University of Missouri
Southern Scuffle Day 2
Missouri Wrestling Takes Southern Scuffle Title
12/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 29, 2003
Greensboro, N.C. - The Missouri wrestling team managed to hold onto their first place day one lead, finishing the Southern Scuffle with 185 points, four individual titles and an outstanding wrestler honoree. Nine Tigers advanced to the championship round of their respective weight classes, the most of any team. Ninth-ranked Minnesota (2001 and 2002 NCAA Division I Wrestling Champions) finished the tournament in second with 169.50 points followed by No. 23 Edinboro in third with 108.50 points.
Seniors J.P. Reese (141, No. 15), Jeremy Spates (149, No. 7), Kenny Burleson (157, No. 6) and Mike Whitehead (HWT, No. 11) juniors Cody Greene (149) and Tyron Woodley (165, No. 11), sophomore Jeff Foust (197, No. 20) and redshirt freshmen Ben Askren (174, No. 7) and Matt Pell (184, No. 10) all took their turn on the mat in an attempt to claim a Southern Scuffle individual championship title. In the end, it was Spates, Burleson, Woodley and Askren that walked away with the wins.
Askren had three falls at the Southern Scuffle, recording his third today against Minnesota's Jon Duncombe in 4:35. Adding fuel to the fire, Askren won his final match with a 14-6 major decision over No. 10 Nate Yetzer (Edinboro), to the sounds of the Fleming Gymnasium fire alarm. Dominating at 174-pounds, Askren was selected the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Southern Scuffle, as decided by the 23 participating coaches.
"Our goal coming into the tournament was to take the team win," head coach Brian Smith said. "Each of our wrestlers did what they had to do to help the team score."
Rochester Hills, Mich., native Reese scored his 40th career-pin against Minnesota's Tommy Owen. In a hard fought match, Reese made his move in the third period, taking the fall in 6:53. With the two pins earned in yesterday and today's tournament, Reese stands second on the all-time Missouri career-fall list, behind recent graduate Kevin Herron (HWT, 41). No. 2 Scott Moore of Virginia and No. 15 Reese exchanged shots on the mat in the final 141-pound match. The final result came in a 5-4 decision that favored Moore.
Teammates Spates and Greene found their way into the championship round at 149-pounds. Wrestling simultaneously on separate mats, Spates defeated Deonte Penn (Edinboro) in a 9-0 major decision, while Greene went into overtime to find his 10-8 major decision over Keri Stanley of Minnesota. Spates, ranked seventh in the nation took the 7-0 win with one point awarded for riding time.
"This was a great first tournament for Cody," Smith said. "He shook off the cobwebs and continuously proved himself on the mat. The final match between Cody and Jeremy really showed the strength we're proud to have at 149-pounds."
In a 6-1 decision Burleson, ranked sixth in the nation, knocked off Brad Cieleski of Slippery Rock only to land 17th-ranked Matt Nagel of Minnesota in the championship round. Both wrestlers went scoreless in the first period, with Burleson jumping out to the early lead in the second and clinching the title in the third with a score of 10-4.
Minnesota and Missouri met seven times throughout the two-day tournament. Eleventh-ranked Woodley found one of the Tigers five victories over the Golden Gophers, defeating No. 5 Jake Volkman in a 5-4 decision. Up next for Woodley was Virginia Tech Hokie, Chris Stith. Battling back and forth at 165-pounds, the match ended with four points on both sides of the scoreboard. With 1:57 of riding time, Woodley took the extra point and 5-4 win.
Racking up four wins throughout the tournament was 10th-ranked Pell. Advancing to the championship round after scoring a fall over T.J. Morrison (5:49), No. 19 Nick Catone (Rider) handed Pell his first loss in eight matches in a 7-3 decision.
In his first season as a starter for the Missouri wrestling team, sophomore Foust, ranked 20th by Intermat Magazine, has had an impressive reign. 4-0 heading into the finals (Canaan Prater, Virginia Tech: Decision 8-4), Foust met under the lights with the number one wrestler in the nation at 197-pounds (Damion Hahn, Minnesota), but fell in a 5-3 decision.
Heavyweight Whitehead, ranked No. 11, finished the night in second place. The last to wrestle in the quarterfinals, Whitehead impressed the crowd of 1,327 with his 4-1 tie breaker win over No. 8 Carmelo Marerro of Rider. Whitehead's second ranked opponent of the day came in Minnesota's Cole Conrad (No. 9). With a final score of 5-0, Konrad took the win and the Southern Scuffle came to an end.
With four Tigers in consolation rounds, redshirt freshman Amond Prater (133) started the day with a face-off against Brandon Palmer of Oklahoma at 133-pounds. The Big 12 rival proved too much for Marietta, Ga., native Prater who lost a 4-3 decision. Next on the mat was redshirt freshman Gabe Conaghan at 165-pounds. Suffering a disappointing loss, Conaghan fell to Jason Cardillo of Slippery Rock (8-2) and was eliminated from further competition.
Missouri's final consolation matches of the morning provided bright points for the team as junior J.C. Russell (184) and sophomore T.J. Hansen (174) both advanced further in the competition. Russell, who was behind for most of his match against Adam Wright (Old Dominion), pulled out a 7-4 win, only to fall to Alex Clemson of Edinboro in a 3-2 decision. Although somewhat slowed by the loss, Russell landed himself in a fight for fifth place against Fran Cornley of Duke. The two-minute consolation round periods ticked by as Russell earned one team point for Missouri with his 15-5 major decision.
Hansen recorded his first fall of the season, dropping Aaron Kerkoff of VMI in a time of 1:34, but lost to Keith Clifton (Citadel) in a 6-3 decision.
"We're heading into a tough month (January) of tournaments and duals," Smth said. "Today's win helped boost the team's confidence, but we know that there are still areas that we need to improve on and we keep that in the back of our mind."
Missouri will travel to Columbia and prepare for the Sun Devil Duals, Sunday, Jan. 4, in Tempe, Ariz.
For full results visit www.uncgspartans.com
