Mizzou Wrestling: Another Big Weekend Ahead

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On Tuesday we talked about this past weekends duals HERE. Today, we're moving on to Okie State.

Beef

Let’s get to the WrestlePokes (no one actually calls them that I don’t believe):

At 125, should be a solid match between two seasoned vets in #2 Waters and #9 Klimara (by the way…with all the talk about Delgado from ILL being hurt, I wonder how much longer Waters may be at #2). Waters owns a 5-4 decision over Klimara from the Scuffle (plus two decisions in 2013), and this is a match which I think OSU needs to have if they have designs on taking this dual.

What are you looking at 133, where Zac Synon broke into the 133 rankings this week for WIN Magazine at #18?

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Synon has been wrestling well of late. Im not 100% sure who Synon will face but it appears to be Gary Harding who has 22 wins on the season. Harding was at the Southern Scuffle, but he did not meet Synon, nor did he place. I'd have to think Synon would be the favorite as Harding lost to CMU's Keselring 7-0 (Synon just beat Keselring 3-2) at the Scuffle.

141lbs will most likely be Lavion Mayes against fellow ranked (#19) Dean Heil. Hows this match setting up?

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Another nice chance for Lavion to earn back a bit of the starch he lost from falling to Horan (who is ranked pretty highly as it is…it was just the manner in which he lost that was pretty disappointing). I think the matchup for him is pretty decent, as he does own a 3-1 (TB1) win over him from the Scuffle.

On to 149 and probably the match of the dual. Can Houda get Kindig back for that ridiculous scramble/TD he hit in the Scuffle?

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That was just insane. Fully and incredibly insane. I think Houdashelt is fired up and wants revenge. Key is, he can't get too over extended or hyped up. Kindig is a smart wrestler, as we saw with that move. If Houdashelt goes in motivated, but not Lattimore crazy, he can take this match. I say he does, and wins out from now until the NCAAs. Is that too much starry eyed whimsy?

157 has Lavalle with a chance to get a good rebound win, just like Mayes. Recently ranked 19th, Anthony Collica dropped a dual match this last weekend to unranked Ronnie Garbinsky (great freaking name) of Pitt. Who takes this match?

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After watching LaVallee go at it this past weekend, I just don’t know what to think about him. I know Collica was at 141 last season, so he jumped (over Kindig, which makes sense) to 157, so who knows how solid he is at the weight. He was a ranked wrestler at 141 last season, so the skills should be there. LaVallee has certainly not had an easy season by any means with all the ranked opponents he has faced, but this is another toss-up and I think one which Okie State probably feels decent about.

Speaking of feeling decent, Alex Dieringer is a monster at 165. A win here for us I would think would be England keeping it close…you think?

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Yeah, Dieringer is gonna be up there for the Hodge Trophy this season. Dude is a beast. You dont get beat by more than 6 or 7 and I think you put together a pretty good match. Limiting a match like this from getting 5 or 6 team points is huge. I think England can do it, but I will just have to wait and see.

174 has a Sr. in Eblen up against a previously ranked youngster in Rogers. How do you see this one going?

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Eblen has some experience against Rogers, beating him 12-8 last season (while also receiving an inj. Forfeit, as he also did against Kyle Crutchmer in case he steps out against him). At this point, I think Eblen has really started to solidify himself as a strong AA candidate at 174, so it is nice to see him maybe be able to earn back anything England may give up in the previous match.

Moving up the ladder, Willie is the owner of a WILD 18-10 win over Boyd. You seeing some of the same on Friday?

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Yeah, at this point Wild Willie just is what he is. Dude is strong, athletic, young, and raw. Hes fun to watch because he gives a ton of effort, but hes also maddening to watch because he gets lazy the last few seconds of a round and he gives up some of the dumbest points. These are certainly your normal underclassmen issues, but I think he has the confidence after beating Boyd last time to know he can win this one. I just hope he goes out there focuses and wrestles the full match.

