Ground Report

CONTACT: Michelle Van Dorn (michelle.vandorn@uni.edu / (319) 273-5455)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dec. 11, 2014

Story link: http://www.unipanthers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=26200&ATCLID=209803889

UNI wrestling at the UNI Open

9 a.m. Dec. 13, 2014

Cedar Falls, Iowa

UNI-Dome

Television/video stream: None
Radio: None

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – About 20 teams, including four Division I teams ranked in the top 15, will have wrestlers competing at the UNI Open Saturday.

UNI will host its only home tournament of the season starting 9 a.m. Saturday in the UNI-Dome. Fans may buy tickets at the door for $7.

Volunteers may park in the WRC lot just north of the UNI-Dome on a first-come, first-served basis. Spectators may park in the west Dome lot and use the SW entrance of the UNI-Dome.

All season ticketholders are asked to trade in your season ticket pass at Will Call at the SW Dome entrance for a card with a new bar code.

No. 1 Iowa, No. 5 Missouri, No. 8 Nebraska and No. 15 Iowa State will have wrestlers competing. Michigan State is expected to bring the majority of its team.

Teams expecting to have wrestlers compete:

Campbell University (North Carolina)

Ellsworth Community CollegeGrand View CollegeIllinoisIowa Central Community CollegeIowa Lakes Community CollegeIowa StateIowa Western Community CollegeUniversity of IowaLuther CollegeMichigan StateMinnesota State MankatoMissouriNorth Dakota StateSouth Dakota StateSouthern Illinois EdwardsvilleNebraska“It’s been a good tournament with 250 to 300 wrestlers competing,” said head coach Doug Schwab. “UNI Open will be a good tournament, because there are still some weight classes up in the air. So that will be a good test for some of our guys. This weekend will help set up what we are going to take out to New York.”

The Panthers are set to wrestle in the Grapple at the Garden Dec. 21 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. They will take on No. 3 Cornell, Drexel and Duke all in the same day.

LAST YEAR AT UNI OPEN

The Panthers had 11 medalists last year, including champion Dylan Peters at 125 pounds.

Medalists:

125 – Dylan Peters 1st

133 – Levi Wolfensperger 2^nd, Tyler Willers 4^th
141 – Adam Perrin 5^th
149 – Tyler Patten 5^th
157 – Zach Witte 3^rd
165 – Curt Maas 4^th
197 – Basil Minto 2^nd, Jared Bartel 4^th
285 – Blaize Cabell 2^nd, Cody Krumwiede 6thMAC RANKINGS RELEASED

UNI’s 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 retained 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 No. 2 rank.

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 Moore174 – No. 4 Curt Maas
184 – No. 3 Cody Caldwell
285 – No. 2 Blaize CabellTHE MAC

Last season, Missouri freshman J’Den Cox become the ninth MAC wrestler in conference history to win a national championship. Cox was the No. 2 seed and defeated No. 1 seed Nick Heflin of Ohio State in the 197-pound 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); Cox (Missouri, 197); Drake Houdashelt (Missouri, 149); Peters (UNI, 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: Peters (UNI, 125); Houdashelt (Missouri, 149); Miller (Kent State, 157); Moore (UNI, 165); Cody Walters (Ohio, 174); Dechow (Old Dominion, 194) and Cox (Missouri, 197).

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 (UNI, Sophomore); 3. Brandon Jeske (Old Dominion, Sophomore); 4. Max Soria (Buffalo, Senior).

133 – 1. Mack McGuire (Kent State, Junior); 2. Levi Wolfensperger (UNI, 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 (UNI, 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 (UNI, 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 (UNI, Junior); 3. Jake Henderson (Old Dominion, Senior); 4. Mimmo Lytle (Kent State, Sophomore).

The preseason team rankings also were 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).