University of Missouri
Cornell
No. 9 Missouri Sweeps at Cornell Duals
2/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 23, 2002
The Missouri Tiger wrestling team picked up three victories on Saturday in the Cornell Duals to move to 18-2 on the season. By defeating Binghamton, Buffalo and Cornell, the Tigers have tied a school record for wins in a season with eighteen.
No. 9 Missouri defeated Binghamton in its first dual of the day 40-6. Binghamton forfeited three bouts and the Tigers had pins from sophomore J.P. Reese in the 141-pound class and junior Kevin Herron at heavyweight on their way to the easy victory. Sophomore Kenny Burleson and redshirt freshman Matt Turner also won decisions.
The Tigers followed that win by picking up a 36-4 victory over Buffalo. Resse and Herron each recorded pin number two on the day and the Tigers dropped only one bout as they again coasted to another victory.
Missouri then knocked off the host school Cornell 27-12. Herron picked up his third pin of the day, this time in only :48. Burleson and freshman Chris McCormick each added pins for the Tigers. Senior John Kopnisky defeated Jim Stanec 5-1 in the 174-pound match. Last season Stanec knocked Kopnisky out of the NCAA Tournament by defeating him 2-1. Kopnisky now has 102 wins for his career, which places him in a tie for fourth on the all-times wins list at MU.
"We really stepped it up in the third dual today," MU Coach Brian Smith said. "We beat a real good Cornell team. John (Kopnisky) got a big win in the dual and it was good to get the pin from McCormick after we lost the first match. We had a good day and now we have to concentrate on Oklahoma."
The Tigers will close out the dual portion of their schedule on Tuesday when they host No. 5 Oklahoma at the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse at 7 p.m.
