ) vs. No. 2 Kevin Beazley (ODU)
285: No. 5 Jake Gunning (BUFF) vs. No. 6 Gage Hutchison (EMU)

Semifinals results
125 bs.
Shakur Laney (OHIO) dec. Noah Gonser (EMU), 5-3
Dylan Peters (UNI) dec. Brock Hudkins (NIU), 4-2

133 lbs.
Bryan Lantry (BUFF) dec. Josh Alber (UNI), 3-2
John Erneste (MIZ) fall Anthony Tutolo (KENT), 3:51

141 lbs.
Jaydin Eierman (MIZ) dec. Kevin Budock (ODU), 8-2
Noah Forrider (OHIO) dec. Angel Velasquez (NIU), 5-0

149 lbs.
Lavion Mayes (MIZ) dec. Steve Bleise (NIU), 5-2
Max Thomsen (UNI) dec. Justin Oliver (CMU), 6-3

157 lbs.
Joey Lavallee (MIZ) MD Casey Sparkman (KENT), 14-1
Colin Hefferan (CMU) dec. Zach Carson (EMU), 7-3

165 lbs.
Daniel Lewis (MIZ) fall Shaun'Qae McMurtry (NIU), 2:55
Bryce Steiert (UNI) dec. Seldon Wright (ODU), 10-4

174 lbs.
Taylor Lujan (UNI) dec. Dylan Wisman (MIZ), 11-8
Trace Engelkes (NIU) dec. Christian Brucki (CMU), 11-9

184 lbs.
Drew Foster (UNI) dec. Matt Lemanowicz (MIZ), 5-2
Jack Dechow (ODU) dec. Jordan Ellingwood (CMU), 3-2

197 lbs.
J'den Cox (MIZ) fall Stephen Suglio (KENT), 4:06
Kevin Beazley (ODU) dec. Shawn Scott (NIU), 4-3

285 lbs.
Jake Gunning (BUFF) MD Zack Parker (OHIO), 9-1
Gage Hutchison (EMU) dec. Austin Myers (MIZ), 5-2 TB2

Team scores
1. Missouri - 117.5
2. Northern Iowa – 90.5
3. Old Dominion – 82.5
4. Central Michigan – 72.0
5. Northern Illinois – 64.0
6. Buffalo - 61.5
7. Eastern Michigan – 56.0
8. Ohio - 53.0
9. Kent State – 41.5