MAC Championship Wrap Up – UNI Finishes 6th

The University of Northern Iowa crowned one MAC Champion and qualified four men for the NCAA Tournament this weekend in Columbia, Missouri. 165 pounder Cooper Moore took home first place after defeating Old Dominion’s Tristan Warner 7-1.

“I just kept my pace higher than his, I knew things were going to fall in,” Moore said after the win. “Not getting worried since things weren’t going right in the first period.”

Moore and Warner were scoreless after the first period, after Warner escaped to start the period, Moore got a takedown and took Warner to his back for a two point nearfall, making it 4-1. Moore would add an escape and another takedown in the third to make the final 7-1.

“He set a pretty good pace, wrestled a smart match,” UNI Head Coach Doug Schwab said of Moore. “He avoided one of [Warner’s] best positions, that roll through single, but he didn’t go there. He hit a great high crotch and ended up getting a two and two. Good performance by him.”

Dylan Peters fought back from a loss in the finals against Alan Waters to beat Northern Illinois’ Derek Elmore 12-1 to secure the second MAC qualifying spot at the NCAA tournament. The match against Waters was Peter’s second loss to the Tiger this season.

“I give him credit, [Waters] came out and hit the low single right away.” Schwab said of the Peters-Waters match. “Really I give him some credit, he caught us twice right off something and boom, he was right back on us (Peters). He didn’t let us get any momentum.”

Blaize Cabell was the other Panther in the finals. UNI’s only number one seed coming into the tournament, he dropped a 4-2 decision to Missouri’s Devin Mellon. Cabell could not get his offense going, and Mellon came right out in the first period for the matches only takedown.

“They obviously came out with a plan, to get to that snatch single right away and then they rode him for a while,” Schwab on the Cabell match. “We have to be able to make adjustments though, they’re making adjustments and we need to be able to do that. I didn’t see Cabell ever really pick up the pace.”

Other Panthers that wrestled today included Jake Hodges, who won his first match in the consolation semifinals 4-3 against Eastern Michigan’s Michel Shaw. Hodges would fall in the third place match, 6-4, to Lavion Mayes of Missouri. Hodges put out a great effort in his match with Mayes and lost on a takedown with one second left in the match.

Jarrett Jensen lost his first match of the day, 6-5, to Cody LeCount of Central Michigan. Jensen led for most of the match, and then gave up a late takedown in the third period to drop to the 5th place match. He would lose that match 5-4, to Brandon Zeerip of Eastern Michigan. Jensen could possibly make the NCAA Tournament still with an at-large selection. He is probably the only Panther to be selected.

Cody Caldwell dropped his consolation semifinal 5-4, to Andrew Romanchik of Ohio. Caldwell would take home fifth place after KSU’s Jerald Spohn forfeited.

Basil Minto would drop his two matches on the day, losing first to Kevin Beasley from ODU 6-3, and then to Anthony Abro in sudden victory 3-1. Minto finished 6th and grabbed the last NCAA Qualifying spot from the MAC.

We’ll have more photos up on our Flickr site later this week, and we’ll also be posting video interviews with Peters and Moore after their final matches of the day today. We’ll also have a short interview with Schwab from after the first round yesterday up as well, be sure to check back!Below are the complete team results from this weekend, and the final team scores.

Team Scores:
1. Missouri : 139.5
2. ODU 97.5
3. Ohio 85.5
4. KSU 75.5
5. CMU 74.5
6. UNI 72.5
7. NIU 40
8. EMU 28.5

2015 MAC Championships Results:
125 – Dylan Peters (22-5) placed 2nd and scored 14.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa) 22-5 won by fall over Zachary Hassan (Ohio) 5-18 (Fall 1:31)
Semifinal – Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa) 22-5 won by decision over Brandon Jeske (Old Dominion) 13-11 (Dec 8-2)
1st Place Match – Alan Waters (Missouri) 30-0 won by decision over Dylan Peters (Northern Iowa) 22-5 (Dec 11-4)

133 – Leighton Gaul (8-18) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Vincent Pizzuto (Eastern Michigan) 16-14 won by major decision over Leighton Gaul (Northern Iowa) 8-18 (MD 13-5)
Cons. Round 1 – Michael Hayes (Old Dominion) 18-23 won by decision over Leighton Gaul (Northern Iowa) 8-18 (Dec 12-6)

