Jan. 17, 2004
Championship Brackets
Jan. 18, 2004
Cleveland, Ohio-Number one Oklahoma State and No. 2 Missouri will square off on mat two of the Cleveland State Convocation Center in today's 3 p.m., NWCA National Wrestling Dual Championship bout. Oklahoma State returns to the mat in an attempt to reclaim the 2003 NWCA National Dual title.
With weigh-ins at 7 a.m. CT, the second-seeded Tigers will meet with the No. 1 seeded Cowboys for their second regular-season dual. The meeting marks the first time in Missouri history that the two teams have competed against each other twice in a regular season.
On Nov. 21, 2003, Missouri opened its dual portion of the season with a win over the defending national champion Oklahoma State Cowboys (21-17). Wrestling at Central Hazelwood High School in St. Louis, senior Kenny Burleson (157) and sophomores Austin DeVoe (125) and Jeff Foust (197) won their bouts with decisions, while senior J.P. Reese and sophomore Matt Pell took wins with falls. To date, Reese has managed to set a Missouri record with career-falls (44), with both Reese and Pell chasing after recent graduate Kevin Herron's season-fall record (18). Reese has 12 pins this season and Pell has 10.
Today's matchup should see only a few changes in both lineups. Senior heavyweight Mike Whitehead will have his chance to pair with 18th-ranked Willie Gruenwald of OSU. Ranked as high as ninth in the nation, Whitehead is 2-1 at the National Duals earning wins over Michigan State's Michael Keenan and Hofstra's Dan Garay in yesterday's duals.
Expected to wrestle at 157-pounds for Oklahoma State is Johnny Hendricks. Hedricks will meet with fourth-ranked Burleson in the fifth match of the day. Also returning to the OSU lineup is 184-pound All-American Jake Rosholt.
Missouri snapped Oklahoma State's 29 dual winning streak over the Tigers as well as a 24 consecutive dual winning streak in the 30th meeting between the two schools.
In Saturday's competition, Oklahoma State knocked off No. 13/15 Cornell, (22-12), No. 13/15 Oklahoma, (29-10) and No. 3/6/8 Michigan (20-13). Missouri took wins over No. 24 Michigan State (29-3), No. 7 Hofstra (19-13) and No. 11 Penn State (23-16).
OF NOTE: 125-Austin DeVoe: DeVoe defeated OSU's Cody Stites in a 3-2 decision that came at the sound of the buzzer in the Nov. 21 dual.133-Paul Collum: Collum is 2-1 at the National Duals. In last night's match against Penn State, Collum met with Josh Moore and won his dual in a 14-10 hard fought decision.
141-J.P. Reese- With 44 career-falls to his name, Reese took a pin over No. 20 Ronnie Delk in 3:24 on Nov. 21.
149-Jeremy Spates: Second year captain Spates has a career record of 97-32, just three wins shy of the century mark. 17-3 on the season, Spates scored two major decisions on the day with the first against Ryan L'Amoraux of Michigan State and the second against Chris Vondruska of Hofstra.
157-Kenny Burleson: Senior captain Burleson was the ninth Tiger in Missouri history to hit the 100-win mark. With a career-record at 106-31, Burleson has set a personal season-high record with falls, earning five falls and three technical falls (the most technical falls by any MU wrestler for 2003-04).
165-Tyron Woodley: Returning All-American Woodley is 0-2 against second-ranked Tyrone Lewis of OSU. In their last meeting at the Missouri Open on Nov. 23, Woodley suffered an 8-2 decision and finished the Open in second place.
174-Ben Askren: One of two redshirt freshmen on the Missouri starting lineup, Askren is anxious for a rematch with Chris Pendleton of Oklahoma State. With 10 falls on the season, Askren leads the nation in pins at 174-pounds.
184-Matt Pell: The second redshirt freshman, Pell kicked off the dual portion of the season with a win over OSU's Bret Munson. Pell will meet with sixth- ranked Jake Rosholt for the first time in his career. Pell is 5-2 in duals.
197-Jeff Foust: Sophomore Foust was on a six dual winning streak before falling to fifth- ranked Chris Skretkowicz of Hofstra. In his 197-pound dual on Nov. 21, Foust defeated12th-ranked Rusty Blackmon in a 3-1 decision.
HWT-Mike Whithead: Whitehead made his Missouri wrestling debut on Dec. 28, in Greensboro, N.C. at the Southern Scuffle. Ranked ninth in the nation, Whitehead finished the tournament in second place after losing to ninth-ranked Cole Konrad of Minnesota.