DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – On the first day of the inaugural South Beach Duals in Deerfield Beach, Fla., No. 4 Mizzou Wrestling (10-0, 3-0 MAC) recorded wins over Kent State (7-3, 0-2 MAC) and No. 24 North Carolina (3-4, 0-0 ACC) to remain perfect on the 2017-18 campaign. The Tigers dominated the competition for the majority of the day, recording bonus point victories in 10 of 15 victories, winning 44-3 over the Golden Flashes and 27-9 over the Tar Heels.
With two wins on the day, redshirt senior 157-pounder Joey Lavallee (Reno, Nev.) recorded the 100th win of his career, becoming the 27th member of Mizzou's exclusive 100-win club.
DUAL RECAPS
After a forfeit win in the first match against Kent State, the Tigers rattled off eight straight wins in its first dual of the day, winning five of the bouts by bonus points. Four Tigers; redshirt sophomore 141-pounder Jaydin Eierman (Columbia, Mo.), Lavallee, redshirt sophomore 165-pounder Connor Flynn (Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) and redshirt senior 197-pounder Willie Miklus (Altoona, Iowa) recorded first period falls, while redshirt junior 174-pounder Daniel Lewis (Blue Springs, Mo.) recorded a technical fall. With the win, Mizzou moves to 3-0 in MAC duals, outscoring its conference foes by a combined score of 116-12.
Mizzou dropped its first bout against the No. 24-ranked Tar Heels, but then responded with seven straight wins as five Tigers recorded bonus points and five recorded wins over ranked opponents. The biggest win of the dual came from redshirt sophomore 149-pounder Grant Leeth (Kearney, Mo.), who upset No. 3-ranked Troy Heilmann, 6-3. Redshirt freshman 184-pounder Canten Marriott (Excelsior Springs, Mo.) recorded his first career win over a ranked opponent, defeating No. 16-ranked Chip Ness in overtime, 3-1, with a takedown in sudden victory.
NOTABLE TIGERS
Four Tigers recorded two bonus victories on the day, led by Lavallee, who pinned Casey Sparkman at 2:25 in his first match and then defeated No. 19-ranked Kennedy Monday in his second bout. Lavallee improves to 100-27 in his career with the two victories, becoming the first Tiger to join the 100-win club since three-time NCAA All-American Lavion Mayes recorded his 100th win in Mizzou's dual-opening victory over Old Dominion last season. The Tiger senior now has eight career technical falls, and is just one 15-point victory away from joining the career technical falls top-10 list in program history.
Lewis was punishing in both his matches, winning 18-2 over Kent State's Dylan Barreiro and 17-2 over North Carolina's Adis Radoncic. Lewis also now has eight career technical falls, and is one win away from joining the career technical falls top-10 list in program history.
Eierman recorded his eighth fall of the season with a pin over Kent State's Tim Rooney at 1:28, then recorded 15-5 major decision over North Carolina's No. 15-ranked AC Headlee, while Flynn recorded a fall over Kent State's Isaac Baast at 1:06, then a 10-1 major decision over North Carolina's William MacDonald.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou Head Coach Brian Smith
On the day's top performers…
"Grant Leeth had a really good match against Heilmann, a high ranked wrestler from North Carolina. The thing I noticed in Grant's match, and a lot of the other matches today, was guys were going out in the first period and scoring takedowns. Joey Lavallee went out and wrestled aggressively today, getting a fall and a technical fall against two good opponents. I was really pleased with Joey bouncing back after a tough loss in Reno, it really shows his character."
On the ranked win over North Carolina and the tough opponents in Saturday's duals…
"North Carolina recently beat Nebraska and just knocked off Minnesota, so I knew it was going to be a tough dual. We lost the first match, then got a team point deducted, so there was adversity we had to deal with. But our team handled it well, we calmed down and just started wrestling, and the result was some wins, including five bonus point wins. We have some tough matchups tomorrow, Rider and Cornell have really good teams, so it will give us another chance to go out there and compete."
UP NEXT
Mizzou continues competition at the South Duals tomorrow, beginning with a dual against No. 22 Rider at 10 a.m. (CT), then finishing with Noon (CT) dual against No. 12 Cornell. A mini-tournament will also take place after the duals, where Mizzou wrestlers will take the mat. TrackWrestling will once again provide coverage of the event.
For all the latest on Mizzou Wrestling, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MizzouWrestling).
MATCH-BY-MATCH RESULTS
No. 4 Mizzou 44, Kent State 3
125: No. 17 Barlow McGhee (MIZ) wins by forfeit | MIZ 6, KSU 0
133: No. 6 John Erneste (MIZ) dec. Harry Feuer (KSU): 5-0 | MIZ 9, KSU 0
141: No. 5 Jaydin Eierman (MIZ) fall Tim Rooney: 1:28 | MIZ 15, KSU 0
149: No. 12 Grant Leeth (MIZ) dec. Nick Monico (KSU): 5-2 | MIZ 18, KSU 0
157: No. 4 Joey Lavallee (MIZ) fall Casey Sparkman (KSU): 2:25 | MIZ 24, KSU 0
165: No. 25 Connor Flynn (MIZ) fall Isaac Bast (KSU): 1:06 | MIZ 30, KSU 0
174: No. 4 Daniel Lewis (MIZ) tech. fall Dylan Barreiro (KSU): 18-2 | MIZ 35, KSU 0
184: Canten Marriott (MIZ) SV-1 Colin McCracken (KSU): 5-3 | MIZ 38, KSU 0
197: No. 2 Willie Miklus (MIZ) fall Shane Mast (KSU): 2:47 | MIZ 44, KSU 0
HWT: Devin Nye (KSU) dec. Rodrigo Diaz (MIZ): 3-2 | MIZ 44, KSU 3
No. 4 Mizzou 27, No. 24 North Carolina 9
125: James Szymanski (UNC) dec. No. 17 Barlow McGhee (MIZ): 5-4| MIZ 0, UNC 3
133: No. 6 John Erneste (MIZ) major dec. No. 18 Zach Sherman (UNC): 10-2 | MIZ 4, UNC 3
141: No. 5 Jaydin Eierman (MIZ) major dec. No. 18 AC Headlee (UNC): 15-5 | MIZ 7, UNC 3*
149: No. 12 Grant Leeth (MIZ) dec. No. 3 Troy Heilmann (UNC): 6-3 | MIZ 10, UNC 3
157: No. 4 Joey Lavallee (MIZ) tech. fall No. 19 Kennedy Monday (UNC): 17-2 | MIZ 15, UNC 3
165: No. 25 Connor Flynn (MIZ) major dec. William MacDonald (UNC): 10-1 | MIZ 19, UNC 3
174: No. 4 Daniel Lewis (MIZ) tech. fall Adis Radoncic (UNC): 18-1 | MIZ 24, UNC 3
184: Canten Marriott (MIZ) SV-1 No. 16 Chip Ness (UNC): 3-1 | MIZ 27, UNC 3
197: No. 19 Danny Chaid (UNC) SV-1 No. 2 Willie Miklus (MIZ): 2-1 | MIZ 27, UNC 6
HWT: No. 21 Cory Daniel (UNC) dec. Rodrigo Diaz (MIZ): 10-4 | MIZ 27, UNC 9
* - Mizzou deducted team point during match for control of mat violation
