COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Wrestling is ranked No. 9 in Wrestler Insider News Magazine's 2015-16 Preseason Tournament Power Index. Five individual Tiger Style wrestlers were ranked in the top 10 of their respective weight classes, as announced by WIN Magazine on Wednesday. The preseason rankings do not include freshmen or redshirt freshmen.
Mizzou is coming off a strong season in which the Tigers posted a perfect 24-0 dual record. Head coach Brian Smith enters his 18th season at the helm and is seeking a fifth consecutive conference championship. The Tigers will look to build on their NWCA National Duals Finals title and their fourth place team finish at the 2015 NCAA Championships. WIN's preseason Tournament Power Index predicts how each team will finish at the 2016 NCAAs in New York City next March.
Junior J'den Cox (No. 2 at 197), redshirt junior Lavion Mayes (No. 3 at 141), redshirt senior Blaise Butler (No. 5 at 174), redshirt sophomore Willie Miklus (No. 7 at 184) and junior Joey Lavallee (No. 7 at 157) were all tabbed preseason top 10 grapplers.
Cox is a two-time All-American, finishing fifth at the 2015 NCAAs after winning the 2014 National Championship. The Columbia, Missouri, native is also a two-time MAC Champion and earned 2014 MAC Wrestler of the Year honors as a freshman.
Mayes returns for his redshirt junior campaign after an All-American season in 2015. He is a two-time NCAA Championships qualifier, finishing seventh overall as a sophomore last year. Mayes compiled a 38-4 overall record and posted a 20-1 record in duals during the 2014-15 campaign.
Butler is a graduate transfer from Virginia with an already decorated college career. Butler went 21-6 and finished with a 13-2 dual record last season. He's racked up 56 total dual points in each of the last two seasons and captured an ACC title in 2014 as a redshirt sophomore.
Miklus broke out as a redshirt freshman last season, earning a 33-9 overall record in his first collegiate campaign as an attached wrestler. He earned 2015 MAC Wrestler of the Year honors for his efforts and placed seventh overall at the NCAA Championships to earn All-American recognition.
Lavallee is a two-time NCAA Championships qualifier at 157 pounds. He claimed an automatic bid last season after finishing second at the MAC Championships. Lavallee went 24-13 overall during the 2014-15 campaign and collected a career-high 13 dual victories.
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