November 30, 1998
The Missouri Tiger wrestling team heads for the desert at the end of this week for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in Las Vegas, Nevada. This weekend's tournament is the first for the Tigers where team score will be kept. Mizzou has participated in the Central Missouri State University Open and the St. Louis Open this season, where only individual results were posted.
The wrestling Tigers showed well at both events, netting ten place finishes at CMSU and six medal winners at the St. Louis Open. Those included first place winners Jeremy Pfitzer (STL, 157), Jeff Urban (CMSU, 149), John Kopnisky (CMSU, 165), and Jason Moore (CMSU, 184).
This year over 40 NCAA Division I schools will take part in the event. Tiger head coach Brian Smith is looking forward to the compeition for his youthful team.
"This is one of the toughest early season tournaments in the country," Smith says. "It is good for a young team like ours because the tournament is like a pre-national competition. The atmosphere will be good for our kids to experience."
In the early going this season, the Tigers stayed competitive against tough opponents. Mizzou has taken on #9 Illinois, #5 Oklahoma, and #1 Oklahoma State, as ranked by Intermat Magazine, in tournament competition thus far.
Coach Smith will lead his team to Las Vegas with some young wrestlers leading the way. Freshman John Kopnisky (165) goes to Las Vegas as the Tigers top wrestler having posted a 10-2 record with losses coming to two nationally ranked wrestlers. "John goes hard every time out," Smith said. "He is techinically sound and I expect him to do well."
Sophomore captain Jason Moore (184) is also headed to Las Vegas as a Tiger leader. As a freshman last year, Moore placed at the Las Vegas Inivtational while wrestling at 165 lbs. Moore was the champion of the 184 class at the Central Missouri State University Open and wrestled well versus Illinois to start to season. "Jason is going to step up and do well for us. We need to have him on track and help this team." his coach commented.
A surprise performer this season has been freshman Mark Bader (133). He is tied for the team lead with 10 wins and has only four losses. Already to his credit are a fourth place finish at the St. Louis Open freshman/sophomore competition and a fifth place finish at the Central Missouri State University Open. His nickname, "Buzzsaw", describes the way he wrestles says coach Smith. "He gives 100% all the time, whether on the mats or in conditioning or in the classroom. He always is after more."
Freshman Jesse Jordan (157), a Jefferson City native, has also been a tough competitor for Smith's grapplers. His 9-4 record including a second place at CMSU and fourth place at St. Louis have him poised to enter the nations Top 25 at 157 according to Smith. "Jesse is really wrestling well. His losses to have come to ranked opponentes and he has wrestled them tough."
With so much talent on a young team, Smith is excitied to see who will step-up this weekend in competition. "If we can do well, it really will be a confidence builder for us. And it will let us know as a coaching staff where we are at."
The Tigers begin competition on Friday, December 3 and will continue through Saturday, December 4.