Ok, 197, J'den effing Cox, how much would Mizzou have to be up at this point for Smith to forfeit the match. I know this would mean that it would almost certainly have to be one of the last 2 or 3 matches of the dual.

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I just don’t see him forfeiting here unless we are up by 13 or more (provided we go with the standard start at 125). I would say it has to be salted away for him to do that. With that in mind, and with Northern Illinois on the docket for Sunday…maybe J’Den works on Friday for the day off on Sunday.

Bringing it on home, it certainly has been a whirl-wind restart of Devin Mellon’s career since the New Year, and Okie State provides him with ANOTHER chance at a highly rated opponents. What do you see happening here?

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#5 Marsden has faced Mellon once somewhat recently, at the 2014 Parisi Open. Mellon kept the match close and only fell 3-2. Hanging close with Gwiazdowski this pas weekend has to help from a confidence stand point. He also knows that he can go in against Marsden and compete. This could be (Along with Houdashelt vs Kindig) the best match of the dual and could quite possibly decide the final outcome. I think Mellon has a legit shot at taking this match and really putting together a good 6 weeks between now and the NCAAs.

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A little bit crazy.

Mellon’s 3-2 loss closed the gap on his loss of 6-3 from last season, so he is trending in the right direction (were two results to make a trend). I think he is fresh, so that helps. Just needs to trust his technique better. That is where he got bit this past week. He did not trust it enough, ended up shooting with his head down and either came up very short or was handled by Gwiazdowski for the final takedown.

Alright…total it up for me. How does the scoreboard look around 8:30pm on Friday night at the Hearnes Center?

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125 Waters (Dec) 3-0

133 Synon (Dec) 6-0

141 Mayes (Dec) 9-0

149 Kindig (Dec) 9-3 I think Houdashelt will win, but I'm going Kindig here just to play devils advocate

157 Collica (Dec) 9-6

165 Dieringer (MD) 9-10

174 Eblen (Dec) 12-10

184 Miklus (MD) 16-10

197 Cox (Fall) 22-10

285 Marsden (Dec) 22-13

I've got it 22-13 Mizzou.

I dont think Okie State really matches up all that well outside of the 4 matches I have them winning, and Mizzou looks to have some large advantages in a few of their weight classes. What do you see differently here

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I really would not change much. We should win the first three. Houda and Kindig really is a coin flip, so I am fine with it landing tails here (for the sake of discussion). I am concerned for the gas tank (and confidence tank) of LaVallee, but I think he keeps it close. Dieringer only getting a major is not the worst thing. Cox with the fall is lofty, just because I don’t really associate him (yet) to many finishes, but I do see him not getting some sort of bonus points here. Really…makes sense to me.

Taking a quick look at Buffalo…yikes. I don’t see a top-20 ranked wrestler in the latest W.I.N. rankings, so yeah…time off for some and time for opportunities for others it appears. Buffalo has been shut out twice this season (Wyoming and Northern Iowa), though they did take 10 points from Central Michigan. Max Soria is a name I recognize for them at 125, and Sean Peacock took a win over Keselring from CMU at 133. Other than that, it was Rrok Ndokaj taking a win over Atienza of CMU at 165. They actually wrestled CMU pretty close, but perhaps that was more because CMU wrestles defensively. Any thoughts out of you?

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Ha, I just tried to look at their roster online and recognize no one. I'd say that getting them right after Okie State is a very good thing and hopefully we'll get to see some young guys wrestle up and wrestle well while starters get some deserved rest.

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Yeah…new blood in there in some matches (as it certainly wont be all of them) should keep the energy level up.

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Thats it for today. You can check out the Mizzou vs Okie State dual tomorrow night at 6:30 at the Hearnes Center or online through ESPN3.com.

Also, dont forget that both Askren brothers will be back on the mats for Flo Premier League wrestling on Sunday. You can check out Ben's promo video HERE.