Mizzou Wrestling: The Streak has Ended, Long Live the Streak

The Beef - Well, all streaks do come to an end and only time is undefeated, blah blah blah.  Anyway, the Tigers lost for the first time in almost two years, falling to the Cowboys in Stillwater 23-9.  The Tigers dropped seven matches of the evening’s ten.  So at a very high level, was the final score indicative of how the dual was contested?

BST - I was pretty upset after this dual. There were a few guys that were BIG let downs. But I'd say the score pretty accurately depicts what happened. Mizzou couldn't capitalize with the guys that needed upsets, and of the must wins, they dropped a few. Pretty big let down.

Shaffe - After cooling off a bit I would contend the only "BIG" let down was Willie Miklus dropping his match. I had pegged Big Willie as a good chance for a major decision as Mizzou hoped to out bonus the Pokes if the match came down to it. Gary Wayne-Harding beating Synon wasn’t all that huge of an upset, though certainly not one the Tigers were going to be able to absorb if they had hoped to take the dual.

At a high level I think the score was pretty indicative of the way both teams wrestled on that night. Oklahoma State seemed to especially dominate the Tigers on the mat, keeping their opponents down nearly at will and getting up and out with relative ease all night save for the one massive exclusion. At least we saw something pretty cool out of Daniel Lewis, eh?

The Beef - Those first two matches not going for the Tigers, with McGhee getting to OT and with Synon getting the first takedown certainly hurt.  Nice to see Mayes get a win over a solid opponent, and yes, Lewis availed himself quite well from what I understand against Dieringer.  Not having seen the matches, I wonder if Willy was going for the big, 6-point moves and was just getting caught badly.  On the other hand, even in his last match that I saw, and while he ended up getting the pin, he did score the takedown a bit from a scramble position.  All season I have noticed that opponents seem to be getting in on Mizzou wrestlers, and while many aren’t necessarily finishing the move, some are, and the rest are certainly causing Mizzou wrestlers to have to defend, rather than getting on their offense.

So in the end, and before we move on to a quick glance at the results of the Roger Denker Open at UCM, any final thoughts about the streak in general?

BST – It’s pretty freaking impressive. They won the Duals title, won the MAC twice, beat a ton of top 10 teams at home and on the road. Gotta be up there near the top of Brian Smiths accomplishments at Mizzou.

Shaffe - I wouldn’t be too sad if they didn’t go back to Stillwater any time soon, that’s for sure. I heard on the audio broadcast that Mizzou has only won there twice all-time, which is understandable considering the Cowboy wrestling history but damn. As for the streak, it was really impressive for all the reasons BST stated. Really impressive stuff.

The Beef - Alright, before we get to a weekend which feature two home, ranked duals, let’s turn our attention quickly to the Roger Denker Open which was this past weekend.  Obviously, the "varsity" did not participate, but there were some interesting names and associated, top-4 finishes involved:

• 125: Assad – 2^nd, Fohey – 3rd
• 133: Eireman – 1^st, Erneste – 2nd
• 141: Roark – 1^st, Baumgartner – 2nd
• 149: Eveler – 3^rd, Butler – 4th
• 157: McCormick – 2^nd
• 165: Lemanowicz – 2^nd
• 174: Wisman – 2^nd, Miklus (Tim) – 4^th
• 184: Bears – 3^rd, Voyles – 4^th
• 197: Pesek – 4^th
• HWY: None entered

Anything jump out one way or the other?

BST - Eierman and Roark continue to be impressive in their redshirt seasons.

Shaffe - Those two are the biggest names to keep an eye on of the redshirt group, and it’s good to see them continue to put in good work as they battle to replace Synon at 133 next year.  Looking at the other spot with a senior in the starting lineup (174) there seems to be some good competition between Miklus the Younger and Dylan Wisman, and competition is always a good thing to have.

The Beef - For me, that Eierman defeated an Erneste who impressed all of us a decent amount just a week before in a MAC dual is all the more impressive.  Kind of a land-lock for them (Eierman and Roark) since you assume both Synon and Manley will be returning, but it is good to know we seem to have potential at those weights for some years to come.

Interesting to see Lemanowicz at 165.  Perhaps that was why we ended up with Barnes at 157?  Speaking of 157, good to see another McCormick getting mentioned for the Tigers.

Alright, on to the weekend, which sees the Tigers host #12 OU on Saturday afternoon and then #24 Old Dominion on Sunday afternoon in a MAC dual.  I don’t know that we need to go weight-by-weight for both of these, but I also imagine there is no shortage of matches between ranked opponents.  How do the light weights look against OU?

