March 21, 2002
ALBANY, N.Y. - Four Missouri wrestlers opened competition in the NCAA Championships in Albany, N.Y. on Thursday and three have advanced to the quarterfinals.
The four Tigers all won their opening round matches and three won in the second round to advance to Friday's quarterfinals.
Sophomore J.P. Reese picked up an upset by defeating the seventh seeded Luke Moffitt of Iowa with a 14-4 major decision. Reese's victory was the only first round upset in the 141-pound class.
Redshirt freshman Tyron Woodley recorded an 8-6 decision over Scott Roth of Cornell in the 165-pound class. The win was Woodley's second victory over Roth this season. At the Cornell Duals on Feb. 23, Woodley defeated Roth 13-7.
At 174 pounds, senior John Kopnisky, the No. 12 seed, pinned Curtis Yeager of Millersville in 4:01. Kopnisky, making his third appearance at the NCAA Championships, recorded only his second fall of the season.
Sophomore Scott Barker gave MU its fourth first round win by scoring a technical fall over Randy Davidson of Portland State with a 19-2 score. Barker is the fifth seed in the 197-pound weight class.
The Tigers had more success in the second round of the tournament.
Reese advanced to the quarterfinals by scoring another upset with his second major decision of the day. Reese, who is unseeded in the tournament, picked up a 14- 6 win over Army's Phillip Simpson, the tenth seed at 141 pounds. Next up for Reese will be Arizona State's Erik Larkin in the quarterfinals on Friday. Larkin is seeded No. 2 in the 141-pound class.
Kopnisky moved on with a 4-3 decision over Matt Erwin of VMI. It was win number 106 for Kopnisky in his career and his third win in an NCAA match in his career. In the quarterfinals, Kopnisky will face the fourth seeded Greg Parker of Princeton.
The Tigers got three into the quarterfinals when Barker picked up his second technical fall of the day over Anthony Reynolds of Sacred Heart. With riding time, Barker defeated Reynolds 16-1. In the quarterfinals fifth seeded Barker will face the fourth seed, Nick Preston of Ohio State.
After jumping out to a 4-0 lead, Woodley was pinned in the second round by Mark Fee of Appalachian State in 0:47. Woodley will move to the consolation bracket on Friday.
In the team standings, Missouri is in tenth place with 17 points.
The quarterfinal round will take place Friday morning followed by the semifinals later in the day.