Top-ranked heavyweight Dom Bradley leads the Missouri Tigers into their first-ever Mid-American Conference dual meet this weekend at the Hearnes Center.
2011-12: With All-American Dom Bradley taking an Olympic redshirt, Mellon took over the reins at heavyweight as a redshirt freshman. He compiled a 19-14 record on the season and went 11-8 in duals, scoring 38 team points in those contests. Mellon also earned his first trip to the NCAA Championship, earning one of the four wild card bids at the weight class. His first collegiate win came over Oklahoma's Elijah Madison on Nov. 19, as Mellon scored a takedown in the second sudden victory to secure the win. Mellon opened December with a first place finish at the Kaufman-Brand Open. He scored two major decisions and his lone fall of the year, going a perfect 5-0 on the day. He followed that up with a 5-3 upset win over No. 15 Brendan Barlow of Kent State and closed out 2011 with a 3-2 win over Iowa State's Matt Gibson in Columbia. Despite not placing, Mellon won three matches at the Southern Scuffle and followed that with a pair of wins at the Virginia Duals, defeating North Dakota State's Evan Knutson by a 6-3 decision and securing a riding time tiebreaker victory against Edinboro's Ernest James. Mellon won all three of his matches at the SIUE Duals and picked up two more wins at the NWCA National Duals Regional. He opened the day with a 5-3 win over Cal Poly's Kelan Bragg and followed that with his biggest win of the year, a 4-3 upset of No. 10 Ben Apland of Michigan. A serious knee injury forced Mellon to default out of the Big 12 Championship, but he still earned the NCAA wild card bid and competed at the 2012 NCAA Championship in St. Louis. Mellon earned six bonus point wins on the season, scoring three majors, a fall, a technical fall and a win via forfeit.
2010-11: After starting his redshirt campaign with a 2-4 record, Mellon finished the year strong, winning 12 of his last 13 matches and claiming first place at heavyweight in two tournaments. His first tournament victory came at the Kaufman/Brand Open in December. He won his first two matches by scores of 7-3 and 7-4 before earning a victory by disqualification to advance to the semifinals. In the semis, Mellon defeated Kyle Slifka of Iowa State, 5-3, before outlasting Cody Dauphin of Central Oklahoma by a 3-1 decision in sudden victory of the finals. Mellon finished second at the Roger Denker Open in January, scoring three straight decisions, including a 4-3 win over Oklahoma's Kyle Colling, before falling to teammate Jake Glore in the championship. He closed out his season with another open title, this one coming at the MVC Open in February. He started the tournament with his lone win by fall of the season, pinning his opponent in just 24 seconds. After two straight decisions, he again knocked off Dauphin in the finals, beating him 4-2.
High School: After finishing in second place during his freshman season as a Lawson Cardinal, Mellon would go on to win three straight state titles to finish off his career. Along with his third state championship, Mellon wrapped up his high school career with a perfect 43-0 record in 2009-10. The four sport athlete was awarded with 10 letters, earning four in wrestling, three in football, two in baseball and one in track. Mellon was named District Wrestler of the Year in 2010, and graduated as a member of the Honor Roll.
Personal: Devin Mellon was born in Lawson, Mo., to parents Danny and Susan Mellon on March 30, 1992. Has an older sister, Sheena Sullard (28) and an older brother, Dustin Sullard (24). Mellon is majoring in history education and wants to be a teacher and a coach after school.
