Central Missouri Mules vs. No. 8 Central Oklahoma Bronchos
Jan. 24, 2015
4:00 p.m. - Warrensburg, Mo.
Game Notes 

The Mules will host No. 8 Central Oklahoma before hosting the Rodger Denker Open this weekend. Central Oklahoma has never lost a dual against Central Missouri, leading the series 34-0. The teams last met in Edmond, Okla. on Jan. 29, 2014. The Bronchos took the dual at 31-6, All-Americans Frank Cagnina and Ty Loethen earned the only team points for the Mules, with decision wins. 

Mules Fall at No. 7 McKendree
Central Missouri fell to the No. 7 McKendree Bearcats on Wednesday evening. Evan Young (157) and Archie Williams (174) were the only Mules to collect team points in the 44-9 loss. Injuries continue to plague the Mules, and the team was forced to forfeit the first three weight classes of the dual, and followed with a Bearcat pin to extend their lead to 24-0. Young then took his match against Josh Ballard with a 10-5 decision, putting the Mules on the board at 24-3. The Bearcats picked up another six points, with a pin in the 165-pound bout. Williams (174) fired back with a pin of his own at 2:29 over former national qualifier Luis Alba, for the final Central Missouri win in the dual. 

The Mules are 4-2 against McKendree in program history, while Ensign is 1-2 against the Bearcats in this career. McKendree has won the last two matches between the teams.  

Cagnina Named National Wrestler of the Week 
No. 2 Frank Cagnina was named the D2Wrestle.com National Wrestler of the Week, after being named the MIAA Wrestler of the Week earlier in the week. Cagnina is 15-1 this season, and with an undefeated duals record. 

Cagnina earns the honor after a 4-0 performance at the UNK Midwest Duals, taking bonus points in every bout. He kicked off the weekend with a 10-2 major decision against No. 7 Destin McCauley (Nebraska-Kearney). He then had back-to-back pins against Jake Slocum (Southwest Minnesota State) in 2:57, and Dane Fischer (Mary) at 2:33. In his last bout of the tournament, Cagnina had a 13-2 major decision against Cody Haugen (Minot State). 

Cagnina has earned bonus points in every dual that he has competed in this season, for most team points this season (38). He also has the most wins by major decision (7) and technical fall (2).

Cagnina was ranked No. 1 in the preseason, after winning a national championship last season. He took second at the UCM Open, falling to then-No. 3 Keenan Hagerty in the championship match, and fell to No. 3 in the first regular season ranking. After the winter break he moved up one spot to No. 2, where he has remained for the duration of the season. 

Central Missouri Leaders
Josh Thomson (165) has won the most matches this season, with a 19-9 overall record. He is tied with Cagnina for most dual wins (8), and is second in team points earned (36) and winning percentage (.679). Thomson has the most pins on the team (10), with his fastest fall coming at 1:14 against Blake Hampton (Labette CC) at the Simpson Invitational. He competed at the UCM Open, the UNK Open, and the Simpson Invitational, taking third in the Elite Division at the UNK Open. 

Williams is tied for second in dual wins (6), and is third in team points scored (28). He is also tied for third in wins by fall (5) and major decision (1), and had the third fastest fall of the season against Andrew Bennett (Lindenwood-Belleville) at 0:47. Williams was the only Mule to pick up three wins at the UCM Duals. He beat No. 8 Clayton Jennissen (St. Cloud State) and Randy Caris by decision, before bumping up a weight class to take a 13-3 major decision over Tyler Scott (Indianapolis).

Zadac Lankford (141) was first in the Amateur Division at the UNK Open, and was also named Outstanding Wrestler of the division. He is tied for second in wins by major decision (2), and tied for third in dual wins (6) and overall wins (13). Lankford is one of three Mules to have a technical fall this season, beating Alec Lindsey (Mary) by 15-0 at the UNK Midwest Duals. 

Malacai Collins also has 13 wins this year. He was second at the UNK Open, in the Elite Division, and was first at the Simpson Invitational.

Robert Schneider and Nicholas Lovejoy have both competed in the 197-pound and 285-pound weight class this season. Schneider had the fastest fall of the season in 0:41 at the UNK Open, where is took fifth place and also had the most pin in the division. Lovejoy had the second fastest fall of the season at 0:46 over Gabriel Crumley (Central Baptist). Lovejoy is tied for third in dual wins (6), and is fourth in team points (25). 

Young was fifth in the Amateur Division at the UNK Open. He is 10-7 this season, and has a 4-2 dual record, with 16 team points. He had the fifth fastest fall of the season, in 1:03 against Devin Combs (Minot State) at the UNK Midwest Duals. 

