March 5, 2000

Lincoln, Neb. - The University of Missouri wrestling team wrestled to a fifth place finish at the Big 12 Championships on Sunday. Missouri earned 14.5 team points, a vast improvement from the 6 team points it scored last season. Oklahoma State won the conference meet with 84 team points.

"We battled in nearly every match," HEAD COACH BRIAN SMITH said. "Urban lost in overtime, Hertzog lost to go to nationals at the buzzer and Kevin Herron competed well, he's just at the toughest weight in the country. I am pleased, but our guys, know we can improve and now we have three or four guys coming back that are committed to that."

Super sophomore JOHN KOPNIKSY (174), the No. 2-seed entering today's championships, became the first Missouri Big 12 finalist since Mike Harp in 1998. Kopnisky defated Nebraska's Ati Conner in the semi-final round to advance to the final with Oklahoma's No. 1-seed Byron Tucker. Kopnisky lost to Tucker, 13-3 in the final, spoiling the Tiger's bid for the first MU conference championship in five seasons. But, "Kop"'s second place finish does give him an automatic berth in the NCAA Championships at Kiel Center in St. Louis, Mo.

Three Tigers were fourth place finishers on Sunday. Senior JEFF URBAN continued to add to his career-best season, with a consolation semi-final upset win over No .2-seed Jared Frayer of Oklahoma. The win was Urban's 30th of the season and 99th of his MU career (including his redshirt season). It seems likely that Urban's season will continue at the NCAA Championships as one of the Big 12's six wild cards berths.

Freshman JEREMY SPATES (141) also finished fourth at his first conference meet. Spates, the No. 4-seed, defeated Nebraska's Justin Flores, 10-1 in the first round, before dropping two matches to No. 1-seed Michael Lightner (Oklahoma) and No. 3-seed Sonny Marchette (Iowa State). Spates also has a good chance of representing Missouri at the national mmet on the strengh of his 31-11 record.

After Nebraska did not weigh in a heavyweight, the door was open for MU's big man, CHAD HERTZOG. With only four contestents, Hertzog need to only win one match and he would finish third with an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. But Hertzog could not manage a win, finishing fourth after losing to No. 1-seed Trent Hynek of Iowa State and No. 3-seed Brent Boeshans of Oklahoma. Hertzog finishes the season at 17-20.

Along with an improved Big 12 score, Missouri also had two individuals join Spates with 30 wins as Urban and Kopnisky each win their 30th match of the season. It is the first season since 1987-88 that MU has boasted three 30-match winners. Stayed tuned to see if all three will be looking to add to their totals in two weeks at Kiel Center.