QUICK HITS
- Cleveland State suffered a 20-12 setback to nationally ranked Missouri
- The Vikings won four bouts against their ranked foe
- Logan Heil and Ben Smith beat foes listed in the most recent MAC rankings
- Smith's win came in overtime against a top-25 ranked opponent
- CSU won both bouts that went to overtime as Collin Kelly also turned the trick
- Evan Cheek picked up his team-leading 29th win of the season
- Heil, Cheek and Smith all went 2-0 on the weekend
- Three CSU losses came to defending MAC champions
MATCH RECAP
The Cleveland State University wrestling team provided nationally ranked Missouri with a competitive matchup, but the host Tigers proved too much and claimed a 20-12 victory Saturday evening inside the Hearnes Center.
The Vikings split the first four bouts with the hosts, but Missouri was able to use four straight wins, three by decision, to ensure victory.
Nevertheless, there were multiple bright spots for the Vikings on the day as they defeated two conference ranked foes, one of which was nationally ranked.
True freshman Logan Heil pulled off one of the comebacks of the season for the Vikings in the opening bout at 125 pounds. Trailing 10-2 early in the second period, Heil methodically worked his way back into the match. He used reversals in the second and the third to pull within 10-6. He then would pick up a pair of near-fall points twice and added single points for opponent stalling and riding time to claim an unlikely 12-10 victory.
After losing via decision at 133 pounds, the Vikings got back on the board with redshirt senior Evan Cheek at 141. Cheek claimed a 5-2 victory to put the Vikings back on top.
However, returning All-American Brock Mauller tallied a major decision win at 149 pounds to put the Tigers ahead to stay.
Missouri would win the next four bouts, three of which came via decision, to cement their advantage.
But the Vikings refused to go quietly. Sophomore Ben Smith found himself tied, 1-1, heading to overtime with Wyatt Koelling of Missouri, a top-25 foe. Smith succeeded on a shot early in the sudden victory session to claim a 3-1 win over the third-ranked wrestler in the conference.
Senior Collin Kelly continued the overtime victory theme for CSU. Facing a foe he lost to by seven points two seasons ago, Kelly was also tied, 1-1, heading to overtime. With the bout still tied in the second set of 30-second tiebreaker periods, Kelly was able to ride his opponent for the entire 30 seconds. He then earned an escape in the second 30-second session and held on for a 3-2 win.
Like Smith, Heil also took down a ranked MAC opponent. In doing so, he posted his 19th win of the season and improved to 5-1 in MAC duals.
Cheek now owns a mark of 29-3 this season and remained perfect in dual action (8-0). Smith tallied his 21st win of the season and is 8-2 in duals.
In his first season in the league, Kelly registered his first MAC dual victory Saturday.
Cleveland State will finish its road trip next weekend at local rival Kent State before returning home the following day to host Central Michigan.
No. 24 Missouri 20, Cleveland State 12
125: Logan Heil (CSU) over Cameron Valdiviez (MISS) – 12-10 dec. | CSU leads, 3-0
133: Allan Hart (MISS) over Justin Patrick (CSU) – 6-1 dec. | Tied, 3-3
141: Evan Cheek (CSU) over Alex Butler (MISS) – 5-2 dec. | CSU leads, 6-3
149: Brock Mauller (MISS) over Gus Sutton (CSU) – 14-4 MD | Missouri leads, 7-6
157: Jarrett Jacques (MISS) over Nico O'Dor (CSU) – 6-1 dec. | Missouri leads, 10-6
165: Peyton Mocco (MISS) over Riley Smucker (CSU) – 6-3 dec. | Missouri leads, 13-6
174: Connor Flynn (MISS) over Chase Archangelo (CSU) – 9-0 MD | Missouri leads, 17-6
184: Dylan Wisman (MISS) over DeAndre Nassar (CSU) – 6-2 dec. | Missouri leads, 20-6
197: Ben Smith (CSU) over Wyatt Koelling (MISS) – 3-1 SV | Missouri leads, 20-9
285: Collin Kelly (CSU) over Jacob Bohlken (MISS) – 3-2 TB-2 | Missouri wins, 20-12
