University of Missouri Athletics

CAREER HONORS

• 2018 NCAA All-American (8^th Place – 197 pounds)
• 2018 MAC Champion (197 pounds)
• 2018 NWCA All-Academic Team
• 2018 Academic All-MAC Team
• 2016 NCAA All-American (6th Place - 184 pounds)
• 2016 Academic All-MAC Team
• 2015 NCAA All-American (7th Place - 184 pounds)
• 2015 MAC Freshman of the Year
• 2015 Academic All-MAC Team
• 2014 SEC First-Year Honor Roll

REDSHIRT SENIOR (2017-18)

• Earned All-America status for the third time, becoming the seventh three-time All-American in program history, and captured his first conference title in 2017-18.
• Was given the Hap Whitney Coach’s Award at end-of-the-year banquet.
• Went 24-6 (14-2 in duals) over the season, winning 16 matches by bonus points (six falls, seven technical falls and three major decisions).
• Among program records, ranks fifth in season technical falls (seven), sixth in career technical falls (11) and ninth in career falls (27).
• Among team leaders, ranked first in technical falls (seven), fourth in dual points (64), fourth in dual falls (four) and fifth in dual major decisions (two).
• Went 3-3 at the NCAA Championships (March 15-17), finishing eighth at 197 pounds to become the seventh three-time All-American in program history.
• Defeated No. 8-ranked Nate Rotert (South Dakota State), 9-5, in the round of 12 to become an All-American at the NCAA Championships.
• Won his first career conference title at the MAC Championships (March 3-4), recording a fall over Eastern Michigan’s Derek Hillman to capture the title.
• Wrestling in his home state, defeated Northern Iowa’s No. 14-ranked Jacob Holschlag, 8-4 (Feb. 17).
• Sealed Mizzou’s come-from-behind 21-19 win over No. 5 Oklahoma State with a 10-4 win over No. 3 Preston Weigel (Jan. 27).
• Down 7-2 in the third period, pinned No. 2-ranked Jared Haught to seal Mizzou’s win over Virginia Tech (Nov. 25).
• Finished second at 197 pounds at the Lindenwood Open (Nov. 18) following a 4-1 performance which featured two wins by technical fall, one by fall and one by major decision.
• Opened the season by defeating Illinois’ Andre Lee, 3-1, in dual competition (Nov. 4).

REDSHIRT JUNIOR (2016-17)

• Only competed in two matches before a season-ending knee injury.

REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE (2015-16)

• Earned NCAA All-America status for the second-straight season, finishing in sixth place at 184 pounds in the NCAA Championships (March 19).
• Finished season with a 21-8 record, 11-2 in dual competition and 6-0 in MAC duals.
• Scored 53 dual points, second-most on the team.
• Had seven major decisions (tied for second-most) and seven falls (tied for eighth-most).
• Placed third at the MAC Championships (March 6), defeating Joe Ariola (Buffalo), 10-3, in third-place match.
• Picked up a 5-4 decision win over No. 6-ranked T.J. Dudley (Nebraska) in Mizzou’s NWCA National Dual Series victory (Feb. 21), scoring a takedown with less than five seconds remaining to preserve the win.
• Earned a fall at 3:55 over No. 20-ranked Cole Baxter (Kent State) (Dec. 20).
• Named USA Wrestling Athlete on Dec. 14 after picking up wins over No. 11-ranked Kenny Courts (Ohio State) via 15-0 technical fall (Dec. 12) and a 9-3 decision win over Andrew Romanchik (Ohio) (Dec. 13).
• Placed fourth at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 5), defeating two ranked opponents, including a 13-5 major decision over No. 9-ranked Kenny Courts (Ohio State).
• Earned falls in his first two dual wins, defeating SIU Edwardsville’s Derek Nagel (2:49) (Nov. 20) and Northern Iowa’s Cody Caldwell (1:22) (Nov. 28).

REDSHIRT FRESHMAN (2014-15)

• Went from preseason unranked grappler to nationally ranked and NCAA All-American at 184 pounds. Went 33-9 overall including an 18-3 dual (6-0 MAC) record.
• Finished in 7th place at 2015 NCAA Championships, producing a 5-2 record along the way.
• At NCAA's, defeated No. 6 Taylor Meeks (Oregon State), No. 7 Lorenzo Thomas (Penn), No. 14 Richard Robertson (Wisconsin) and No. 15 Timothy Dudley (Nebraska) nationally ranked opponents in the country.
• Had 18 starts at 184 pounds for the Tigers and three starts at 197 pounds.
• Began the 2014-15 season with an 18-0 record, highlighted by a win over No. 2 Jack Dechow (Old Dominion) on Nov. 23, 2014.
• 24 of his 33 season wins resulted in bonus points, good enough for .727 perctange of his overall victories.
• In his 18 dual victories this season, accumulated 82 points (2nd most on Mizzou, only trailed J’den Cox’s 87).
• Tallied 14 pins throughout the season, tops among Tiger Style starters for the 2014-15 campaign.
• Took down six nationally ranked foes at 184 pounds, including four alone at 2015 NCAA Championships.
• Named MAC Freshman of the Year by the league office on April 7, 2015.

FRESHMAN (2013-14)

• Took his redshirt in his first season with the Tigers and competed in five tournaments at 197 pounds.
• Finished in fourth place at the Warren Williams/Daktronics Open, picking up his first collegiate win by a fall at 4:09 against North Dakota State's Tommy Peterson.
• Took third place at the Joe Parisi Open, winning five of his six matches including a 6-4 decision over Missouri's Justin Heberlie.
• Was crowed the champion at the Kaufman-Brand Open after winning his first two matches by fall followed by another win over Justin Heberlie.
• Another third-place finish came from the UNI Open, with his only loss coming against Mizzou's J'den Cox.
• Miklus picked up 17 wins this season with nine of them coming by fall, the fastest of which occurred 50 seconds into the match.

SOUTHEAST POLK HIGH SCHOOL (PLEASANT HILL, IOWA)

• Took second place at state his freshman and sophomore seasons at 119 and 145 pounds respectively.
• Won state titles his junior and senior seasons at 171 pounds and 220 pounds, respectively.
• Had a perfect senior season, going 47-0 with a total of 368 takedowns on the season.
• In 2011, was the Folkstyle Nationals runner-up at 171 pounds. Took eighth place at 189 pounds at Junior Freestyle Nationals.
• Lettered all four years in wrestling.
• Miklus decided to train at the Olympic Training Center for the year immediately following high school (2011-2012) before joining the Missouri squad.

PERSONAL

• Willie was born to Garry and Luann Miklus on July 16, 1993 in Des Moines, Iowa.
• Has three younger siblings - Tim, who is also on the Tiger wrestling squad, Erin and Sean.

STATS

*- Redshirted, stats don't count to career totals