Mid-American Conference

MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ANNOUNCES WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
 
MAC Wrestler of the Week
J’den Cox, Missouri—Senior, Columbia, Mo. (Hickman High School)
 
Missouri senior J’den Cox captured his second career Southern Scuffle individual championship with a 6-4 win over No. 2 Brett Pfarr of Minnesota. Cox previously won a Scuffle championship in 2015 as a sophomore. The win helped Mizzou surpass No. 9 Lehigh for second place at the Southern Scuffle, the third-highest Tiger finish at the Scuffle. Cox and Pfarr were tied at 4-4 late in the third period when the two-time National Champion executed a double leg takedown with nine seconds on the clock to seal the victory, his fourth over a top-10 ranked opponent this season. The win capped a perfect 5-0 tournament for Cox, who recorded four bonus points wins, including a 11-2 major decision over No. 12 Frank Mattiace (Penn). Cox is now 14-0 on the season and has recorded bonus points in 10 victories (three falls, five technical falls and two major decisions).

Additional Nominees:
Justin Oliver, Central Michigan—Sophomore, Davison, Mich. (Davison High School)
 
Central Michigan sophomore Justin Oliver finished second at 149 pounds at the prestigious Ken Kraft Midlands Championships on Dec. 28-29, hosted by Northwestern. Oliver went 5-1 in the tournament, losing, 7-1, in sudden victory-1 in the title match to Iowa’s Brandon Sorensen, the defending NCAA runner-up at 149 who is ranked No. 2 in the country. Oliver, who is ranked sixth and was an All-American last season, was seeded No. 2 in the tournament. Sorensen was seeded No. 1. His march to the final included two falls and two technical falls. Oliver is 17-3 on the season. His other two losses have come to fifth-ranked Micah Jordan of Ohio State.
 
Gage Hutchison, Eastern Michigan—Junior, Buchanan, Mich. (Buchanan High School)
 
Eastern Michigan junior Gage Hutchison had a phenomenal performance at the 54th annual Midlands Championships this past weekend, as the heavyweight took fourth place out of 42 wrestlers. Hutchison racked up six wins over the two days of competition, including wins over three nationally ranked opponents, and four who were seeded in the tournament. His wins came over No. 10 Brooks Black, No. 14 Ross Larson, and No. 20 Ray O'Donnell, which was a 16-1 technical fall. Hutchison also pinned Tyler Kral of Purdue in just 10 seconds, the quickest pin of the tournament. He is now 18-7 on the season, with a team-high seven pins.
 
Tim Rooney, Kent State—Redshirt Freshman, Columbus, Ohio (St. Charles High School)
 
Kent State redshirt freshman Tim Rooney went 6-1 in a third-place finish at the Lock Haven Classic on Thursday, Dec. 29, at Thomas Fieldhouse.  Rooney won his first two matches by major decision and technical fall. His only setback came in overtime in the quarterfinals.  Rooney won his last four bouts, including a first period pin of Lock Haven’s Kyle Shoop in the consolation semifinals.  He then earned 7-5 victory over Michael Hayes of Old Dominion in the consolation finals. Over seven matches, Rooney totaled four bonus-point victories.
 
Shawn Scott, Northern Illinois—Senior, Holly, Mich. (Holly High School)
 
Northern Illinois senior Shawn Scott went 5-1 at the 54th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships to place third. On his way to the podium, Scott garnered his 95th career win. Scott started off the two-day tournament with a sudden victory win over Oklahoma’s Lance Dixon followed by a 7-2 decision over Malik McDonald. Another sudden victory win came when he defeated Austin Severn of Central Michigan, 6-4. Scott’s sixth bout finished with an overtime win against Wisconsin's No. 14 Ricky Roberts to secure him the bronze.
 
Max Thomsen, Northern Iowa—Redshirt Freshman, La Porte City, Iowa (Union High School)
 
Northern Iowa redshirt freshman Max Thomsen took down three top-15 opponents on his way to a bronze medal at the Southern Scuffle Jan. 1-2. Thomsen started the tournament with his fastest career fall at 1 minute, 31 seconds over Gardner Webb’s Cole Graves. He continued to tear through the bracket knocking of No. 9 Laike Gardner of Lehigh in sudden victory. He ended the weekend with a win over No. 15 Matt Cimato of Drexel with a 5-2 decision and a 3-1 decision over No. 7 Pat Lugo of Edinboro. The bronze medal match against Lugo was scoreless after the first period. Thomsen escaped early in the second to go up 1-0. Lugo scored off an early escape in the third to tie it up 1-1. With less than 10 seconds on the clock, Thomsen got the takedown that secured the 3-1 decision.
 
Shakur Laney, Ohio—Sophomore, Canal Winchester, Ohio (Pickerington North High School)
 
Ohio sophomore Shakur Laney continued his excellent sophomore campaign this past week at the Midlands Championship. Laney wrestled eight matches in two days taking six victories and capturing fifth place at the prestigious tournament. In the tournament, his two largest victories came in his first match and final matches. Laney opened Midlands with a 16-4 major decision thrashing over Indiana's Liam Cronin and a 9-3 decision over the No. 8 seed in the tournament Lucas Malmberg of Messiah. Laney’s two losses came to third-place finisher American’s Josh Terao and fourth-place finisher Sebastian Rivera of Northwestern.
 
Jack Dechow, Old Dominion—Senior, Richmond, Ill. (Richmond-Burton High School)
 
Old Dominion senior Jack Dechow went 4-1 en route to a second-place finish at the Midlands this past weekend. Along the way Dechow defeated defending NCAA Champion Myles Martin of Ohio State, 7-4, in the quarterfinals and topped Rutgers' 11th-ranked Nick Gravina from Rutgers, 4-2 2OT in the semis before falling to returning NCAA finalist TJ Dudley from Nebraska by a narrow 4-2 decision in the finals.