Eagles Poised For Tough Match-up With No. 4 Missouri

Wrestling vs Missouri
Date	Friday, Jan. 15 \| 7 p.m. CT
Location	Columbia, Mo. \| Hearnes Center
Game Notes	PDF Notes
Twitter	@EMUWrestling
Live Results	Track Wrestling
Live Stream	ESPN 3

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University wrestling team gets the weekend started when they venture out to Columbia, Mo. to face off with the No. 4 Missouri Tigers. The dual from the Hearnes Center is set to begin at 7 p.m. CT.

   The meet will be broadcast live on ESPN 3 with Beau Baehman providing play-by-play, and Paxton DiBlasi supplying the analysis. Fans can also follow the action live by following @EMUWrestling on Twitter. Final results can also be found at TrackWrestling.com.

ALL-TIME VS. MISSOURI: The Eagles are 0-4 all-time against the Tigers, with all four duals coming since the 2010-11 season. The closest EMU has come to defeating Mizzou was in 2014, when the Green and White dropped a tough 18-15 decision.

LAST TIME WE MET: The last time these two teams met, EMU fell to No. 2 Missouri, 31-7, Sunday, Feb. 8, at the Convocation Center.

   The Eagles 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. The Eagles earned victories at 157 lbs, when Brandon Zeerip won a 4-1 decision, while the extra-point win came at 184 lbs, when Mike Curby won a 12-0 major decision.

TRACKING THE TIGERS: Missouri enters Friday's dual riding a 35 dual win streak, dating back to Jan. 31, 2014. MU is 7-0 on the season, including 4-0 in conference duals. Their biggest wins have come against No. 3 Ohio State (26-17), No. 14 Cornell (18-17), No. 21 Ohio (27-9) and No. 25 Northern Iowa (24-19). They also claimed the team title at the Las Vegas Invitational, Dec. 4-5.

   Missouri boasts eight of its ten starters in the InterMat top-20. These include Barlow McGhee (No. 11, 125 lbs.), Zach Synon (No. 11, 133 lbs.), Matt Manley (No. 10, 141 lbs.), Lavion Mayes (No. 3, 149 lbs.), Daniel Lewis (No. 5, 165 lbs.), Blaise Butler (No. 9, 174 lbs.), Willie Miklus (No. 4, 184 lbs.), and J'Den Cox (No. 2, 197 lbs.).

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Based on projected starting lineups, Missouri returns three starters from last season's dual who will start Friday. All three won their individual bouts. Meanwhile for the Eagles, they return four starters from last season who are projected to start Friday. All four of those starters dropped their matches.

   The only projected rematch from last season will be the premiere bout of the night between No. 2 ranked J'Den Cox and No. 14 ranked Anthony Abro. Last season, the then No. 1 ranked Cox won a 5-1 decision over Abro. It will be the third time these two will face off in dual action, as they also wrestled at 197 in 2014, when the then No. 3 ranked Cox won a 10-4 decision over Abro.

   Another scheduled dual rematch comes between No. 3 Lavion Mayes and Nicholas Barber at 149 lbs. They squared off at 141 lbs. in 2014, when the then No. 19 ranked Mayes bested Barber in a 14-4 major decision.

EAGLES DROP FIRST MAC DUAL AT OHIO: The Eastern Michigan University wrestling team dropped a tough match to No. 21 Ohio University, 19-12, in Athens, Ohio Friday night, Jan. 8. The Eagles moved to 7-3 on the season and 2-1 in the Mid-American Conference.

   EMU took four duals on the night, all by decision. The losses they suffered included five by decision and one by major decision. With victories in their bouts, Dakota Juarez and Nicholas Barber moved to a perfect 3-0 in MAC duals this season.

EMU RECEIVING VOTES IN TOP-25: EMU received five votes in the most recent USA Today/ National Wrestling Coaches Association Top-25 poll. That puts the Eagles at 29th place.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Entering the final season of their storied careers, redshirt seniors Anthony Abro and Vincent Pizzuto are near the top of the EMU record book in career wins. Abro has 87 career wins, while Pizzuto has 81. This is good for a tie for sixth place and a tie for ninth place on the all-time list, respectively. Steve Brown is the program leader in victories, racking up 117 from 1984-88.

ABRO RANKED NATIONALLY: Redshirt senior Anthony Abro is currently ranked 14th at 197 by InterMat wrestling, his highest ranking in any of the national polls and highest for any EMU grappler. Abro is coming off of his best season as an Eagle, in which he racked up 28 wins, and ended his season with a top-16 finish at the NCAA Championships. He is currently 16-3 on the year in 2015-16.

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Players Mentioned

Anthony Abro

Nick Barber

Mike Curby

Dakota Juarez

Vincent Pizzuto

Brandon Zeerip

Eastern Michigan Athletics