Warrensburg, Mo. - Fifteen members of the Missouri wrestling team went west to Warrensburg for the Roger Denker Open hosted by Central Missouri State on Saturday, Jan. 10. Finishing second in team points (197.50), four Tigers earned first place finishes with five members rounding out the top-six of their respective weight classes. With a perfect 4-0 record at 149-pounds, junior Cody Greene was awarded Most Outstanding Wrestler. Missouri Valley College took the team title with 221 points with Central Missouri State finishing in third (190) followed by Oklahoma State in fourth (180).
Redshirt freshman Amond Prater held onto a first place finish at 133-pounds. With a 4-0 record, Prater began the day with a 13-10 decision over Aaron Frye of Missouri Valley College before landing a 14-6 major decision on Clay Cooper (Missouri Baptist University). In his third match, Prater took Mike Hansen of Central Missouri State 4-2, followed with a 5-3 decision in the championship round against Greg Waag, also of Central Missouri State.
Taking a redshirt for the 2003-04 season, junior Chris McCormick (141) also went 4-0 on the day. Recording his second technical fall of the season, McCormick dropped Brian Pearman (Missouri Baptist) in 5:30 before pairing with Big 12 opponent Shane Kidd of Oklahoma. McCormick easily outpowered Kidd, ending the dual in an 11-1 major decision. B.J. Jackson of Oklahoma State met McCormick in the center circle for match number three. After a close battle, McCormick was able to walk away with a 7-2 decision. In the end, two Tigers met on the mat for the 141-pound championship bout. After a friendly handshake, freshman Josh Wagner and McCormick kept after each other for the entire three periods. The result was a 4-3 win by McCormick, with Wagner taking second place.
Coming off of a second place finish at the Southern Scuffle on Dec. 29, Greene took first place in Saturday's Roger Denker Open and was selected as Most Outstanding Wrestler. Landing a technical fall over Kyle Nelson (Missouri Valley), major decision over Jesse Zeugin (Central Missouri State), 14-4, and decision over Josh Pilsifer (Missouri Valley) 10-7, Greene found his way to Shane Cristelli of Missouri Valley for the championship round. In a short lived first period, Greene put Cristelli on his back and scored a pin in 1:50.
Next on the mat was freshman James Williamson at 165-pounds. Going 3-0, Williamson scored three decisions to take first place in his weight class. Wrestling against Justin Cooper of Central Missouri State and Mike Sabatello of Indiana, Williamson and his two opponents scored exactly the same points in both matches, 3-2 decisions. For his final dual, Williamson blanked Denaco Watts of Missouri Valley with a 6-0 decision.
Freshman Tim Kephart wrestled at 125-pounds and landed a third place finish with a 3-1 record, while fellow freshman Brett Watkins weighed in at 133-pounds and took fourth (4-2). Also finishing in fourth was redshirt freshman Joe Williamson at 174-pounds (3-2). Rounding out the top-six Tiger finishes, freshman Mark Wall took sixth at 184-pounds with a 3-3 record.
Name Weight Record Finish Tim Kephart 125 3-1 3rd Amond Prater 133 4-0 1st Brett Watkins 133 4-2 4th Tyler McCormick 133 1-2 Josh Wagner 141 3-1 2nd Chris McCormick 141 4-0 1st Cody Greene 149 4-0 1st Justin Cole 149 2-2 Patrick Mazi 149 0-2 Jake Dieffenbach 157 2-2 James Williamson 165 3-0 1st Joe Williamson 174 3-2 4th Ray Napolitan 174 0-2 Ian Semelroth 184 1-2 Mark Wall 184 3-3 6th