Two years removed from earning a trophy at the NCAA tournament, Missouri is looking to send out perhaps its toughest lineup in years. The Tigers and Head Coach Brian Smith are coming off a sixth-place finish in 2016, which included J’den Cox's second NCAA title at 197 pounds. Missouri saw additional podium finishes from Lavion Mayes, Daniel Lewis and Willie MIklus.

This year's team doesn’t match Penn State's lineup flexibility, but they do have nine strong starters with tremendous upside. This squad could push for more than just a trophy finish next year.

125: Barlow McGhee - Redshirt Junior
McGhee fell short of All-American honors this year, but was a fixture of the top-10 rankings for much of 2016. He was the No. 8 seed this year, and lost to All-Americans Dylan Peters and Conor Youtsey. McGhee notched wins over Zeke Moisey, Dylan Peters and David Terao. He will begin next year in the top-10 rankings as well with a great chance at placing, though his upside is limited by bona fide hammers at 125 like Gilman and Tomasello.

133: Jaydin Eierman - Redshirt Freshman
The Tigers were tempted to pull Jaydin’s shirt a year ago, but they made the right choice holding off. Jaydin had a fine showing at UWW Juniors last week after a solid redshirt year where he took out Josh Alber, Austin Eicher, Zach Synon, Nathan Kraisser and Luke Welch. He only fell to Zane Richards and Javier Gasca last year. Eierman's style is built for the Division I game, and his creativity and diverse skill set will make him a real threat for a high finish next year at NCAAs.


141: Matt Manley - Redshirt Senior
The wheels fell off for Manley last year after he suffered a major knee injury at the Mid-American Conference tournament. He gave it a go at NCAAs, but couldn’t muster a win after earning the No. 5 seed. Manley announced himself with his win over Micah Jordan, and subsequently knocked off Solomon Chishko, Zach Horan, Anthony Abidin, Chris Mecate and Steve Bleise! What a group of wins. If he’s back healthy, he will be in the mix to place. As even as 141 is, that place could be quite high.

149: Lavion Mayes - Redshirt Senior
Two-time All-American Lavion Mayes is back for his senior year for the Tigers. He’s in a perfect spot for Missouri and will need to be a big scorer next year.  Coming off of a third place finish at NCAAs, I’m not sure how much higher up the ladder Lavion will be able to climb. Retherford and Sorensen (especially Retherford) are not likely to be passed. Still, third-place points could be huge, and I could see Lavion giving Sorensen some issues with his attacks from space.

157: Joey Lavallee - Redshirt Junior
Lavallee returns after redshirting a year ago. He wasn’t terribly active in competition last year, but in past years he’s beaten Anthony Collica, Cody Pack, Richie Lewis and Justin DeAngelis. Lavallee plays it close for the most part, but is very difficult to score on.  He’ll likely be ranked in the top 20 to start the year, but I wouldn’t expect rapid ascension. Barring a major change in offensive output, he’ll probably be behind the elite point scorers (of which there are many) at 157 next year.

165: Daniel Lewis - Redshirt Sophomore
I’ve been riding (maybe even conducting) the Daniel Lewis hype train for awhile now. I’m not giving that up yet! Daniel finished fourth at NCAAs this year after losing only to Alex Dieringer and Bo Jordan. With Dieringer gone and Bo possibly moving up, I think Lewis is a title contender at minimum. However, with mega-talents like Michigan’s Logan Massa and Penn State's Vincenzo Joseph entering the conversation, they could challenge Daniel next year as well as NCAA finalist Isaac Jordan.


174: Dylan Wisman - Redshirt Freshman
The ceiling for Wisman is still unknown. He turned in a workman-like redshirt season with 30 matches. His highs weren’t terribly high, nor his lows all that low.  Wisman is defensively stout with underrated athleticism. If his leg attacks have improved, he could become a top-10 commodity with an outside shot at placement. His most likely outcome is a solid top-15 year.

184: Willie Miklus - Redshirt Junior
Miklus is now two for two at NCAAs and placed each of the last two years at 184. Willie accumulated wins over TJ Dudley, Hayden Zilmer, Lorenzo Thomas, and Taylor Meeks. Meeks will drop some random matches from time to time, but he’s a proven guy at NCAAs. He may have some down moments, but in the end his talent is undeniable, and he has finalist potential. Then again, at 184, that is true for a number of competitors.  

197: J’den Cox - Senior
No redshirt, no problem for Cox. He finished first, fifth and first in three tries for Missouri at 197 pounds. Cox is the ultimate flex-play for Missouri in dual meets.  They use him creatively as a 197 or a 285 depending on what the situation requires. I can think of two occasions they’ve used Cox to go up, and it won Missouri the dual (Ohio State and Cornell). The 86kg Olympian will be the key cog for Missouri’s success next year. An overwhelming favorite to repeat at 197 pounds next year, Cox will be alongside Zain Retherford as a favorite for the Hodge Trophy next year.


285: James Romero - Sophomore
Missouri doesn’t have a myriad of options right now at 285, so they’ll look to James Romero for the second straight year. Romero was unable to qualify for NCAA’s this year. Barring improvement, this will be his reality next year, as well. But Missouri is in the business of improvement, and takes struggling athletes and molds them to requisite if not excellent. Romero is a fairly athletic big man. With some time, Romero could become a rankable commodity for the Tigers.

On paper, this team has nine proven wrestlers who will almost all be ranked to begin the year. With a likely champ and a few other finalist contenders, if Missouri puts everything together in St. Louis next year (how fortuitous for the Tigers), they could challenge Penn State, Ohio State and Iowa.