Remove excerpts from homepage - php

Question

My page is http://prowrestlingnews.co. I am looking to remove the excerpts from the homepage, as this is a news headline website. I prefer for the main content (middle section) to display headlines like it does on the right sidebar with the "Latest Wrestling News" widget.
I have been playing around with the index and functions file, but can't seem to remove the excerpts. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Here's the index.php file:
<?php
/**
* The main template file.
*
* Used to display the homepage when home.php doesn't exist.
*/
?>
<?php $mts_options = get_option(MTS_THEME_NAME); ?>
<?php get_header(); ?>
<div id="page">
<div class="article">
<div id="content_box">
<?php if ( !is_paged() ) { ?>
<?php if ( is_home() && $mts_options['mts_featured_slider'] == '1' ) { ?>
<div class="primary-slider-container clearfix loading">
<div id="slider" class="primary-slider">
<?php if ( empty( $mts_options['mts_custom_slider'] ) ) { ?>
<?php
// prevent implode error
if ( empty( $mts_options['mts_featured_slider_cat'] ) || !is_array( $mts_options['mts_featured_slider_cat'] ) ) {
$mts_options['mts_featured_slider_cat'] = array('0');
}
$slider_cat = implode( ",", $mts_options['mts_featured_slider_cat'] );
$slider_query = new WP_Query('cat='.$slider_cat.'&posts_per_page='.$mts_options['mts_featured_slider_num']);
while ( $slider_query->have_posts() ) : $slider_query->the_post();
?>
<div>
<a href="<?php echo esc_url( get_the_permalink() ); ?>">
<?php the_post_thumbnail('schema-slider',array('title' => '')); ?>
<div class="slide-caption">
<h2 class="slide-title"><?php the_title(); ?></h2>
</div>
</a>
</div>
<?php endwhile; wp_reset_postdata(); ?>
<?php } else { ?>
<?php foreach( $mts_options['mts_custom_slider'] as $slide ) : ?>
<div>
<a href="<?php echo esc_url( $slide['mts_custom_slider_link'] ); ?>">
<?php echo wp_get_attachment_image( $slide['mts_custom_slider_image'], 'schema-slider', false, array('title' => '') ); ?>
<div class="slide-caption">
<h2 class="slide-title"><?php echo esc_html( $slide['mts_custom_slider_title'] ); ?></h2>
</div>
</a>
</div>
<?php endforeach; ?>
<?php } ?>
</div><!-- .primary-slider -->
</div><!-- .primary-slider-container -->
<?php } ?>
<?php
$featured_categories = array();
if ( !empty( $mts_options['mts_featured_categories'] ) ) {
foreach ( $mts_options['mts_featured_categories'] as $section ) {
$category_id = $section['mts_featured_category'];
$featured_categories[] = $category_id;
$posts_num = $section['mts_featured_category_postsnum'];
if ( 'latest' == $category_id ) { ?>
<?php $j = 0; if ( have_posts() ) : while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>
<article class="latestPost excerpt <?php echo (++$j % 3 == 0) ? 'last' : ''; ?>">
<?php mts_archive_post(); ?>
</article>
<?php endwhile; endif; ?>
<?php if ( $j !== 0 ) { // No pagination if there is no posts ?>
<?php mts_pagination(); ?>
<?php } ?>
<?php } else { // if $category_id != 'latest': ?>
<h3 class="featured-category-title"><?php echo esc_html( get_cat_name( $category_id ) ); ?></h3>
<?php
$j = 0;
$cat_query = new WP_Query('cat='.$category_id.'&posts_per_page='.$posts_num);
if ( $cat_query->have_posts() ) : while ( $cat_query->have_posts() ) : $cat_query->the_post(); ?>
<article class="latestPost excerpt <?php echo (++$j % 3 == 0) ? 'last' : ''; ?>">
<?php mts_archive_post(); ?>
</article>
<?php
endwhile; endif; wp_reset_postdata();
}
}
}
?>
<?php } else { //Paged ?>
<?php $j = 0; if ( have_posts() ) : while ( have_posts() ) : the_post(); ?>
<article class="latestPost excerpt <?php echo (++$j % 3 == 0) ? 'last' : ''; ?>">
<?php mts_archive_post(); ?>
</article>
<?php endwhile; endif; ?>
<?php if ( $j !== 0 ) { // No pagination if there is no posts ?>
<?php mts_pagination(); ?>
<?php } ?>
<?php } ?>
</div>
</div>
<?php get_sidebar(); ?>
<?php get_footer(); ?>
Functions.php file viewed at https://gist.github.com/pwz2k/16a8aa858ee3d739276c67d56fbccca9