Eagles Drop Dual to No. 2 Missouri, 31-7

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University wrestling squad fell to No. 2 Missouri University, 31-7, Sunday, Feb. 8, in a Mid-American Conference dual at the Convocation Center.

The Eagles (7-10, 0-5 MAC) grabbed just two bout victories with one extra-point win, while the Tigers earned eight match wins and improve to an unblemished 20-0 on the season.

Missouri notched the first lead of the dual with a 9-3 decision at 125 lbs. before fans saw an exciting bout in the 133 lb. weight class. Redshirt-junior Vincent Pizzuto took a 1-1 tie into his second overtime bout of the week before eventually falling 2-1 to Zach Synon in the tiebreaker round. The loss marked the first conference defeat of the season for the No. 1 MAC wrestler at 133 lbs. as the Eagles trailed 6-0 heading into the 141 lb. weight class.

The Tigers built on their lead at 141 lbs. when No. 5 Lavion Mayes nabbed a 9-4 decision over Michael Shaw before returning All-American No. 5 Drake Houdashelt pinned Nicholas Barber at 149 lbs., leaving the Eagles still looking for their first victory of the afternoon.

Redshirt-senior Brandon Zeerip notched the Eagles first victory of the afternoon with a 4-1 decision over Trevor Weist. The Fremont, Mich. native got out to the early 2-0 lead with a takedown in the first before earning an escape point and the riding time point for the Green and White win.

Following the Eagle win at 157 lbs., Missouri earned its fifth victory of the day with an 8-3 decision at 165 lbs. to take an 18-3 lead into the 174 lb. match up. Freshman Kayne MacCallum was unable to hold off a powerful No. 5 Johnny Eblen as the Tiger grappler pinned MacCallum in just 51 seconds.

Redshirt-senior Mike Curby notched his first conference win of the season coming out strong over Missouri's Jon Goerke. The Osseo, Mich. native secured four takedowns, an escape, and 4:44 of riding time to shut out Goerke in a 12-0 major decision as the Green and White trailed the Tigers 24-7.

Despite his best effort, redshirt-junior Anthony Abro fell to No. 1 J'Den Cox in a narrow 5-1 decision that saw just one takedown from Cox, an unsportsmanlike point, and riding time. Missouri capped off the afternoon with a major decision to take the 31-7 victory over the Eagles

Still in search of their first conference victory, the Eagles will remain in Ypsilanti Friday, Feb. 13 for a dual against conference opponent Old Dominion. First bout from the Convocation Center is slated for 7 p.m.

Results:

125: Chase Brennan (MU) dec. Blake Caudill (EMU), 9-3 (MU, 3-0)
133: Zach Synon (MU) dec. Vincent Pizzuto (EMU), 2-1 TB (MU, 6-0)
141: No. 5 Lavion Mayes (MU) dec. Michael Shaw (EMU), 9-4 (MU, 9-0)
149: No. 5 Drake Houdashelt (MU) pinned Nicholas Barber (EMU), 4:34 (MU, 15-0)
157: Brandon Zeerip (EMU) dec. Trevor Weist (MU), 4-1 (MU, 15-3)
165: Ty Prazma (MU) dec. Austin Geerlings (EMU), 8-3 (MU, 18-3)
174: No. 5 Johnny Eblen (MU) pinned Kayne MacCallum (EMU), 0:51 (MU, 24-3)
184: Mike Curby (EMU) maj. dec. Jon Goerke (MU), 12-0 (MU, 24-7)
197: No. 1 J'Den Cox (MU) dec. Anthony Abro (EMU), 5-1 (MU, 27-7)
HWT: No. 16 Devin Mellon (MU) maj. dec. Gage Hutchison (EMU), 14-4 (MU, 31-7)

Bout-by-Bout

125: Brennan dec. Caudill, 9-3
Brannan came out firing with back-to-back takedowns to take the 4-0 lead less than a minute into the bout before Caudill grabbed a reversal for his first two points of the match. Brennan earned a takedown and an escape to extend his lead to 7-2 to close out the first period. Starting on bottom in the second, Caudill started off the period with an escape, trailing by four with just over a minute left in the second period of action. Brennan found his first point of the second period with an escape following an injury timeout and choice of start position to take an 8-3 lead into the final two minutes of action. Caudill was called for an illegal move, awarding Brennan with the only point of the third period.

