Missouri Tops Eastern Michigan; Crowned Regular Season MAC Champions

YPSILANTI, Mich. – After taking back-to-back MAC Championship postseason tournament crowns the past two seasons, Mizzou wrestling earned their first ever regular season MAC Championship title Sunday afternoon after defeating Eastern Michigan, 31-7.

The win pushed the No.  Tigers to 20-0 this season, and finished their MAC dual schedule with an 8-0 record. Dating back to the 2013-14 campaign, Mizzou has accumulated 24 consecutive dual victories.

On Sunday afternoon against Eastern Michigan, the Tigers won 8-of-10 matchups and took home bonus points in three of those wins. Redshirt seniors Drake Houdashelt and Johnny Eblen earned the biggest wins of the days, as they each defeated their opponents by pins.

Freshman Chase Brennan recorded his first career dual win after defeating Blake Caudill by 9-3 decision at 125 pounds. Redshirt sophomores Zach Synon and Lavion Mayes followed that up with a pair of decision victories themselves.

After the team’s first loss of the afternoon at 157 pounds, redshirt senior Ty Prazma got Mizzou back on track with an 8-3 decision triumph at 165 pounds. Sophomore J’den Cox and redshirt senior Devin Mellon rounded out the Tigers dual victory with wins at 197 pounds and 285 pounds, respectively.

Mizzou competes next in the 2015 NWCA National Duals Regionals, and it marks the team’s final home match of the 2014-15 season. The Tigers and American University are set to compete on Sunday, Feb. 15 with a 12 p.m. (CT) start time.

The 2015 National Duals Finals will be held from Feb. 21-22 at the University of Iowa.

Check-in to MUTigers.com for the latest information on all things Mizzou wrestling. You can also find the Tigers on social media, by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter (@MizzouWrestling).

Match-By-Match Results at Eastern Michigan

125: Chase Brennan (M) over Blake Caudill (EM) by 9-3 decision
133: Zach Synon (M) over Vincent Pizzuto (EM) by 2-1 decision (TB1)
141: No. 5 Lavion Mayes (M) over Michael Shaw (EM) by 9-4 decision
149: No. 1 Drake Houdashelt (M) over Nicholas Barber (EM) by fall (4:34)
157: Brandon Zeerip (EM) over Trevor Wiest (M) by 4-1 decision
165: Ty Prazma (M) over Austin Geerlings (EM) by 8-3 decision
174: No. 4 Johnny Eblen (M) over Kayne MacCallum by fall (0:51)
184: Mike Curby (EM) over Jon Goerke (M) by 12-0 major decision
197: No. 1 J’den Cox (M) over Anthony Abro (EM) by 5-1 decision
HWT: No. 11 Devin Mellon (M) over Gage Hutchison (EM) by 14-4 major decision