Missouri
NCAA Championships Day 2
Tigers in 15th Place After Day Two at NCAA Championships
3/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 21, 2003
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -
After Day 2 of the NCAA Wrestling Championships, only two Tigers remained standing. However those two Tigers will be the first time Mizzou has had two All-Americans since the 1995 NCAAs when Kenny Liddell and Mike Collins finished sixth and eighth respectively. Junior Scott Barker (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) will face Oklahoma State's Jake Rosholt for the 184-lbs national championship tomorrow. Sophomore Tyron Woodley (Ferguson, Mo./McCluer) will face Frank Edwards (Navy) for seventh place tomorrow morning. Four Tigers were eliminated in the morning session. Overall the Tigers are 15th in the team title race with 34 points. The 34 points are the most points ever scored at the NCAAs by a Tiger team, surpassing the 29 points scored by both the 1984 and 2002 team.
Barker needed extra periods to defeat fifth seed Mark Becks (Penn State). Barker led after the second period 1-0 on an escape. Becks came back in the third period scoring a reversal, but Barker quickly escaped tying the match at 2-2 and sending the match into overtime. After a scoreless overtime, the competitors went into a :30 second tiebreaker. Barker held on for the 2-2 tiebreaker victory.
The win assured Barker his second consecutive All-American title. The first back-to-back All-American since Kenny Liddell accomplished the feat in 1992 and 1995. But for Barker to become Mizzou's first national champion he would have to go through top seed Jessman Smith (Iowa). Last season the Hawkeye finished third at the NCAAs at 184-lbs and was the heavy favorite with a record of 36-1 coming into the match.
The match didn't start off well for Barker as he quickly fell in the hole 4-0 to Smith. Smith scored consecutive takedowns for the lead and at one point had Barker on his back. Barker composed himself and scored his first points of the match with an escape making the score 4-1. Barker showed his strength by taking Smith down before the end of first period to make the score 4-3. Barker tied the score at 4-4 when he escaped from Smith to start off the second period. After that it was all Barker. Barker scores two takedowns and added a riding time point to win 9-4.
The best finish ever by a Missouri wrestler was Shaon Fry's second-place finish at the at the 1993 NCAAs.
Woodley lost to fourth seed Jacob Volkmann of Minnesota in the quarterfinals, 4-0. The loss set up a consolation match with eighth seed Noel Thompson (Hofstra). A win by Woodley would assure All-American status. The first points scored when Thompson scored on an escape. With Thompson leading 1-0 after two periods, Woodley scored on an escape of his own to tie the score 1-1. Woodley then scored a takedown to take the 3-2 lead. Woodley held off Thompson and won 4-2.
Woodley then faced Edinboro's Matt King for the chance to compete in the third-place match. Woodley fell behind 3-0 to King and couldn't recover and eventually lost 4-1.
J.P. Reese (Rochester Hills, Mich./Rochester Adams) lost his consolation match to Doug McGraw (Penn), 3-0. The loss eliminated Reese as he finished with a record of 1-2 at the NCAAs.
Kenny Burleson (Neosho, Mo./Neosho) lost to Matt Gentry (Stanford) in his consolation bout, 11-4. Burleson went 2-2 in his first NCAA appearance.
Dante Stone (Calder, Id./North Idaho Junior College) continued his run by defeating K.C. Walsh of Boise State in his consolation match, 1-0. Stone then faced third seeded Justin Ruiz (Nebraska). It was the third time this season that Stone faced the 2002 All-American. Stone dropped a 8-3 decision on January 31 and 8-4 decision at the Big 12 Championships. Ruiz kept to form and defeated Stone, 9-4, eliminating Stone from the NCAAs. Stone went 2-2 in his first NCAA appearance.
Kevin Herron (Imperial, Mo./Fox) faced John Paxton (Army) in the consolation round. Herron set a new school record for pins in one season with his 18th pin of the year, pinning Paxton in 5:26. It was Herron's 41st pin of his career, extending his school record. Herron faced tenth seed Paul Hynek next. Hynek and Herron and faced each other twice during the regular season, each winning one.
Hynek gained the early advantage and eventually pinned Herron in :49 seconds for the win and eliminating Herron from competition.
The NCAAs conclude tomorrow with the Medal Round at 9:00 a.m. and the Championship Round at 2:30 p.m. at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.
