ST. LOUIS, Mo. – In the fifth session of the NCAA Wrestling Championships, redshirt freshman 141-pounder Jaydin Eierman (Columbia, Mo.) and redshirt sophomore 165-pounder Daniel Lewis (Blue Springs, Mo.) capped their All-American seasons by finishing fifth and sixth, respectively. The Tiger duo, combined with Mizzou's three NCAA finalists – senior 197-pounder J'den Cox (Columbia, Mo.), redshirt senior 149-pounder Lavion Mayes (Mascoutah, Ill.) and redshirt junior 157-pounder Joey Lavallee (Reno, Nev.) – give the Tigers five All-Americans this season and 69 total in program history.
Eierman becomes the fourth consecutive Tiger freshman to earn All-America status, following Cox (1st at 197 pounds in 2014), redshirt junior 184 pounder Willie Miklus (Altoona, Iowa) (7th at 184 pounds in 2015) and Lewis (4th at 165 pounds in 2016). With Lewis' honor, he becomes the 20th two-time All-American in program history.
Following the session, Mizzou is now in fifth place in the team standings with 82.5 points and trails Iowa by 10.5 points in the race for a team trophy.
After dropping his consolation semifinals bout, Eierman came back to defeat Rutgers' No. 5 seed Anthony Ashnault, 4-2, to take fifth. Eierman finishes the tournament with a record 5-2 with two major decisions while knocking off four seed wrestlers, including the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 seeds.
"Coach Smith had a lot of faith in me to move me up a weight class mid-season," said Eierman following the bout. "To go out and All-America for him brought me a lot of excitement. I was happy to do it for him and for the team. To be top-eight in the country as a freshman is really something special."
The win caps an impressive debut campaign for Eierman, who finishes the season with a record of 29-7 with 16 wins by bonus points (seven major decisions, five falls, four technical falls).
After dropping both of his bouts in Saturday morning's session, Lewis finished his second season in sixth place. Lewis ends the season with a record of 28-6, recording bonus point victories in 22 of 26 wins, including a team-leading nine falls, as well as nine major decisions and four technical falls.
The Tigers will conclude their season with the NCAA Finals, tonight at 7 p.m. CT. For the first time ever, Mizzou will have multiple wrestlers in the illustrious finals, as Cox, Mayes and Lavallee will all wrestle for the top crown. The finals will begin with Cox at 197 pounds, with a broadcast on ESPN.
For all the latest on Mizzou Wrestling, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MizzouWrestling).
Team Scores
1. Penn State, 122
2. Ohio State, 106
3. Oklahoma State, 99
4. Iowa, 93
5. Mizzou, 82.5
6. Virginia Tech, 63.5
7. Minnesota, 62.5
8. Cornell, 60.5
9. Nebraska, 59.5
10. Illinois, 43.5
Session 5 Results
141: Jaydin Eierman
Consolation Semifinals: #10 Bryce Meredith (Wyoming) dec. #8 Jaydin Eierman (Mizzou): 8-4
Fifth Place Match: #8 Jaydin Eierman (Mizzou) dec. #5 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers): 4-2
165: Daniel Lewis
Consolation Semifinals: #4 Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) dec. #6 Daniel Lewis (Mizzou): 8-1
Fifth Place Match: #9 Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) dec. #6 Daniel Lewis (Mizzou): 9-6