Missouri wrestlers dominant in first round of Mid-American championships

No Missouri wrestler faced more pressure Saturday on the opening day of the Mid-American Conference wrestling championships at the Hearnes Center than sophomore 133-pounder Zach Synon.

The MAC is guaranteed 33 spots at the NCAA Division I wrestling national championships later this month in St. Louis, but only one of those is allocated from Synon’s weight class.

That means Synon must win the conference title to guarantee himself a spot at nationals.

In every other weight class, at least the top two and as many as the top-six finishers earn an automatic nationals berth, but if Synon was feeling any pressure, if didn’t show.

“I knew I had to win and we’ve been training for this all year, so I just went out and competed,” Synon said. “As coach says, I did what I do best.”

Synon, 30-11, opened with a 4-2 decision against Northern Illinois’ Jordan Northrup and followed up with a 4-3 decision against Ohio’s Kagan Squire.

During that semifinal, it was a takedown at the buzzer in the first period that proved to be the difference.

“I knew there was short time, because when I shot in there was short time and then I was kind of stuck there for a second,” Synon said. “I was like, ‘Well, I’ve got to give it all I have,’ and luckily it was enough.”

Now, Synon is one victory against Central Michigan’s Tyler Kesslering away from being crowned a MAC champion and everything that comes with it.

“I’ll sleep good, just like any night before a competition,” Synon said. “There’s some pressure, though. I walk away a conference champion and an NCAA qualifier or nothing.”

Missouri basically wrapped up a fourth straight conference championship Saturday by qualifying eight of 10 wrestlers for title matches.

“It’s pretty awesome,” senior 125-pounder Alan Waters said. “We’d like to have 10, but, shoot, eight — that’s a pretty good number. Hopefully, we can go out and get it done tomorrow. Get eight champions.”

The Tigers, who won the Big 12 in 2012 and also own back-to-back MAC crowns, collected 122 team points for a commanding 45 1/2-point lead ahead of second-place Old Dominion entering Sunday’s finals.

Waters, a Park Hill graduate and the nation’s top-ranked wrestler, dominated, winning both of his matches by technical fall and outscoring his opponents 34-1 along the way (without riding time).

He finished off Eastern Michigan’s Blake Caudill in 6:51 and wrapped up a win against Northern Illinois’ Derek Elmore in 5:45.

Waters’ former Park Hill teammate and fellow senior Johnny Eblen also battled into his final at 174 with a 6-2 decision against Kent State’s Caleb Marsh in the semifinals.

“Johnny isn’t pretty, and I would tell him that when he’s all dressed up too, but Johnny has a game plan,” Tigers coach Brian Smith said. “He’s got to stick with it, and when he sticks with it, he gets wins.”

Senior 149-pounder Drake Houdashelt, sophomore 157-pounder Joey Lavallee, freshman 184-pounder Willie Miklus, sophomore 197-pounder J’den Cox and senior heavyweight Devin Mellon also reached their respective finals.

Cox received a bye in the semifinals when Northern Illinois’ Shawn Scott withdrew because of injury.

Based on the MAC’s allocation, Waters, Houdashelt, Lavallee, Eblen, Miklus, Cox and Mellon have earned automatic berths at the NCAA Division I wrestling national championships, which are set for March 19-21 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

Obviously, Synon isn’t one of them.

“I’d rather have already qualified, but I’m going to go out there and wrestle how I would anyway …,” Synon said. “Getting all 10 guys down to national would be huge for us. We need all the points we can get.”

It wasn’t a perfect day for Missouri, which won 18 of 20 matches on the day.

Sophomore Lavion Mayes was upset in sudden-victory overtime during the 141 semifinals and senior 165-pounder Mikey England was the only MU wrestler to suffer a first-round loss.

Mayes will have to win the consolation bracket Sunday and finish third to earn a guaranteed spot at nationals, while England must win his consolation semifinal Sunday to earn a berth.

This story was originally published March 7, 2015 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Missouri wrestlers dominant in first round of Mid-American championships."