Jan. 23, 2002
The eyes of college wrestling will be focused on Columbia tonight as two top ten teams face off in the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse.
No. 9 Missouri, 11-0 for the first time since 1968, will host the fifth-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys, a team MU has never defeated.
The Tigers have been ranked No. 9 for three consecutive weeks and have wrestlers ranked in seven of the 10 weight classes.
MU enters tonight's match with an 11-0 record and is 1-0 in the Big 12. Oklahoma State is 14-3 on the season and 1-1 in Big 12 action.
Mizzou fields a young roster with only one senior and three juniors in the starting lineup. Friday the Tigers will face an experienced and talented Oklahoma State team. OSU has spent most of the season ranked No. 2, but after a seventh place finish at last weekend's National Duals, they fell to No. 5.
Both the Tigers and the Cowboys took part in the Reno Tournament of Champions in December. Mizzou won the title over Oklahoma State, but the Cowboys won four of the five matches that featured MU-OSU matchups.
Six of tonight's ten matches will feature ranked opponents facing off. The highlighted match will be the 174-pound bout where No. 10 Ty Wilcox will face No. 11 John Kopnisky.
Missouri Outlook
The Tigers enter tonight's dual having won their first 11 duals of the year. Mizzou is 11-0 for the first time since the 1967-68 season and they have climbed to No. 9 in the nation.
The Tigers has wrestlers ranked in seven of the 10 weight classes. Sophomore Jeremy Spates and senior John Kopnisky lead the Tigers with 16 wins each. Both Spates and Kopnisky are past qualifiers for the NCAA Championships.
Sophomore Scott Barker has been dominating this season, compiling a 14-1 record including nine pins. He won the 197-pound division at the Reno Tournament and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. He is currently No. 7 in the 197-pound class.
Junior Kevin Herron (HWT), sophomore Kenny Burleson (157) and sophomore J.P. Reese (141) have also had success this season, climbing into the national rankings.
Redshirt freshman Tyron Woodley has had to deal with some injuries as of late, but has become a strong force at 165 pounds for MU climbing into the top 15 of the polls.
Following tonight's match, Mizzou will host Eastern Illinois in the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse tomorrow at 4 p.m.
Scouting Oklahoma State
The No. 5 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys bring a 14-3 record and a strong wrestling tradition to the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse.
The Cowboys have three All-Americans in the lineup and nine OSU wrestlers are ranked in the top 20, with six in the top ten. OSU has been ranked No. 2 for most of the year but fell to No. 5 after a seventh place finish at last weekend's National Duals.
Johnny Thompson is the second-ranked 133-pound wrestler. He currently is 22-2 on the year and is on a 13-match win streak.
Tyrone Lewis is ranked No. 2 at 165 pounds and is 18-1. He was an All-American last season at 174 pounds.
At 157 pounds, Shane Roller is another returning All-American. He is currently 19-1 on the year and ranked No. 4 in the nation.
Junior Skylar Holman is ranked No. 7 at 125 pounds, Jerrod Sanders is No. 14 at 149 pounds, Ty Wilcox is the tenth ranked 174-pound wrestler, Pat Popolizio is ranked No. 6 at 184 pounds, Will Gruenwald is ranked No. 11 in the 197 pound class and James Huml is ranked No. 18 in the heavyweight division.
The Cowboy's last action was in the National Duals where they went 2-2 and finished in seventh place. Prior to that tournament OSU had 12-1 record with its only loss coming to No. 1 ranked Minnesota.
