Northwest Missouri State M-Club Hall of Fame
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One of the biggest challenges for a team can be living up to preseason expectations. The 1963 – 1964 Bearcat wrestling team carried that burden heading into their season after a preseason top ten ranking by Amateur Wrestling News. That target didn’t seem to bother this young group of wrestlers at all.
They accomplished the first undefeated dual meet record in six years. This remarkable run included a few close calls – in particular a 2 point win over the University of Nebraska – but it was more common to see a dominant performance like the three shutout wins over the likes of Springfield, Tarkio and Simpson by a combined score of 97-to-0 or a 27-to-2 destruction of the previously unbeaten Missouri Tigers. In fact, one week after knocking off Mizzou in Maryville in front of more than 1,500 fans, they made the trip to Columbia and pulled off a hard fought 16-11 triumph over the Tigers. In all, only three of the twelve opponents even reached double digits in team points. This 12-0 dual season was part of a string of 43 consecutive dual victories that would stretch all the way to the 1965-1966 season.
This team didn’t just shine in duals. They won the 10-team Graceland Invitational Tournament in dominant fashion by a whopping 47 points, taking 7 of the 9 weight divisions and they captured a 2nd place tie with Kansas State in the Missouri Valley AAU Tournament.
A dominant season was capped off by a ninth place finish in the NCAA Division Two Wrestling Tournament, with four wrestlers earning NCAA Division Two All-American status.
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