(WARRENSBURG, Mo.) — The Central Missouri Mules wrestling team finished with 10 place winners at the annual Roger Denker Open on Sunday afternoon at the UCM Multipurpose Building.
Eric Mateo captured the 141 pound championship, while Michael Boyd was runner-up at 174 pounds. Hunter Neighbors (133), Zeb Spicer (157), Josh Thomson (165), Todd Brier (197) and Jacob Clark (285) all finished in third place. Brennan Johnson (157), Joshua Ploof (184) and Nick Lovejoy (197) each finished in fifth place.
Mateo faced three opponents from Northeastern Oklahoma, Austin Spicer, Ryan Clever, and Jeremiah Burkhart. Mateo pinned Spicer in just 2:21 into his first match of the day. He won by a 13-2 major decision over Clever in the semifinals, before pinning Burkhart at 3:44 in the championship match. With Mateo’s win earlier in the week, during the dual against McKendree, Mateo’s record improves to 12-3 for the season.
Boyd won his first match of the day with a 15-0 major decision over Hayden Reeder of Northeastern Oklahoma. In the semifinals Boyd won his second match of the day with a 18-1 tech fall over Wentworth Military Academy’s Connor Linehan. In his final match of the day Boyd fell to Northeastern Oklahoma’s Payne Hatter with a 4-0 decision.
Neighbors improves his record to 16-10, winning four of five matches in the Denker Open. Neighbors won in the first round with a 4-3 decision over Cody Hummer, who was wrestling unattached for the University of Missouri. He split his next two matches, pinning Dillion McCaleb of Northeastern Oklahoma at 3:36, but was pinned at 3:23 by Josh Ailey of Northeastern Oklahoma in his next match. Ailey went on to win the 133 lb. title. Neighbor won his fourth match with a 6-2 decision over Cody Hummer, wrestling unattached for the University of Missouri, and won his final match of the day over Timothy O’Connor of Northeastern Oklahoma, pinning O’Connor at 3:42.
Spicer won three of this four matches of the day by fall, fastest fall in just 1:54 into his first match against Chase Latta of Northeastern Oklahoma. Spicer fell in his second match to Ben Becker of Northeastern Oklahoma with a 9-4 decision. Spicer won his final match over Drake Martel of Northeastern Oklahoma, pinning Martel at 6:48.
Thomson split his first two matches of the day, winning with a 10-5 decision over Taylor Smith of Missouri Valley College, followed by a loss to Northeastern Oklahoma’s Casey Powell with a 3-2 decision. Thomson won his third match with a 14-3 major decision over Will Collins of Baker University. In his final match, Thomson won in overtime over Patrick Whitner, wrestling unattached for the University of Missouri. Thomson’s record now stands at 18-9.
Brier won with a 8-2 decision over Missouri Valley’s Nick Stephenson, before falling to Shelby Krout of Northeastern Oklahoma with a 6-1 decision. Brier then wrestled his teammate Nick Lovejoy, winning with a 3-2 decision, before pinning Tyler Berg, his final opponent of the day, in 4:54. Brier is now 11-8 this season.
Clark won his first match with a 4-1 decision over Austin Reyes of Missouri Valley, and then lost with a 8-4 decision to Jacoby Brown of Northeastern Oklahoma. Clark pinned Jordan Moffett of Northeastern Oklahoma at 1:59 in his third match, finishing the day with a 2-1 overtime win against Brian Duncan of Wentworth Military Academy. Clark is now 8-8 this season.
Johnson fell at 2:24 to Mark Hobson of Northeastern Oklahoma in his first match. Following a bye, Johnson won over Northeastern Oklahoma’s Chase Latta and Austin Allen. Johnson pinned Latta at 3:30, and won with a 12-3 major decision over Allen. He split his last two matches of the day, dropping his first to Drake Martel of Northeastern Oklahoma with a 6-2 loss in overtime, but won with a 8-2 decision over Colton Almos, wrestling unattached for  Northeastern Oklahoma.
Lovejoy lost his first match to Cole Rogers of Southern Illinois Edwardsville with a 12-6 decision, but won his following match, pinning Kenny Cleveland of Northeastern Oklahoma at 5:49. After his loss to Brier, Lovejoy finished the day with a win over Nick Stephenson of Missouri Valley with a 11-4 decision.
The final Mule to place at the Open was Ploof. He started his day with a win over Luke Bornhop of Truman, pinning Bornhop at 6:45. Ploof dropped his following two matches, losing to Nick Meck and Caleb Cotter of Northeastern Oklahoma with a 6-2 and 3-1 decision respectively. Ploof won his last match of the day with a 8-1 decision in his rematch over Bornhop.
The Mules will host Truman State on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the UCM Multipurpose Building. Saturday the team will travel to Marshall, Mo. for the Missouri Valley Open beginning at 9 a.m.
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