Nathan McCormick

Class:
Redshirt Freshman
Hometown:
Leawood, Kan.
High School:
Blue Valley North

2012-13: Starting for the Tigers for the fourth year in a row, McCormick ended his time at Mizzou with a record of 34-7 on the season and 15-2 in duals, landing a third NCAA Championship qualification. The month of November was good to McCormick, winning all twelve matches. Right off the bat, he won by decision against No. 12 Scott Festejo (Old Dominion). Nov. 17 brought a win by fall (2:46) against Blake Pursel (Baker). McCormick landed the title at the Joe Parisi Open, winning his second match of the day by fall (1:30) against Brandon Oshiro (Maryville), and taking the championship bout over rival Jonathon Morrison of Oklahoma State by decision, 4-3. McCormick continued his winning ways with a 15-5 major decision victory against Peter Russo (Stanford), extending his winning streak to 10. McCormick took 2nd place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, falling to eventual national champion Logan Stieber of Oklahoma State. Notable wins in Las Vegas include victories over No. 20 Colin Johnston (West Virginia) by technical fall 18-3 and No. 17 George DiCamillo (Virginia), a 5-3 win in sudden victory. Grapple at the Garden was another success for McCormick with a win against No. 8 Naryman Arujau (Cornell) by major decision 11-3 and another win against No. 19 Nick Wilcox (Bloomsburg). McCormick kicked off the 2013 calendar year with a third place finish at the Southern Scuffle. He finished out the tournament with a pin against James Guilbon of Penn State at 4:44. A decision win against No. 8 Scotti Sentes (Central Michigan), and a major decision (11-1) win against Levi Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa) closed out the month of January. Wins against No. 4 Jon Morrison (Oklahoma State) and No. 8 Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) set him up for the NWCA Cliff Keen National Duals. A win by decision against No. 12 Geoffry Alexander (Maryland) followed by a win by forfeit would begin the Duals for McCormick. Unfortunately, the remaining two matches would bring losses, ending his then 10 match winning streak. During the National Duals finals at the University of Minnesota, McCormick once again faced off against No. 1 Logan Stieber of Ohio State. During the bout, McCormick suffered an arm injury that hindered the senior captain until mid-March. He returned to full health prior to the MAC Championships, where he ended up being crowned a conference champion. McCormick roared through the 133-pound bracket, landing a technical fall win (19-1) against Joseph Munos (Ohio), a win by fall (6:08) against Nick Smith (Northern Illinois) and a win by major decision 8-0 against No. 11 Levi Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa) to earn him the first place title and sent him on his way to the NCAA Championships. McCormick closed out his career with a 3-3 record in Des Moines, Iowa, for the 2013 Championships. McCormick made his way into the All-American round, where he fell to No. 3 Tyler Graff of Wisconsin. McCormick responded with a pin over MAC-foe Levi Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa) at 4:54, solidifying McCormick as another All-American from Mizzou. Dropping his remaining two matches, McCormick finished 8th overall in the Championships. He ended his career at Mizzou with a record of 91-46, with 10 major decisions, 27 falls, and 5 technical falls.

2011-12: One of the veterans in the Missouri lineup, McCormick qualified for the NCAA Championship for the second consecutive year at 133 pounds. McCormick posted a 16-7 record on the season and went 10-4 in dual contests. Six of his 16 victories came via fall, and he scored 36 points in duals on the year. He started the season by winning three of his first four dual bouts, including a 2-1 decision over Oklahoma's No. 11 Jordan Keller, a familiar foe for McCormick. He then pinned his way to the title at the Kaufman-Brand Open to kick off the month of December, pinning all four of his opponents on the day. He made it five straight matches with a win via fall against Kent State, pinning Stevie Mitcheff in 2:42 to help the Tigers to a big dual win. McCormick opened Big 12 action with a 9-5 decision over Iowa State's RJ Hallman and after a month off due to injury, took all three bouts at the SIUE Duals in late January to extend his season-long winning streak to nine. On Feb. 5, McCormick defeated Keller for the second time on the year, winning 5-3 in Columbia. McCormick earned the No. 2 seed at the Big 12 Championship and earned his way to the finals with a 4-2 decision over Keller. McCormick fell in the finals to No. 1 seed Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) to finish in second and earn an automatic bid to NCAA's. McCormick dropped his opening match of the NCAA's to No. 6 seed Devin Carter (Virginia Tech), but bounced back with a 5-0 win over Keller, his fourth win of the year over the Sooner and second career victory at NCAA's. Honors: NWCA First Team Academic All-American, First Team Academic All-Big 12

