Wrestling To Take On Adrian, Missouri This Weekend

Wrestling at Adrian (0-13) & No. 9 Missouri (5-2, 3-0 MAC)
Date	Friday-Sunday, Jan. 13-15 \| 7 p.m./2 p.m.
Location	Adrian, Mich./Convocation Center
Game Notes	Mizzou Notes
Twitter	@EMUWrestling
Results	Adrian Missouri
Live Stream	ESPN3 (Sunday Only)
Tickets	emueagles.com

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - The Eastern Michigan University wrestling team continues dual action this weekend when it takes on Adrian College, Friday night, Jan. 13, followed by a home meet with No. 9 Missouri, Sunday, Jan. 15. The dual vs. Adrian is set to begin at 7 p.m., while Mizzou and Eastern will start at 2 p.m. inside the Convocation Center.

   The duals can be tracked live on Twitter by following @EMUWrestling. Full results can be found on TrackWrestling.com. Sunday's dual will be streamed on live on ESPN 3 with Joel Godett and Eric Olanowski on the call.

BATTLING THE BULLDOGS: Adrian College competes at the NCAA Division III level. It is in their second year of wrestling after rebooting the program ahead of the 2015-16 season, as the team was discontinued from 1984-2015. The Bulldogs are 0-13 this season and have not faced a Division-I program.

ALL TIME VS MU: EMU and Missouri have met five times in their respective histories, with the Tigers winning all five bouts. The closest EMU has come to defeating Mizzou was in 2014, when the Green and White dropped a tough 18-15 decision

TRACKING THE TIGERS: No. 9 Missouri enters the week with a 5-2 dual record and an unblemished 3-0 mark in the MAC. The Tigers have duals with Buffalo on Thursday, and No. 8 Cornell on Saturday. Mizzou owns wins over MAC opponents Old Dominion, Ohio, and Kent State, as well as non-conference wins over No. 6 Virginia Tech and No. 22 Appalachian State. Its defeats came at the hands of No. 4 Ohio State and No. 17 Oklahoma.

    The Black and Gold have wrestlers all over the national rankings, with seven of ten ranked in InterMat's top-20. They are led by 197 pounder J'Den Cox, who is ranked No. 1 in the country. The senior is undefeated this season after coming off his second national title and a Bronze Medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

LAST TIME WE MET: Despite leading 10-7 at the midway point of the dual, EMU dropped a tough match on the road to No. 4 Missouri, 24-10. EMU won three matches on the night, including a major decision win at the heavyweight match. Out of the seven bouts they dropped, five of them came against top-10 nationally ranked opponents.

EAGLES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: A pair of Eagles are nationally ranked after strong performances this season. Redshirt freshman Noah Gonser is ranked as high as 17th by TheOpenMat, as well as 19th by TrackWrestling, Intermat and W.I.N. Magazine at 125 lbs. Redshirt junior Gage Hutchison is also ranked by the national outlets, including 14th by InterMat and TrackWrestling, as well as 16th by W.I.N. Magazine, 18th by TheOpenMat and 19th by FloWrestling.

MOVING UP THE RECORD BOOK: Redshirt senior Nick Barber has 77 victories in his EMU career, which ranks 14th on the all-time list with. Recent EMU Hall of Fame inductee Steve Brown holds the all-time record with 117 wins. Barber trails Doug Harper and Nick Wittenburg by one win for 12th all-time.

EAGLES BOUNCE BACK WITH 25-14 DUAL WIN OVER ODU: After falling to Ohio University Friday, Jan. 6, the Eagles got back on track and secured its first Mid-American Conference win of the season with a 25-14 dual victory over Old Dominion University, Sunday afternoon, Jan. 8, inside the Convocation Center.

    EMU won five bouts, and secured a sixth via forfeit. Getting bonus points for the Eagles were Noah Gonser, who notched his fifth pin of the season and third in dual action, as well as Kyle Springer, who had a 12-4 major decision, his first of the season.

UP NEXT ON THE MATS: The Eagles get back on the road for their first MAC road dual of the season, traveling to DeKalb, Ill. for a match against Northern Illinois. The dual with the Huskies is set for 8p.m., Friday, Jan. 20.

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Players Mentioned

Nick Barber

Noah Gonser

Gage Hutchison

Kyle Springer

Eastern Michigan Athletics