The Maryville wrestling Saints traveled to Marshall, Mo., for the Missouri Valley College Invitational January 21, 2012, where they captured three first place titles. Maryville University overall placed seventh out of 14 teams with 94 total points.
Surprise of the day came from freshman Tyrell Galloway (141 lb.), who dropped his redshirt for the year, and in his first invitational placed first. Galloway finished 3-0 with only points surrendered during the day coming in escapes. Galloway has wrestled better in every tournament and will be wrestling at the 141-pound weight class consistently for the remainder of the season.
Fellow freshman Keenan Hagerty placed first in his third consecutive tournament and is undefeated in his last 15 matches, dating back to the Midwest Classic. He went 4-0 and is 22-4 overall on the season. Hagerty’s title match victory was a closely fought match with Reece Lefever of Indiana Tech University, and prevailed in a 3-2 decision.
Matt Baker highlights the 197-pound weight class for his third consecutive week with a 3-0 record, and he did not allow a take-down throughout the tournament. In the finals, Baker faced McKendree’s Kyle Reid, who won outstanding wrestler at Midwest Classic, and he might have recorded his best victory of the season in a 6-1 win. Bake is riding an 11-0 record dating back to the Midwest Classic and has won three tournaments.
With the tournament run All-American style, the Saints had four other place finishers in Joey Moorhouse (sixth) at 157-pounds, Brandon Oshiro (seventh) at 133-pounds, Ryan Beltz (seventh) at 184-pounds, and Matt Spain (eighth) at heavyweight. The Saints held out four injured wrestlers from competing at the invite, but head coach Mike Denney looks for some to return in time for their first dual meet at home Thursdya, January 26. The Saints take on Missouri Valley College at 7 p.m. at Moloney Arena in the Simon Center. If you are unable to attend the match, follow livestream webcast through the Maryville Wrestling Facebook page by “liking” the page or on livestream.com/maryvillewrestling.
