Second January MAC Poll – Six Panthers Ranked

The new January MAC Coaches poll is out, and they have the same six Panthers sitting about where they were for the first half of the month. The only guy to move was Jarrett Jensen, who bumped up from fourth to third after Ohio’s Spartak Chino dropped out of the poll following a pair of losses to #1 Ian Miller and current #4 Brandon Zeerip.

Again Cooper Moore leads the Panthers, he still sits in first after beating opponents from Northern Illinois, Buffalo, and Virginia Tech. None of the wrestlers were ranked, either in the national or MAC polls.

UNI also has two wrestlers ranked at number two for the second poll in a row, and they happen to be the same wrestlers. At 125 Dylan Peters is ranked second, not falling any after a loss to Intermat’s number four ranked Joey Dance from Virginia Tech. At 285 Blaize Cabell still sits in second, after defeating #7 Ty Walz and scoring a combined 17 takedowns in two MAC duals earlier this month. Here is my weekly PSA that Cabell does have a win this year over number one Devin Mellon.

The other two Panthers in the poll, Curt Maas (fourth at 174) and Cody Caldwell (third at 184) will have to wait until January 31st to get their shot at a ranked foe. They both will wrestle an opponent from Missouri that day, and that will be the only shot they have at it this month.

The team race sees UNI up a spot in this poll, from fourth to third. With Jensen’s bump up to number three, that gave UNI an extra team point, and Ohio had two wrestlers drop out of the poll completely, dropping them to a tie for fourth with Kent State at 12 points. Central Michigan, UNI’s opponent on Sunday, actually gained two points but dropped a spot in the poll, while Missouri stayed atop the poll, still with 32 points.

The complete individual and team polls can be found below.

2015 January MAC Weight Class Rankings:
125 – 1. Alan Waters (Missouri, Senior); 2. Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa, Sophomore); 3. Brandon Jeske (Old Dominion, Sophomore); 4. Max Soria (Buffalo, Senior).
133 – 1. Mack McGuire (Kent State, Junior); 2.Vincent Pizzuto (Eastern Michigan, Junior); 3. Zach Synon (Missouri, Sophomore); 4. Tyler Keselring (Central Michigan, Senior).
141 – 1. Zach Horan (Central Michigan, Junior); 2. Lavion Mayes (Missouri, Sophomore); 3. Chris Mecate (Old Dominion, Junior); 4. Michael Shaw (Eastern Michigan, Junior).
149 – 1. Drake Houdashelt (Missouri, Senior); 2. Alexander Richardson (Old Dominion, Junior); 3. Tywan Claxton (Ohio, Junior); 4. Mike DePalma (Kent State, Junior).
157 – 1. Ian Miller (Kent State, Junior); 2. Joey Lavallee (Missouri, Sophomore); 3. Jarrett Jensen (Northern Iowa, Junior) 4. Brandon Zeerip (Eastern Michigan, Senior).
165 – 1. Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa, Sophomore); 2. Tristan Warner (Old Dominion, Senior); 3. Harrison Hightower (Ohio, Senior); 4. Mikey England (Missouri, Senior).
174 – 1. Cody Walters (Ohio, Junior); 2. Johnny Eblen (Missouri, Senior); 3. Caleb Marsh (Kent State, Senior); 4. Curt Maas (Northern Iowa, Sophomore).
184 – 1. Willie Miklus (Missouri, Redshirt Freshman); 2. Jack Dechow (Old Dominion, Sophomore); 3. Cody Caldwell (Northern Iowa, Junior); 4. Andrew Romanchik (Ohio, Junior).
197 – 1. J’Den Cox (Missouri, Sophomore); 2. Phil Wellington (Ohio, Junior); 3. Shawn Scott (Northern Illinois, Sophomore); t-4. Kevin Beazley (Old Dominion, Sophomore); t-4. Anthony Abro (Eastern Michigan, Junior).
HWT – 1. Devin Mellon (Missouri, Senior); 2. Blaize Cabell (Northern Iowa, Junior); 3. Jake Henderson (Old Dominion, Senior); 4. Mimmo Lytle (Kent State, Sophomore).

2015 MAC Second January Rankings
1. Missouri (32.0)
2. Old Dominion (15.5)
3. Northern Iowa (15.0)
t-4. Kent State (12.0)
t-4. Ohio (12.0)
6. Eastern Michigan (5.5)
7. Central Michigan (5.0)
8. Northern Illinois (2.0)
9. Buffalo (1.0)