2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships: Day 1 a bit disappointing for Mizzou

Let's start with links:

Session No. 1
MUTIGERS.COM: NCAA Wrestling Championships Central
MUTIGERS.COM: Miklus' Pin Highlights Tigers' First Session At NCAA Championships
The Missourian: Mixed results for Missouri after first session of NCAA wrestling championships

Session No. 2
MUTIGERS.COM: Nine Tigers Remain In Play Following NCAA Championships Second Session
The Missourian: Second session not so good for Missouri, but nine wrestlers still fighting
The Trib: Results from Day 1 of NCAA Wrestling Championships
The Trib: MU wrestling team advances seven to second round at NCAA Championships
Post-Dispatch: Mizzou wrestlers tied for fifth in D-I tourney

Here are Mizzou's first-day results, in order of seeding. Upsets in italics.

197: J'Den Cox (No. 1)
* def. UTC's Scottie Boykin (8-1)
* def. Illinois' Jeffrey Koepke (6-2)

149: Drake Houdashelt (No. 1)
* def. UNC's Christian Barber (4-2)
* def. Purdue's Brandon Nelson (8-0)

125: Alan Waters (No. 1)
* def. ODU's Brandon Jeske (6-1)
* def. Michigan's Conor Youtsey (4-0)

141: Lavion Mayes (No. 3)
* def. UVA's Joseph Spisak (14-4)
* lost to OSU's No. 14 Dean Hall (3-1)

174: Johnny Eblen (No. 4)
* lost to Oregon State's Joe Latham (6-4)
* def. Iowa State's No. 13 Tanner Weatherman (13-0)

157: Joey Lavallee (No. 9)
* lost to Va. Tech's Nick Brascetta (5-2)
* def. Boise State's Steven Hernandez (9-0)

285: Devin Mellon (No. 11)
* def. Stanford's Nathan Butler (5-4)
* lost to Michigan's No. 6 Adam Coon (5-2)

165: Mikey England (unseeded)
* def. Columbia's Tyrel White (3-2)
* def. ODU's No. 11 Tristan Warner (6-2)
* lost to Indiana's No. 6 Taylor Walsh (5-2)

184: Willie Miklus (unseeded)
* def. Penn's No. 10 Lorenzo Thomas (PIN)
* lost to Lehigh's No. 7 Nathaniel Brown (5-4)

133: Zach Synon (unseeded)
* lost to Purdue's No. 11 Danny Sabatello (4-2)
* lost to Nebraska's Eric Montoya (4-0)

So of Mizzou's seven seeded wrestlers, three remain undefeated, one lost to a higher-ranked man, and three were upset. Meanwhile, of Mizzou's three unseeded athletes, two pulled upsets, and one has been eliminated. That's a net loss. And Mizzou went just 3-4 in matches decided by one or two points (including a couple in overtime) -- make that just 4-3 with, say, a Lavion Mayes win over the No. 14 seed, and things look pretty good right now. As it stands, they look alright, but I'm not sure Mizzou's the title favorite anymore.

Miklus' pin was huge, both because it was an upset and because of the bonus points. Plus, Mizzou's three top seed have all looked just fine, even if four of their six wins came by four or fewer points. So hope is certainly still alive. But Day 1 at the championships was just mediocre for Mizzou, not great, and it left Brian Smith's Tigers with quite a bit of work to do. And given how many wrestlers denied requests for interviews afterwards, I'd say they know it.