2010-11: Missouri's starter at 133 pounds for the second straight season, McCormick capped off his sophomore year with his first career bid to the NCAA Championships following a third place finish at the 2011 Big 12 Championships. McCormick was one of 10 Tigers to win titles at the UCM Open in November, going 4-0 on the day with a technical fall and two pins. His first dual win of the year also came by fall, as he pinned Taylor Bolin of Lindenwood in 4:13. He had a perfect 4-0 day at the Northeast Duals, which included another win by fall, pinning American's Kevin Tao in 5:53, and an 11-6 decision over NCAA qualifier Frank Cagnina of Lehigh. He closed out the first half of the dual season with another pin, sticking Indiana's Matt Ortega in 6:25 in Missouri's victory over the Hoosiers. Despite not placing at the Midlands, McCormick won three of his five matches, which included a technical fall victory over Matt Sencenbaugh of Stanford. He scored a win over Cornell's Joe Stanzione at the NWCA National Duals, beating his opponent by a 6-0 decision. McCormick scored bonus points in both matches of the tri-meet with Chattanooga and SIU-Edwardsville, scoring a 19-3 technical fall over UTC's Joe DeAngelo in 5:10 before pinning his SIUE opponent later in the day. He closed out the dual portion of the schedule with two straight wins over conference opponents, including a 3-2 decision against Jordan Keller of OU and a 10-2 major decision over Iowa State's Ben Cash. At Big 12's, McCormick bounced back from a first round loss to Cash and picked up a 3-2 win against Ridge Kiley of Nebraska before knocking off Cash, 5-0, in the third place match. McCormick won his first career match at NCAA's when he scored a 6-2 victory over Thomas Mitchell of Liberty in his first wrestleback contest. For the season, six of McCormick's 22 victories came via fall, with the fastest coming at 1:53. He finished the year 12-11 during dual action and scored 54 dual points for the team, fourth-most on the squad.

2009-10: Stepped in as the starter at 133 pounds and put together a 19-16 record as a redshirt freshman. Opened the campaign with a 3-2 decision over Daryl Thomas of Illinois in Mizzou's 18-16 victory over the Illini to kick off the season. Two days later, McCormick took third at the University of Central Missouri Open as he went 5-1 on the weekend, which included a win by fall over McKendree's Wade Lowe in the third place match. Took third place again the following week at the Missouri Open, where he won four of his five matches, all coming via fall. From Nov. 14 through Dec. 6, McCormick won six times, with him pinning his opponent in each of those victories. Finished second at the Nittany Lion Open, and won three of his matches at the 2009 Midlands. McCormick won his first match at Big 12's by 3-1 decision over CJ Napier of Nebraska before dropping his next two contests.

2008-09: A 133 pound wrestler his first year in the Missouri wrestling room, McCormick won 10 matches and finished second at the Missouri Open, Nov. 23. Over the course of the season, McCormick was awarded four bonus point victories. The grappler started off the Missouri Open with an 18-1 win by technical fall in 5:30 over Illinois' Tyler LaPrete.

High School: McCormick was crowned the 2007 and 2008 Kansas 6A State Champion at 119 pounds his junior year and 125 pounds his senior campaign, capturing the Regional title on his way to states. A member of the Blue Valley North wrestling squad, McCormick recorded back-to-back 37-win seasons his sophomore and junior campaigns and was named to the East Kansas League (EKL) and All-Sun Country first team as a junior (2007). As a senior, McCormick managed a 43-1 record, earning 35 of his 43 wins by way of fall. For his work on the mat, McCormick was named the Kansas Class 6A Outstanding Wrestler. Coached by Dylan Hitchcock, McCormick competed at 103 pounds his freshman and sophomore years and earned state qualifier and runner-up honors, respectively. McCormick received FILA Cadet All-America honors after placing fifth in the Freestyle Competition in Akron, Ohio, April 21, 2007, and is an eight-time Freestyle and Greco Kansas State Champion. McCormick was a member of the Blue Valley North Principal's Honor Roll and received four letters with the Mustangs' wrestling team.

Personal: Brother to two former Tiger wrestlers Chris (26) and Tyler (24), Nathan was born June 29, 1990 in Independence, Mo. The three are sons to Mike and Jennifer McCormick. McCormick plans to major in business at Mizzou.