ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Six Mizzou Wrestling grapplers won their first round bouts and advanced to the second round at the NCAA Wrestling Championships on Thursday at the Scottrade Center. Of the six advancing Tigers, four wrestlers scored bonus points, including falls from senior 197-pounder J'den Cox (Columbia, Mo.) and redshirt junior 157-pounder Joey Lavallee (Reno, Nev.).
Following the session's completion, Mizzou is tied for fourth place with 12 points. With first round victories, redshirt sophomore 133-pounder John Erneste (Kansas City, Mo.), redshirt freshman 141-pounder Jaydin Eierman (Columbia, Mo.), redshirt senior 149-pounder Lavion Mayes (Mascoutah, Ill.) and redshirt sophomore 165-pounder Daniel Lewis (Blue Springs, Mo.) will join Cox and Lavallee in the round of 32.
Cox and Lavallee wasted no time in their opening bouts, recording falls in the opening period. Cox scored quickly against American's Jeric Cerventes, then locked in a cradle to record the fall at 2:20. Lavallee scored his pin even faster than Cox, turning The Citadel's Aaron Walker to his back for the fall at 1:27.
Eierman and Lewis each recorded major decisions over their opponent in the first round, as Eierman defeated Army's Logan Everett and Lewis bested South Dakota State's Luke Zilverberg. Eierman scored multiple takedowns over the first two periods to open an 8-1 lead before scoring back points in third to earn a 15-3 major decision. Lewis dominated his opening bout, scoring a takedown nine seconds into the match before riding out Zilverberg for the duration of the match. Back points helped Lewis earn an 8-0 major decision, as the Tiger sophomore amassed 6:51 of riding time.
Mayes won the 14th NCAA bout victory of his career in his first match of the tournament, beating George Mason's Sahid Kargbo, 8-2, while Erneste recorded an 8-4 win Harvard's Jeffrey Ott.
Losing first round matchups, but still alive in the wrestlebacks was redshirt junior 125-pounder Barlow McGhee (Rock Island, Ill.) and redshirt heavyweight Austin Myers (Alexandria, Ky.). McGhee fell in his pigtail match, 3-1 in sudden victory to Stanford's Gabe Townsell, while Myers lost to No. 8-seed Michael Krolles (Minnesota), 6-0.
Wrestling from the Scottrade Center will continue later this evening, with session two scheduled to start at 6 p.m. CT. The tournament will be televised on ESPN, as well as streamed live on ESPN3.com and through the WatchESPN app.
For all the latest on Mizzou Wrestling, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MizzouWrestling).
First Round Results
125: Barlow McGhee
First Round: Gabe Townsell (Stanford) SV-1 Barlow McGhee (Mizzou): 3-1
133: John Erneste
First Round: #10 John Erneste (Mizzou) dec. Jeffrey Ott (Harvard): 8-4
141: Jaydin Eierman
First Round: #8 Jaydin Eierman (Mizzou) major dec. Logan Everett (Army): 15-3
149: Lavion Mayes
First Round: #3 Lavion Mayes (Mizzou) dec. Sahid Kargbo (George Mason): 8-2
157: Joey Lavallee
First Round: #3 Joey Lavallee fall Aaron Walker (The Citadel): 1:27
165: Daniel Lewis
First Round: #6 Daniel Lewis (Mizzou) major dec. Luke Zilverberg (SDSU): 8-0
197: J'den Cox
First Round: #1 J'den Cox (Mizzou) fall Jeric Kasunic (American): 2:20
HWT: Austin Myers
First Round: #8 Michael Kroells (Minnesota) dec. Austin Myers (Mizzou): 6-0