Missouri
Missouri Open
Two Tiger Wrestlers Earn Missouri Open Titles
11/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Nov. 21, 2004
Columbia, Mo. - Two Missouri wrestlers finished first at the fifth annual Missouri Open today in the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse. Tyler McCormick (133) and Tyron Woodley (165) swept in their respective weight class, bringing home the most Missouri Open individual titles in the five years of annual competition. Junior Chris McCormick and graduate transfer Brad Cieleski closed out the evening in second place at 141 and 157 pounds, respectively. In the freshman/sophomore division, two Tiger newcomers finished as high as second place (Ryan Williams-149 and Raymond Jordan-165). Overall, 11 MU wrestlers finished among the top-six of their respective weight class in the open division, with six finishing in the top-six of the freshman/sophomore division.
"Overall, I'm fairly pleased with the performance our team put forth today," Head Coach Brian Smith said. "There were some good matches and also some not-so-good ones. Tyron (Woodley) had a good day today, and it's great to watch him be so aggressive out on the mats. What we need to do now is regroup as a team, go back into the practice room and get ready to perform even better in the coming weeks. Everything we're doing right now is helping prepare us for the Big 12 Championships and eventually NCAA Championships further down the road."
Coming off of an 11-6 loss at the Purdue match Friday night, (Tyler) McCormick managed a perfect 4-0 record at the all-day Missouri Open. McCormick had two major decisions and a fall in 3:13 before advancing to his championship match against No. 6 Evan Sola (UNC). Sola entered a medical forfeit, declaring McCormick the official winner at 133 pounds.
The second Tiger to earn Missouri Open honors, senior 2003 All-American and Big 12 Champion Woodley, recorded a 12-5 decision over Donny Reynolds (Illinois) for the first Missouri Open division title of his MU career (Woodley took 165 pound freshman/sophomore division honors in 2000 and had previously only finished as high as second in the open division). Entering the tournament as the No. 1 seeded wrestler at 165 pounds, Woodley handed Tom Tajkowski (Truman State) a 17-1 technical fall after 3:50 of action. Following with a win by default, Woodley advanced to the semifinals earning a 12-1 major decision over Waylon Lowe (Davey Crockett).
Junior (Chris) McCormick of Leawood, Kan., finished second at 141 pounds behind third-ranked Teyon Ware of Oklahoma (11-6). McCormick scored first in the match with a takedown, but Ware went on to earn an escape, takedown and three-point nearfall ending the first period 6-2. McCormick's remaining four points came through a second period takedown, penalty point and third period escape. McCormick finished the day with a 4-1 record, earning all of his wins by decision.
Wrestling at 157 pounds, graduate Cieleski (No. 14) advanced to the championship round of the Missouri Open with a spotless 3-0 record. Cieleski challenged two-time All-American Alex Tirapelle (No. 4) of Illinois and kept the match close, but fell short of the win, 4-2. Over the course of the day, Cieleski recorded a major decision to start the open (Earl Waller, Cumberland College: 9-0), followed with a fall in 5:45 over Kyle Shelton (UNC) and 2-1 decision over Max Dean of Indiana.
Williams, a native of Carlsbad, Calif., took second place in his first Missouri Open appearance. Williams' final match of the evening came against Troy Tirapelle of Illinois, where he lost the bout 5-3. Earlier in the day, Williams opened with a fall in 1:54 seconds over John Cofer of UTC.
In one of the days' longest matches, Jordan paired with No. 1 seeded Seth Garvin of Wisconsin for the championship battle at 165 pounds. Exchanging shots through two complete overtimes, Garvin came away with the 4-3 win in the final seconds of competition.
Currently ranked No. 2 in the nation at 174 pounds, sophomore Ben Askren will wrestle at the Marines All-Star Classic, Monday, Nov. 22, in Edwardsville, Ill., on the campus of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. Askren will pair with No. 1 Chris Pendleton of Oklahoma State in one of five of the evening's matches that will feature No. 1 and No. 2 ranked wrestlers. During the 2003-04 season, Askren and Pendleton battled on the mat five times, with Askren taking his only win over the Cowboy at the Big 12 Championships March 6. The Marine All-Star dual will be televised on College Sports Television (CSTV) Tuesday, Nov. 23, at 9 p.m. CT. For Columbia, Mo., residents, CSTV is channel 610 on DirecTV.
Next up for the entire 10th-ranked Missouri wrestling team is a trip to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Dec. 3-4.
Championship Results (Open Division) Weight-Wrestler over Wrestler 125-#1 Sam Hazewinkel (OU) decision Dave Flores (Ill): 9-2 133- Tyler McCormick (MU) win by medical forfeit #6 Evan Sola (UNC) 141-#3Teyon Ware (OU) decision Chris McCormick (MU):11-6 149- #6 Matt Storniolo (OU) major decision Wayne French (UTC):13-2 157- #4 Alex Tirapelle (Ill) decision #14 Brad Cieleski (MU):4-2 165-#6Tyron Woodley (MU) decision #18 Donny Reynolds (Ill):12-5 174-Pete Friedl (Ill) decision E.K. Waldhaus (OU): 3-2 184- Brian Glynn (Ill) major decision Adam Wright (ODU): 13-3 197- Austin David (OU) decision Nathan Moore (Purdue): 7-1 HWT- Jake Hager (OU) decision Pat DeGain (Ind): 6-5Championship Results (Freshman/Sophomore Division) Weight-Wrestler over Wrestler 125: Dan Keller (Truman) major decision Drew Forshey (UNC): 12-0 133: Zach Tanelli (Wis.) decision Joe Gomez (Ill.): 5-1 141: Isaiah Britton (UNC) fall Dustin Center (Cumberland): 1:13 149: Troy Tirapelle (Ill.) decision Ryan Williams (MU): 5-3 (OT) 157: Mike Poeta (Ill) decision Trevor Suter (Lindenwood): 10-7 165: Seth Garvin (Wis.) decision Raymond Jordan (MU): 4-3 (OT) 174: Alex Maciag (UNC) decision Quinn Gibson (UTC): 4-2 184: Justin Peterson (Wis.) decision Gordon Harrison (Truman): 3-0 197: Dallas Herbst (Wis.) decision Heath Vandeventer (Ind.): 7-5 HWT: Kyle Massey (Wis) fall Alex Becerra (Lindenwood): 3:54
Players Mentioned