Missouri Projected Lineup vs. OSU (Overall record, Dual record, Big 12 Record)
125- Mark Bader-Jr. (11-10, 6-5, 0-1)
133- Chris McCormick-Fr. (8-9, 4-7, 0-1)
141- J.P. Reese-So. (13-7, 7-4, 1-0)
149- Jeremy Spates-So. (16-3, 9-0, 1-0)
157- Kenny Burleson- So. (11-6, 6-1, 0-1)
165- Tyron Woodley-RSFr. (13-4, 7-2, 1-0)
174- John Kopnisky-Sr. (16-3, 8-2, 1-0)
184- Dante Stone- Jr (11-7, 5-4, 0-1)
197- Scott Barker-So. (14-1, 10-1, 1-0)
HWT- Kevin Herron-Jr. (14-7, 8-3, 1-0)
Oklahoma State Projected Lineup (Overall record, Dual record, Big 12 Record)
125- Skylar Holman-Jr. (16-4, 9-2, 0-1)
133- Johnny Thompson-So. (22-2, 15-1, 2-0)
141- Ronnie Delk-Fr. (15-9, 9-8, 0-2)
149- Jerrod Sanders-Jr. (14-7, 8-7, 2-1)
157- Shane Roller-Jr. (22-2, 15-2, 3-0)
165- Tyrone Lewis-So. (18-1, 16-1, 1-1)
174- Ty Wilcox-Sr. (16-4, 9-4, 1-2)
or Chad Reid- Jr. (20-5, 3-1, 4-2)
184- Pat Popolizio- Sr. (21-3, 15-2, 2-0)
197- Will Gruenwald- So. (19-4, 12-3, 1-1)
HWT- James Huml- Sr. (17-8, 10-7, 1-2)
The MU vs. OSU series
It's safe to say that Oklahoma State has owned the series with the Tigers. OSU holds a 27-0 lead in the series.
Last year the Cowboys won 29-6 in Stillwater, Okla. John Kopnisky won the first match of the night for the Tigers, but MU picked up just one more decision in the match as Justin Spates won at 133 pounds.
The last visit to Columbia for Oklahoma State was in November of 1999, with the Cowboys taking the 34-3 victory.
Scouting the Panthers Tomorrow afternoon, MU will host the Eastern Illinois Panthers in the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse. The Panthers are annually one of the most successful programs in the Midwest. EIU has struggled so far this season, entering the dual with MU a 1-6 record.
Louis Taylor has an 11-4 record at 174 pounds and is 5-2 in duals this year. He qualified for the NCAA Championships last year and is one of the three seniors leading the Panthers. Taylor has posted 32 wins the past two seasons with third place finishes each of those seasons.
The other seniors on the squad are Jim Gleissner at heavyweight and Kyle Bracey at 184 pounds.
Transfer Pat Dowty (133), redshirt freshman Andy Coyle (149) and junior Frank DeFilippis (157) are all challengers for the NCAA Tournament. Sophomore Mike Stanley returns at 125 pounds and redshirt freshman Sam Smith enters the lineup at 165 pounds. Jim Kassner is another redshirt freshman that will be in the lineup at 197 pounds.
The Panthers lone win this season came in their last match against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. EIU picked up the 29-19 win in that dual.
Missouri Projected Lineup vs. EIU (Overall record, Dual record, Big 12 Record)
125- Mark Bader-Jr. (11-10, 6-5, 0-1)
133- Chris McCormick-Fr. (8-9, 4-7, 0-1)
141- J.P. Reese-So. (13-7, 7-4, 1-0)
149- Jesse Jordan, Sr. (15-8, 3-1, 0-0)
157- Kenny Burleson- So. (11-6, 6-1, 0-1)
165- Tyron Woodley-RSFr. (13-4, 7-2, 1-0)
174- John Kopnisky-Sr. (16-3, 8-2, 1-0)
184- Dante Stone- Jr (11-7, 5-4, 0-1)
197- Scott Barker-So. (14-1, 10-1, 1-0)
HWT- Kevin Herron-Jr. (14-7, 8-3, 1-0)
Eastern Illinois Projected Lineup (Overall record, Dual record)
125- Mike Stanley- So. (10-11, 1-4)
133- Pat Dowty- So. (23-10, 4-2)
141- Nick Cirrioncione-So. (2-15, 0-7)
or Jerod Bruner - So. (2-8, 0-0)
149- Andy Coyle- Fr. (14-11, 0-3)
157- Frank DeFilippis- Jr. (11-6, 2-0)
165- Sam Smith- Jr. (8-15, 0-7)
174- Louis Taylor- Sr. (11-4, 5-2)
184-Kyle Bracey- Sr. (5-12, 1-6)
197- Jim Kassner- Fr. (10-12, 0-3)
HWT- Joe Gleissner- Sr. (15-8, 4-1)
or Pete Ziminski- Fr. (7-7, 0-1)
Missouri Head Coach Brian Smith
Brian Smith is in his fourth year as Missouri's head coach. He has compiled a record of 33-30-1 while at the helm of the Tigers.