133: Synon dec. Pizzuto, 2-1
With both grapplers getting their shots in, neither was able to secure a point in the first period heading into the second tied at 0-0. Synon notched the first points of the bout with an escape in the second period to take a 1-0 lead into the final period. Pizzuto grabbed insurmountable riding time to knot the score at 1-1 in the third period and forced a warning for stalling to Synon with 15 seconds left. Tied at 1-1, Pizzuto saw his second-straight sudden victory situation of the week for the Green and White. With no points in the first overtime, Pizzuto deferred the call to Synon, who chose down to start the tiebreaker round. Synon earned the escape point, despite Pizzuto's efforts to return him to the mat to take a 2-1 victory over Pizzuto.

141: Mayes dec. Shaw, 9-4
Just like the 133 lb. bout, neither wrestler was able to earn a point in the first period. Mayes grabbed the first points of the match with a reversal to start the second period before Shaw nabbed an escape point. Mayes ended the second period with his first takedown to take a 4-1 lead into the final two minutes. Choosing down, Shaw grabbed a reversal to come within one of Mayes but the Tiger opponent responded with a reversal of his own to take the 6-3 advantage. After getting up to his feet, Shaw notched an escape point to trail by two with 30 second left. Mayes continued to fight with one final takedown and the riding time point to grab a 9-4 win.

149: Houdashelt pinned Barber, 4:34
Returning All-American Houdashelt nabbed the first two points of the match with a takedown, which proved to be the only points of the first period. Starting down in the second period, Houdashelt extended his lead to 3-0 over Barber. On the edge of the mat, Houdashelt grabbed a takedown before pinning Barber to end the bout in the second period.

157: Zeerip dec. Wiest, 4-1
For the first time of the afternoon, the Eagles grabbed the first points with a Zeerip takedown on the edge of the mat in the first period before Weist earned an escape point. Zeerip dominated the second period with 2:15 of riding time before earning an escape point to start the third period and go up 3-1. Zeerip added one final point with 2:11 of riding time to earn the Eagles first win of the day.

165: Prazma dec. Geerlings, 8-3
Prazma notched a takedown point before Geerlings nabbed a takedown to come within one in the first period. Again, Prazma grabbed a takedown followed by a Geerlings escape with just over 1:25 left in the first period. Geerlings worked hard to wear Prazma down in the second half without giving up any points to trail 4-2 heading into the final period. After a controversial call, Prazma earned back points to extend his lead to 6-2 over Geerlings in the third period before Geerlings again nabbed the takedown point. With 15 seconds left, Prazma notched one final takedown to take an 8-3 win for the Tigers.

174: Eblen pinned MacCallum, 0:51
Eblen quickly secured a pin in just 51 seconds to take the victory and extend the Missouri lead to 24-3.

184: Curby maj. dec. Goerke, 12-0
Curby took a 2-0 lead with a takedown in the middle of the mat in the first period before quickly returning Goerke to the mat to start riding time. Curby extended his lead to 3-0 with an escape point to start the second period and took the 5-0 advtange with a takedown in the middle of the mat. Curby continued to work Goerke on the mat to notch his third takedown and a 7-0 lead with over three minutes of riding time. Curby nabbed two final points in the second to go up 9-0 heading into the third with insurmountable riding time. Curby continued to battle, earning his fourth takedown of the bout and 4:44 of riding time to take a 12-0 victory for the Green and White.

197: Cox dec. Abro, 5-1
Cox notched a quick pick following a neutral start to earn the first points of the bout and the only points of the first period. Starting on bottom in the second period, Cox earned the escape point to go up 3-0 on Abro. Abro earned his first points of the bout with an escape to start the third period as he continued to fight off shots from Cox. With 11 seconds remaining in the bout, Abro gave up an unsportsmanlike point and the riding time point, allowing Cox to take a 5-1 win.

HWT: Mellon maj. dec. Hutchison, 14-4
Mellon took the quick 5-0 lead with a takedown followed by a near fall to kick off the final bout of the afternoon. Mellon closed out the first period with a takedown to take a 7-1 lead into the second and added a third takedown to start the second period. Hutchison earned his second escape of the day before Mellon went up 13-3 on the redshirt-freshman. Again, Hutchison earned an escape to trail 13-4 with just over 40 seconds in the bout.

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Players Mentioned

Anthony Abro

Nick Barber

Blake Caudill

Mike Curby

Austin Geerlings

Gage Hutchison

Kayne MacCallum

Vincent Pizzuto

Michael Shaw

Brandon Zeerip

Eastern Michigan Athletics