Feb. 18, 2001

DeKalb, Ill. - The Missouri wrestlers ended their dual season on a positive note, hopefully giving them some momentum heading into the Big 12 and NCAA Championship tournaments.

The Tigers (7-10-1) cruised to a 24-9 victory over Northern Illinois (9-8-2) Sunday at NIU's Chick Evans Field House.

In the biggest upset of the day, Tiger redshirt freshman J.P. Reese pinned Ryan Egan, ranked 20th by Amateur Wrestling News, in just :56 seconds. At 174, No. 10 (AWN) Tiger John Kopnisky led off the day with a 6-3 win over Huskie Bill Lowney 6-3.

"I thought we did very well," said Mizzou Head Coach Brian Smith. "The guys wrestled really tough, and they won the close ones, which is something we haven't been doing consistently. J.P. (Reese) had a great day, pulling off the upset over the No. 20 kid in the country. He's been wrestling unbelievably both in practice and in competition. It's been an up and down season, but I think we're coming together at the right time, which can be just as important with the last and biggest tournaments of the year coming up."

The Tigers have two weeks to prepare for the Big 12 Conference tournament, which will be held in Stillwater, Okla., March 2-3. The NCAA Championships will be in Iowa City, Iowa March 15-17.

- 125 - No. 17 Justin Spates beat NIU's Marlon Felton 10-4.

- 133 - Jesse West defeated Huskie Alexis Rivera (NIU) 7-6.

- 149 - Kenny Burleson decisioned Jamie Hey (NIU) 9-6.

- 157 - Scott Owen (NIU) decisioned Tiger Jesse Jordan 10-4.

- 165 - Bryce Hassemen (NIU) defeated Mark Vollmar 9-3.

- 184 - David Potter (NIU) beat MU's Ry Stone 4-3

- 197 - Tiger sophomore Dante Stone bested NIU's Greg Reardon 4-0.

- HWT - Freshman Scott Barker decisioned Jon Laurich (NIU) 4-3.