He is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. where he was a two-time high school state champion. He was a four-year letterwinner at Michigan State and was a Big Ten runner-up his senior year.
Smith started his coaching career at Westran High School in Florida. His collegiate coaching career began at Cornell as an assistant. He then held the head coaching job at Syracuse in 1997 where he helped to stabilize the program and coach a wrestler to All-American honors.
He took over at Missouri in 1998 and has seen the Tigers improve each year he has been the MU coach.
Oklahoma State Head Coach John Smith
John Smith enters his tenth year as the Cowboy head coach and has compiled a 135-22-3 record.
Smith was named the seventh coach in OSU history in 1992. He led the Cowboys to three consecutive undefeated season from 1996-97 to 1998-99.
Oklahoma State has placed in the top seven at the NCAA's in eight of Smith's nine seasons at the helm. OSU won the NCAA Championship in 1994 and has had one second and three third place finishes under Smith.
As a wrestler at Oklahoma State, Smith won two National Championships and had one runner-up finish. He also won three Big 8 Championships. He had a career record of 154-7-2.
He won two Olympic gold medals, the Sullivan Award and six straight World Championships. He has been named to the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Eastern Illinois Head Coach Ralph McCausland Ralph McCausland is in his 19th year as head coach of the Panthers. That ties him with Harold `Hop' Pinther for the longest tenure for an EIU head coach.
He has compiled a record of 118-100-1 while at the helm at EIU. That win total puts him No. 2 on the all-time Eastern Illinois behind Pinther. McCausland led Eastern Illinois to its best ever year as a Division I school in 1996-97 when they finished 26th in the NCAA Championships.
As a student-athlete, McCausland was a Division II National Champion and a three-time All-American. He ranks eighth in school history in victories with a career record of 98-95-2.
As head coach he has had at least one wrestler in the National Championship in each year he has been at EIU and he has coached six All-Americans.
He was inducted into the Eastern athletic hall of Fame in 1989 and was inducted into the Illinois Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1999.
Rankings
Missouri is ranked No. 9 in the nation by Intermat. That is the highest ever ranking for a MU wrestling team. Mizzou has been in the top 10 for four consecutive weeks and have been at No. 9 for the past three weeks.
Seven Tigers are ranked in the top 20 of their weight classes. Scott Barker is No. 7 at 197 pounds, Jeremy Spates is No. 9 in the 149-pound class, John Kopnisky is No. 11 at 174 pounds, Tyron Woodley is ranked eleventh at 165 pounds, Kevin Herron is the No. 14th ranked heavyweight, Kenny Burleson is ranked No. 17 in the 157-pound class and J.P. Reese is No. 20 at 141 pounds.
Intermat Poll- Jan. 22, 2002
1. Minnesota
2. Ohio State
3. Iowa
4. Iowa State
5. Oklahoma State
6. Michigan
7. Oklahoma
8. Pennsylvania
9. MISSOURI
10. Arizona State
11. Lehigh
12. West Virginia
13. Michigan State
14. Illinois
15. Northern Iowa
16. Central Michigan
17. Lock Haven
18. Edinboro
19. Hofstra
20. Purdue