UNI Wrestling Preps for Ohio and Kent State on the Road

The University of Northern Iowa Panthers wrestling team will compete in its final two conference wrestling duals on the road on February 6 & 8, 2015 when they travel to Ohio and Kent State.

On Friday, February 6, UNI (6-6, 3-2 MAC) will compete at Ohio (7-5, 3-4 MAC). On Sunday, the Panthers will travel to Kent State (7-3, 3-3).

UNI will have one more road dual before the final match of the season at home Feb. 20 against MAC foe Old Dominion.

“The road has been tough for us so far,” said head coach Doug Schwab. “We will talk to our guys like we have the last couple of weeks. We have to take the road as a challenge and be road warriors.”

UNI is 6-6 in duals and 3-2 in the MAC. After opening the conference with three wins at home, the Panthers lost the last two MAC duals on the road to No. 2 Missouri and Central Michigan.

The Panthers will see four opponents ranked in the top 15 this weekend.

“It doesn’t matter what number (rank) beside that guy’s name when we step out there, when our effort is high and our attitude is high, we give ourselves a chance,” said Schwab. “We have to be able to do that. We have to do a better job of that. We are going to be in scraps with both those teams. They have good guys up and down their lineup.”

Ohio is led by No. 7 Tywan Claxton at 149 pounds and No. 8 Cody Walters at 184 pounds. Kent State is led by No. 4 Ian Miller at 157 pounds and No. 15 Caleb Marsh at 174 pounds.

2015 February 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. Vincent Pizzuto (Eastern Michigan, Junior); 2. Zach Synon (Missouri, Sophomore); 3. Mack McGuire (Kent State, Junior); 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. Colin Heffernan (Central Michigan, Redshirt Freshman); 4. Tywan Claxton (Ohio, Junior).

157 – 1. Ian Miller (Kent State, Junior); 2. Joey Lavallee (Missouri, Sophomore); 3. Andrew Morse (Northern Illinois, Junior); 4. Jarrett Jensen (Northern Iowa, Junior).

165 – 1. Cooper Moore (Northern Iowa, Sophomore); 2. Tristan Warner (Old Dominion, Senior); 3. Mikey England (Missouri, Senior); 4. Harrison Hightower (Ohio, Senior).

174 – 1. Cody Walters (Ohio, Junior); 2. Johnny Eblen (Missouri, Senior); 3. Caleb Marsh (Kent State, Senior); 4. Jordan Ellingwood (Central Michigan, Redshirt Freshman).

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); 4. Anthony Abro (Eastern Michigan, Junior).

HWT – 1. Blaize Cabell (Northern Iowa, Junior); 2. Devin Mellon (Missouri, Senior); 3. Jake Henderson (Old Dominion, Senior); 4. Mimmo Lytle (Kent State, Sophomore).

The preseason team rankings were also decided in the same forum. The nine schools were ranked based on the number of first through fourth-place votes that were earned in the individual voting system. A first-place vote was worth four team points; a second-place vote earned three team points; third-seeded votes were worth two team points, while a fourth-place tally earned one point in the team ranking system.

The February team rankings for the MAC are as follows:

2015 MAC February Rankings: