Matthew Muller's confidence has skyrocketed from a year ago and that showed as he won the 182-pound weight class at the Crain Automotive tournament in Fayetteville on Saturday.

The junior, who was sixth a week ago in the ultra-tough Kinloch Classic in Springfield, Mo., was in control for most of the finals in winning 8-1 over Springdale High's Roland Joran.

"He's placed in every tournament this year," Fayetteville coach Nika West said. "He's got a lot more confidence in his shots and attacking the legs more than a year ago. He seemed to control that final match from the start. I thought that was a dominant performance by him.

"He was 195 a year ago and I think dropping down a weight class makes a huge difference, too."

Senior Nathan Simowitz also won at 170 in impressive fashion. He pinned Searcy's Ryan Tillery in 31 seconds in the finals.

He missed much of last season with a shoulder injury, but has come back strong, West said.

"He moved here last year from Chicago, and we've worked to calm him down," West said. "We want him to slow down and just wrestle."

In addition, Marcus Tortorello avenged a day one loss in the tournament with a pinfall victory to get third at 220.