Dec. 5, 2003

Columbia, Mo. - After starting the 2003-04 Missouri wrestling season with a win over defending national champions Oklahoma State (former No. 1), 10 Tigers will try their luck on the mats in Las Vegas at the 22nd Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 5-6.

Competing against top wrestlers from around the nation, the two-day event will take place in the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Making their second appearance are seniors Kenny Burleson (157), J.P. Reese (141), Jeremy Spates (149) and junior Tyron Woodley (165). During the 2002 tournament, Woodley finished highest of the Tigers in third place of his respective weight class. Reese and Burleson claimed fourth place honors, helping take Mizzou to a 10th place team finish.

Junior Clint Freeman (HWT), sophomores Austin DeVoe (125) and Jeff Foust (197) along with redshirt freshmen Ben Askren (174) and Matt Pell (184) and freshman Brett Watkins (133) will round out the 10-man lineup. Six of Missouri's starters enter the tournament ranked among the top-20 wrestlers in the nation, with DeVoe and Pell earning honorable mention honors in the weekly Intermat rankings. Only Freeman and Watkins, filling in at heavyweight and 133-pounds, respectively are not ranked.

"I'm expecting to see some tough competition," head coach Brian Smith said. "This has become one of the most challenging tournaments in the nation, one where strong wrestlers from around the country all come to compete. I honestly think this is as big or bigger than the NCAA Championships in terms of size."

Ten teams currently ranked among the top-25 in the nation (Intermat) will compete for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Title, with five teams, including Missouri (No. 6), standing among the top-10 wrestling programs. Other schools competing include No. 1 Illinois, No. 7 Michigan, No. 8 Minnesota, No. 9 Nebraska, No. 13 West Virginia, No. 18 Ohio State, No. 20 Arizona State and No. 22 Purdue. For a full list of schools attending please visit www.cklvwrestle.com.

Missouri and Nebraska will be the only Big 12 schools attending the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational as Oklahoma and Oklahoma Sate will battle for instate bragging rights and Iowa Sate will host Big 10 rival Iowa on Dec. 7.

J.P. Reese, enters the tournament with 35 falls to his name. One pin shy of tying the second place Missouri all-time record held by Rick Romeo (1977-82, 36), Reese is expected to close the gap between himself and first place (Kevin Herron, 1999-2002, 41) while competing in Las Vegas.

Results from both Friday and Saturday's Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational matches will be posted on www.mutigers.com as soon as they're available.

-MU-