UNI falls to #3 Missouri, 33-6

UNI came in to the Missouri’s Hearnes Center looking to change their fortunes on the road. They left with more questions than answers, dropping the dual 33-6.

Missouri Head Coach Brian Smith did something out of the ordinary for tonights dual, he talked to his team about last years.

“I mentioned the match, the year before, because we went into a hornets nest. The place was sold out an hour before, the place was jam-packed and our kids didn’t react, we wrestled scared, we didn’t wrestle hard. We got blown out of the building. And I said, you’ve got to remember that.”

The Missouri squad remembered.

“They pretty much had their way with us. Doesn’t matter on top, on bottom, they rode us all over the place.” UNI head coach Doug Schwab said after the dual. “They have a really good plan and they stick to it. They beat us up”

The Panthers were shut out through the first five matches. Things got off to a bad start for Peters about 15 seconds into his match. He was hit for an illegal front headlock on Waters, and it was all downhill from there. Waters dominated the match, never letting Peters in on his offense. Waters won 10-1.

The first UNI win came at 165 when Cooper Moore got the 4-3 win over Mikey England. Moore looked good, especially that right arm, in the first period but couldn’t finish his shots. He finally connected late in the second period to go up 2-1. Moore scored a reversal in the third after being ridden for most of the period to go up 4-2 and he would win 4-3.

“Cooper has to get some attacks together. We have to have more urgency on bottom, they really executed really well,” Schwab said of England after the match.

Blaize Cabell was the only Panther who really looked like himself against the Tigers. He was on the attack and looked to improve his positioning even late into the third period.

“I thought Blaize was the only one who took true attacks, and he got rewarded at the end. I’d like to see him get to one earlier.”

Cabell took down Mellon with eight seconds left in sudden victory, and after review, was rewarded with the match. The win at heavyweight put gave Missouri the 33-6 win.

Jake Hodges, Tyler Patten, Curt Maas, and Basil Minto all lost by major decision in addition to Peters. They lost by a combined score of 64-12. The Panthers had just three takedowns in the dual, compared to 20 for Missouri. The only statistical category UNI led in was escapes, and that was 11-10.

If you want to beat a good team, you’re not going to beat a good team giving up easy scores, Schwab said, “You’re not going to beat a good team giving up points on the edge, giving up riding time in almost every match, you’re just not going to.”

“Give these guys credit, they’re a real good team.”

Schwab and his squad will look to turn things around next weekend, when they go on the road to Ohio and Kent State. The Panthers have only won twice on the road all year, over Indiana Tech (at Purdue) and over Drexel (at the Grapple at the Garden).

“I’m not a guy to feel sorry for myself, and I’m not going to feel sorry for my team. We’ve got to get better. Bottom line.”

If you want a play by play of each match, check out our link here. We also have a photo gallery up with photos from last night on our flickr page, be sure to check them out!

UNI 6 Missouri 33
125 – #2 Alan Waters (MU) won by major decision, 10-1, over #6 Dylan Peters
133 – Zach Synon (MU) won 4-0 over Leighton Gaul
141 – #6 Lavion Mayes (MU) won by major decision, 12-4, over Jake Hodges
149 – #5 Drake Houdashelt (MU) won by major decision, 17-2, over Tyler Patten
157 – #10 Joey Lavaliee (MU) won 2-0 over Jarrett Jensen
165 – #12 Cooper Moore (UNI) won 4-3 over Mikey England
174 – #5 John Eblen (MU) won by major decision, 9-1, over Curt Maas
184 – #14 Willie Miklus (MU) won by pinfall over Cody Caldwell
197 – #1 J’den Cox (MU) won by major decision, 16-4, over Basil Minto
285 – #11 Blaize Cabell (UNI) won 3-1 in sudden victory over #16 Devin Mellon