CLEVELAND – With four duals remaining on the schedule before the Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships, No. 7 Mizzou Wrestling was selected first in the MAC February Wrestling Rankings, announced by the league office Thursday. In the individual rankings, eight Tigers appear in the top-four, while five sit atop their respective weight class.
Mizzou ranks first with 26.0 points, four points ahead of No. 18 Northern Iowa (22.0 points) and 11 points ahead of No. 17 Central Michigan (15.0 points).
Among the individual rankings, five Tigers – redshirt freshman 141-pounder Jaydin Eierman (Columbia, Mo.), redshirt senior 149-pounder Lavion Mayes (Mascoutah, Ill.), redshirt junior 157-pounder Joey Lavallee (Reno, Nev.), redshirt sophomore 165-pounder Daniel Lewis (Blue Springs, Mo.) and senior 197-pounder J'den Cox (Columbia, Mo.) – all rank first in their respective weight class. Cox, who is a three-time defending MAC Champion, seeks to become the second-ever four-time conference champion in program history with his fourth conference title in March.
Redshirt sophomore 133-pounder John Erneste (Kansas City, Mo.), who broke into the starting lineup midway through the season, checks in at No. 2 in the rankings, while redshirt freshman 174-pounder Dylan Wisman (Winchester, Va.) ranks at No. 3 and redshirt heavyweight Austin Myers (Alexandria, Ky.) at No. 4.
Mizzou continues its six-dual homestand with a MAC dual on Saturday, Feb. 4, against Northern Illinois at the Hearnes Center. The dual will begin at 2 p.m. (CT) and will be streamed through Mizzou Network.
For all the latest on Mizzou Wrestling, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MizzouWrestling).
2017 MAC February Wrestling Rankings
1. Mizzou (26.0)
2. Northern Iowa (22.0)
3. Central Michigan (15.0)
4. Ohio (12.5)
5. Old Dominion (8.0)
6. Eastern Michigan (7.0)
7. Northern Illinois (6.0)
8. Buffalo (3.0)
9. Kent State (0.5)
2017 MAC February Weight Class Rankings:
125 – 1. Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa, Senior); 2. Shakur Laney (Ohio, Sophomore); 3. Noah Gonser (Eastern Michigan, Redshirt Freshman); 4. Brent Fleetwood (Central Michigan, Junior).
133 – 1. Josh Alber (Northern Iowa, Sophomore); 2. John Erneste (Missouri, Sophomore); 3. Cameron Kelly (Ohio, Sophomore); 4. Bryan Lantry (Buffalo, Sophomore).
141 – 1. Jaydin Eierman (Missouri, R-Freshman); 2. Noah Forrider (Ohio, Junior); 3. Kyle Springer (Eastern Michigan, Junior); 4. Kevin Budock (Old Dominion, Freshman).
149 – 1. Lavion Mayes (Missouri, Senior); 2. Justin Oliver (Central Michigan, Sophomore); 3. Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa, R-Freshman); 4. Steve Bleise (Northern Illinois, Sophomore).
157 – 1. Joey Lavallee (Missouri, Junior); 2. Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan, Junior); 3. Caden McWhirter (Northern Illinois, R-Freshman); t-4. Casey Sparkman (Kent State, Sophomore); t-4. Cullen Cummings (Ohio, Junior).
165 – 1. Daniel Lewis (Missouri, Sophomore); 2. Bryce Steiert (Northern Iowa, Sophomore); 3. Seldon Wright (Old Dominion, Sophomore); 4. Tyler Rill (Buffalo, Senior).
174 – 1. Taylor Lujan (Northern Iowa, R-Freshman); 2. C.J. Brucki (Central Michigan, Junior); 3. Trace Engelkes (Northern Illinois, Senior); 4. Dylan Wisman (Missouri, Redshirt Freshman).
184 – 1. Drew Foster (Northern Iowa, Sophomore); 2. Jack Dechow (Old Dominion, Senior); 3. Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan, Junior); 4. Brett Perry (Buffalo, Sophomore).
197 – 1. J'den Cox (Missouri, Senior); 2. Austin Severn (Central Michigan, Senior); 3. Kevin Beazley (Old Dominion, Junior); 4. Shawn Scott (Northern Illinois, Senior).
HWT – 1. Zack Parker (Ohio, Sophomore); 2. Gage Hutchison (Eastern Michigan, Junior); 3. Austin Myers (Missouri, Redshirt Freshman); 4. JJ Everard (Northern Iowa, Senior).