Ground Report

Dec. 10, 2014

CLEVELAND, Ohio – UNI’s Curt Maas cracked December’s Mid-American Conference wrestling coaches rankings at 174 pounds, and the team crept closer to that second-place spot.

After going undefeated in the Panthers’ first three duals, Maas grabbed the fourth spot in the MAC. He is 9-2 overall.

UNI remains in third as a team, behind No. 1 Missouri and No. 2 Old Dominion. The Monarchs edged out the Panthers by a half point.

Cooper Moore continues to hold his top ranking at 165 pounds. Despite beating top-ranked Devin Mellon of Missouri in a 6-4 decision at the UCM Open, heavyweight Blaize Cabell kept his spot at No. 2.

Dylan Peters’ and Cody Caldwell’s rankings remained unchanged at 125 pounds and 184 pounds, respectively. Peters is ranked second, and Caldwell is third in the conference. Levi Wolfensperger slipped to No. 2 at 133 pounds.

Panthers ranked:

125 – No. 2 Dylan Peters

133 – No. 2 Levi Wolfensperger
165 – No. 1 Cooper Moore
174 – No. 4 Curt Maas
184 – No. 3 Cody Caldwell
285 – No. 2 Blaize Cabell

THE MAC

Last season, the MAC witnessed Missouri freshman J’Den Cox become the ninth MAC wrestler in Conference history to win a National Championship.  Cox as the No. 2 seed defeated No. 1 seed Nick Heflin of Ohio State in the 197 weight class and became just the 14^th true freshman in the 84-year history of NCAA wrestling to win a National Championship.

The MAC had nine All-Americans in 2013-14 and will see five of these All-Americans returning this season, including Ian Miller (Kent State, 157); J’Den Cox (Missouri, 197); Drake Houdashelt (Missouri, 149); Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa, 125) and Jack Dechow (Old Dominion, 184).

In addition, seven of the MAC wrestlers who won their respective weight class at the 2014 MAC Wrestling Championships return this season:  Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa, 125); Drake Houdashelt (Missouri, 149); Ian Miller (Kent State, 157); Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa, 165); Cody Walters (Ohio, 174); Jack Dechow (Old Dominion, 194) and J’Den Cox (Missouri, 197).

In the fall of 2012, the MAC announced the addition of Missouri, Northern Iowa and Old Dominion as affiliate members in the sport of wrestling.  All three universities joined the MAC with five-year agreements, as Missouri and Northern Iowa joined the MAC for the 2013 conference tournament and then to participate in regular season and tournament action for the next four consecutive years (2013-14 season thru 2016-17 academic season).  Old Dominion joined the MAC for the 2013-14 regular season and tournament through the 2017-18 academic season.

The rankings will be released each month throughout the season, with one additional ranking system (two total) in January and February.  The 2014-15 preseason rankings, voted on by the league’s head coaches in an open forum are as follows:

2014-15 December MAC Weight Class Rankings:

125 – 1. Alan Waters (Missouri, Senior); 2. Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa, Sophomore); 3. Brandon Jeske (Old Dominion, Sophomore); 4. Max Soria (Buffalo, Senior).

133 – 1. Mack McGuire (Kent State, Junior); 2. Levi Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa, Senior); 3. Matt Manley (Missouri, Sophomore); 4. Vincent Pizzuto (Eastern Michigan, Junior).

141 – 1. Lavion Mayes (Missouri, Sophomore); t-2. Chris Mecate (Old Dominion, Junior); t-2. Zach Horan (Central Michigan, Junior); t-4. Mike Shaw (Eastern Michigan, Junior); t-4. Tyler Small (Kent State, Senior).

149 – 1. Drake Houdashelt (Missouri, Senior); 2. Alexander Richardson (Old Dominion, Junior); 3. Tywan Claxton (Ohio, Junior); 4. Mike DePalma (Kent State, Junior).

157 – 1. Ian Miller (Kent State, Junior); 2. Joey Lavallee (Missouri, Sophomore); 3. Spartak Chino (Ohio, Junior); 4. Brandon Zeerip (Eastern Michigan, Senior).

165 – 1. Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa, Sophomore); 2. Harrison Hightower (Ohio, Senior); 3. Tristan Warner (Old Dominion, Senior); 4. Shaun’Qae McMurtry (Northern Illinois, Sophomore).

174 – 1. Cody Walters (Ohio, Junior); 2. Mikey England (Missouri, Senior); 3. Caleb Marsh (Kent State, Senior); 4. Curt Maas (Northern Iowa, Sophomore).

184 – 1. Jack Dechow (Old Dominion, Sophomore); 2. Willie Miklus (Missouri, Redshirt Freshman); 3. Cody Caldwell (Northern Iowa, Junior); 4. Andrew Romanchik (Ohio, Junior).

197 – 1. J’Den Cox (Missouri, Sophomore); 2. Phil Wellington (Ohio, Junior); 3. Shawn Scott (Northern Illinois, Sophomore); 4. Kevin Beazley (Old Dominion, Sophomore).

HWT – 1. Devin Mellon (Missouri, Senior); 2. Blaize Cabell (Northern Iowa, Junior); 3. Jake Henderson (Old Dominion, Senior); 4. Mimmo Lytle (Kent State, Sophomore).

The preseason team rankings were also decided in the same forum.  The nine schools were ranked based on the number of first through fourth-place votes that were earned in the individual voting system.  A first-place vote was worth four team points; a second-place vote earned three team points; third-seeded votes were worth two team points, while a fourth-place tally earned one point in the team ranking system.
The December team rankings for the MAC are as follows:2014-15 MAC December Rankings

1.         Missouri (31.0)

2.         Old Dominion (16.5)
3.         Northern Iowa (16.0)
4.         Ohio (15.0)
5.         Kent State (12.5)
6.         Northern Illinois (3.0)
7.         Central Michigan (2.5)
8.         Eastern Michigan (2.5)
9.         Buffalo (1.0)The 2015 MAC Wrestling Championships will be held March 7-8 and hosted by the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri.

Last year, Missouri won its second consecutive MAC Championship with 118.5 points, followed by second-place Northern Iowa (116 points).  Old Dominion (97 points) finished third, followed by Ohio (94.5 points), Central Michigan (85.5 points), Kent State (67 points), Eastern Michigan (57.5 points), Northern Illinois (50 points) and Buffalo (12.5 points).