Shaffe - Damn, I don’t know why I thought Synon was a senior this year. Obviously he’s earned every right to that spot next year unless Eierman or somebody else just absolutely takes it from him.

Here’s a link to a quick and easy comparison between Mizzou and OU (http://www.wrestlestats.com/team/dualcomparison/43/missouri/56/oklahoma). The two best wrestlers in the lower weights, and on the team it appears, would be at 125 and 133 pounds. We all know about Cody Brewer and what he’s capable of but Ryan Millhof has a pretty solid resume himself. The only head to head meetings between both of these guys and their Tiger counterparts went the way of McGhee and Synon though one was a medical forfeit in Las Vegas and the other was from early 2014, so I’m not putting a ton of stock in either. If Mizzou can manage a split here then they’ll be well on their way to winning the dual, but even if they drop both I won’t be too concerned as OU doesn’t have a ton of firepower throughout the rest of their lineup. Millhof and Brewer do present solid opportunities for our guys to rebound from disappointing losses last week in Stillwater.

The Beef - The match at 125 certainly is another chance for McGhee to earn some solid, NCAA-level wins as we start to get closer to NCAA’s.  With him at 10 and Milhoff at 11 in the recent rankings, it looks like pretty much a coin flip.  Brewer is up at #4 (to Synon at now 13), so this would be a big win for him.  That said, even if the Tigers drop the first two matches, I think they should still be able to control the dual.  Manley (now #8) and Mayes (#3) will face unranked wrestlers, as will Butler (#10), Miklus (#7) and Cox (#2).  Both teams will be unranked at 157 and HWY, and Daniel Lewis (#5) has a nice matchup against Clark Glass (now #12, previously #8).

Anyone with anything else about OU or do we want to look at a few key matchups against Old Dominion?

BST – No

Shaffe – Dynamite drop in, Monty

BST - I was really hoping one of you would come back with that.

Shaffe - I do agree with Beef’s assessment that outside of 125/133 there won’t be a whole ton to keep an eye on in this matchup. Manley, Mayes, Lewis, Butler, Miklus, and Cox should all win their matches with ease and a few team bonus points to boot. I’m thinking something like 25-11 as a final score for this matchup.

What does Old Dominion have on tap for the Fightin’ Smiths?

BST - http://www.wrestlestats.com/team/dualcomparison/58/old-dominion/43/missouri

ODU could be pretty damn interesting for MAC seeding:

• Synon vs Saavedra
• Manley vs Mecate
• Mayes vs Richardson
• Miklus vs Dechow

Shaffe – I think the best route to analyze this dual is, as BST noted, the possible impact on MAC seeding. In the latest conference rankings (http://mac-sports.com/news/2016/1/25/WREST_0125163720.aspx) ODU featured top-4 entrants at 125, 141, 149, and 184. Wins by McGhee, Manley, Mayes, and Miklus would be quite big to solidify their respective top-4 status themselves. The two individual matchups I'm most looking forward to are Mayes (#3 nationally and #1 in the MAC) versus (Richardson (#8/#2) and Miklus (#7/#1) versus Dechow (#4/#2)​.

The Beef - I will say I am equally interested in Manley/Mecate, who I think is down a bit in the Intermat rankings this year than perhaps where he was last year.  I’d like to see Manley continue to build confidence as we move into Feb since I think he’s like to have to some very tough matches.  He has Steve Bleise of Northern Illinois (#17) next week, Kevin Jack of NC State (#3) in a few weeks, and then who knows from the Big 10 when it comes to National Duals, but certainly likely to see some additional ranked wrestlers.

I have to admit I am somewhat surprised to see the Dechow MAC rating to be lower than Willie’s…will be interesting to see how that one comes out as they have split two meetings previously in decently-scoring fashion.

This is also the 2^nd to last MAC dual on the season (with the final against Northern Illinois), so this does serve as the most serious, final obstacle to another MAC regular season title (which, let’s face it, doesn’t ACTUALLY exist, but is nice to talk about J).

Anyone got anything left?

BST - I'm good.

The Beef - Way to push yourself there

BST - I say, good sir. You and your chap have accomplished yourselves quite well and I shan't say I have much more to add.

Shaffe - Let's put a bow on this thing and send it out. Here's to the start of another 30 dual winning streak.

BST - One last thing.  Three of our weekend matches are listed here: http://takedownwrestle.com/wrestling-news/college/ten-weights-ten-matches-to-watch-this-weekend-129/