141 – Jake Hodges (12-17) placed 4th and scored 10.50 team points.
Quarterfinal – Jake Hodges (Northern Iowa) 12-17 won by fall over Tyler Small (Kent State) 30-13 (Fall 5:44)
Semifinal – Zachary Horan (Central Michigan) 20-4 won by decision over Jake Hodges (Northern Iowa) 12-17 (Dec 5-3)
Cons. Semi – Jake Hodges (Northern Iowa) 12-17 won by decision over Michael Shaw (Eastern Michigan) 12-19 (Dec 4-3)
3rd Place Match – Lavion Mayes (Missouri) 33-2 won by decision over Jake Hodges (Northern Iowa) 12-17 (Dec 6-4)

149 – Gunner Wolfensperger (17-12) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Alexander Richardson (Old Dominion) 26-7 won by major decision over Gunner Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa) 17-12 (MD 12-3)
Cons. Round 1 – Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan) 22-12 won by decision over Gunner Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa) 17-12 (Dec 8-6)

157 – Jarrett Jensen (21-13) placed 6th and scored 7.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Jarrett Jensen (Northern Iowa) 21-13 won by fall over Andrew Morse (Northern Illinois) 18-14 (Fall 4:39)
Semifinal – Joseph LaVallee (Missouri) 22-11 won by decision over Jarrett Jensen (Northern Iowa) 21-13 (Dec 3-2)
Cons. Semi – Cody LeCount (Central Michigan) 24-11 won by decision over Jarrett Jensen (Northern Iowa) 21-13 (Dec 6-5)
5th Place Match – Brandon Zeerip (Eastern Michigan) 23-13 won by decision over Jarrett Jensen (Northern Iowa) 21-13 (Dec 5-4)

165 – Cooper Moore (22-5) placed 1st and scored 14.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa) 22-5 won by decision over Shaun`Qae McMurtry (Northern Illinois) 12-16 (Dec 8-1)
Semifinal – Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa) 22-5 won by decision over Harrison Hightower (Ohio) 25-10 (Dec 5-3)
1st Place Match – Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa) 22-5 won by decision over Tristan Warner (Old Dominion) 29-3 (Dec 7-1)

174 – Curt Maas (19-12) place is unknown and scored 0.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Cody Walters (Ohio) 30-1 won by major decision over Curt Maas (Northern Iowa) 19-12 (MD 14-0)
Cons. Round 1 – Austin Coburn (Old Dominion) 27-20 won by decision over Curt Maas (Northern Iowa) 19-12 (Dec 5-2)

184 – Cody Caldwell (14-8) placed 5th and scored 9.50 team points.
Quarterfinal – Jerald Spohn (Kent State) 24-23 won in sudden victory – 1 over Cody Caldwell (Northern Iowa) 14-8 (SV-1 8-6)
Cons. Round 1 – Cody Caldwell (Northern Iowa) 14-8 won by major decision over Quinton Rosser (Northern Illinois) 10-22 (MD 13-2)
Cons. Semi – Andrew Romanchik (Ohio) 27-12 won by decision over Cody Caldwell (Northern Iowa) 14-8 (Dec 5-4)
5th Place Match – Cody Caldwell (Northern Iowa) 14-8 won by injury default over Jerald Spohn (Kent State) 24-23 (Inj. 0:00)

197 – Basil Minto (20-14) placed 6th and scored 4.50 team points.
Quarterfinal – Shawn Scott (Northern Illinois) 23-11 won by decision over Basil Minto (Northern Iowa) 20-14 (Dec 4-3)
Cons. Round 1 – Basil Minto (Northern Iowa) 20-14 won by decision over Jackson Lewis (Central Michigan) 8-14 (Dec 7-6)
Cons. Semi – Kevin Beazley (Old Dominion) 30-15 won by decision over Basil Minto (Northern Iowa) 20-14 (Dec 6-3)
5th Place Match – Anthony Abro (Eastern Michigan) 24-12 won in sudden victory – 1 over Basil Minto (Northern Iowa) 20-14 (SV-1 3-1)

285 – Blaize Cabell (26-5) placed 2nd and scored 13.00 team points.
Quarterfinal – Blaize Cabell (Northern Iowa) 26-5 won by major decision over Arthur Bunce (Northern Illinois) 10-21 (MD 13-5)
Semifinal – Blaize Cabell (Northern Iowa) 26-5 won by decision over Jacob Henderson (Old Dominion) 24-11 (Dec 4-2)
1st Place Match – Devin Mellon (Missouri) 30-9 won by decision over Blaize Cabell (Northern Iowa) 26-5 (Dec 4-2)