Probable Line-Ups/Opponent Preview
Central Missouri Mules (4-9, 0-1 MIAA)
Wt.    Name (Yr., Hometown, Record)
125      Ryan Hodges (Jr., Shawnee, Kan., 2-2)
133    Malacai Collins (So., Warrensburg, Mo., 13-8)
141    Zadac Lankford (R-Fr., Warrensburg, Mo., 13-10)
149    No. 2 Frank Cagnina (Sr., Hillsdale, N.J., 15-1)
157    Evan Young (R-Fr., Odessa, Mo., 10-7)
165    Josh Thomson (So., Peculiar, Mo., 19-9)
174    Archie Williams (Jr., Champaign, Ill., 12-9)
184    Mike Boyd (Jr., Odessa, Mo., 11-10)
197    Nick Lovejoy (So., Oronogo, Mo., 9-12)
285    De'Quence Goodman (Jr., Chicago, Ill., 5-3)

No. 8 Central Oklahoma Bronchos (4-4, 1-1 MIAA)
Wt.    Name (Yr., Hometown, Record)
125     Josh Breece (So., Edmond, Okla., 10-3) 
125     Zac D'Amico (R-Fr., Moore, Okla., 18-9)
133     No. 5 Dustin Reed (Sr., Choctaw, Okla., 17-5)
141    Will Steltzlen (Fr., Collinsville, Okla., 12-11) 
141    Josh Durham (Sr., Edmond, Okla., 8-4)
149     Spencer Rutherford (Jr., Grove, Okla., 20-4)
157    Jeromy Davenport (Jr., Sallisaw, Okla., 11-9)
157    Alec Warren (R-Fr., Edmond, Okla., 3-5)
165    No. 1 Chris Watson (Sr., Andover, Kan., 23-0)
174     Colton Gallo (Jr., Perry, Okla., 8-3) 
174    Dylan Harmon (Jr., Marlow, Okla., 9-13)
184     Caleb Hawes (Fr., Barnsdall, Okla., 7-8)
197    Marlon Houston (Fr., Pawnee, Okla., 4-3)
197    Michael Conner (Jr., Guthrie, Okla., 8-14)
285    Kyle Factor (R-Fr., Moore, Okla., 18-7)

Central Oklahoma dropped their first two duals of the season, after a strong showing in several tournaments. First the team fell to then-No. 2 Ouachita Baptist, 26-9, before losing their dual against Fort Hays State (29-16). 

After winter break, the Bronchos competed in Fort Wayne, Ind. at the National Duals. Central Oklahoma had several close duals at the meet, picking up a wins over Augustana (19-16), Lake Erie (25-17), and then-No. 10 Lindenwood (20-19), but losing to then-No. 1 Notre Dame (29-7), and then-No. 6 McKendree (17-16). 

No. 1 Chris Watson (165) has been the rock of the Central Oklahoma line-up, with an undefeated record this season. Watson finished second at Nationals, and is the only returning All-American from last season. He took first at the Swede Open, the UNK Open, the FHSU Open, and the Jet Invitational. Watson has picked up bonus points in seven of his eight dual matches, with five major decisions and two wins by fall. His only decision was over No. 2 Nick Haferkamp (McKendree) at the National Duals. Watson has beat Thomson three times in his career. All three wins were by major decision.

Josh Breece (125) is also undefeated against the Mules in his career. He beat Collins by decision twice last season, but has not faced a Central Missouri opponent yet this year. Breece took third at the UNK Open, and fourthat the Swede Open, but has not competed in a dual match this season. Zac D'Amico has started every dual for the Bronchos, with a 4-4 dual record. He beat No. 5 Marco Tamayo (Lindenwood) at the National Duals, but fell to No. 1 TJ North (Augustana) and No. 4 Garrett Evans (Ouachita Baptist). 

No. 5 Dustin Reed (133) is the only other nationally ranked Broncho. He took first at the Swede Open, and the FHSU Open, and second at the Jet Invite. Reed is 6-2 in duals this season, winning all six matches by decision.

Spencer Rutherford (149) is not currently nationally ranked, but was No. 7 in the preseason poll. He was first at the FHSU Open and the Jet Invite, and was a runner-up at the Swede Open and the UNK Open. Rutherford has seven dual wins, and two dual losses, first to No. 6 Andrew Bannister (Notre Dame), and  then to Tyler Mies (Newman). 

Lankford beat Will Steltzlen (141) by 13-11 decision at the UCM Open. Steltzlen was third at the UNK Open, and has two dual wins this year.