University of Missouri
American
Missouri Wrestling Has 3-0 Day at Sun Devil Duals
1/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 4, 2004
Tempe, Ariz. - Walking into the sunset with a 5-0 season dual record, the eighth-ranked Missouri wrestling team defeated No. 16 West Virginia (22-15), No. 18 Cal-Poly (37-6) and non-ranked American University (51-3) at the Sun Devil Duals in Tempe, Ariz (Wells Fargo Arena). Along the way, senior captain Kenny Burleson of Neosho, Mo., landed win number 100, making him only the ninth Tiger in Missouri wrestling history to hit the century mark (101-31), while senior J.P. Reese found his 42nd career-pin, to top the Missouri all-time falls chart.
With a 7-4 decision over No. 9 Matt Lebe of West Virginia, sixth-ranked Burleson scored his 100th win, and now stands in the company of greatness. The first Tiger to take 100 wins since John Kopnisky (1997-2002), Burleson is on track to finish the season among the top-five Missouri wrestlers with wins over 100. Wes Roper (1978-82) holds the most wins by any MU wrestler at 131. Burleson is the first Tiger with 100 wins that weighs 157 pounds.
Also etching his name in the Mizzou history books was Reese. Wrestling at 141-pounds, Reese dropped Daniel Lobsenz of American in 32 seconds and Steve Esparza of Cal-Poly in 2:40. The two falls brought Reese's total to 42, putting him ahead of recent graduate Kevin Herron (HWT, 41). To date, Reese has recorded 10 pins on the season, eight shy of Herron's season-setting high 18 (2002-03).
The Missouri wrestling team opened its day at 11 a.m. CT against American University. With a final score of 51-3, the Tigers won nine of their matches, five coming with falls, one by decision and three by forfeits.
The day continued for the Tigers at 2:30 p.m. CT as they paired with No. 16 West Virginia. Starting at 184-pounds the Mountaineers jumped out to an early lead with No. 2 Greg Jones defeating junior J.C. Russell with a fall in 3:44. Sophomore Jeff Foust (No. 20) brought the Tigers within three points earning a 4-1 decision over Ryan Wilman at 197-pounds, but heavyweight senior Mike Whitehead (No. 11) suffered a disappointing 4-2 decision to No. 7 Brent Miller. Sophomore Austin DeVoe's (125) 4-1 decision, combined with a four match winning streak at 149-, 157-, 165- and 174-pounds, helped Missouri regain control of the board and take the 22-15 win.
In the final dual of the day, No. 8 Missouri met with No. 18 Cal-Poly for the second time in school history. Competing one year to the day of their last matchup (Jan. 4, 2003-Lonestar Duals), Missouri took a 37-6 win and increased its lead to 2-0 over the Mustangs. One of the biggest wins of the dual came at 133-pounds as junior transfer sixth-ranked Paul Collum challenged No. 9 Darrell Vaszuez and won with a fall in 2:41.
"We wrestled our best against Cal-Poly today," head coach Brian Smith said. "We had four pins, and Paul (Collum) dropped top-ranked Darrell Vasquez. The performance was much better than what we had seen in our first and then final match of the day."
The Tigers will travel to Chattanooga, Tenn., for a three-way meet against Tennessee Chattanooga, and Ohio State on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2004. "The tough weeks that we have ahead will really tell us where the team stands," Smith said. "If we are truly interested in vying for a national championship come March, we can't afford to make some of the mistakes that we made today. Fortunately, we're able to walk away from today's duals with a better understanding of what we need to work on back in the practice room."
Missouri over American: 51-3 184-Daniel Waters (American) over J.C. Russell (Missouri): 9-2, decision 197-Jeff Foust (Missouri) over Adam Montgomery (American)-Fall, 1:45 HWT-Mike Whitehead (Missouri) over Jared Hyman (American)-Fall, 2:55 125-Austin DeVoe (Missouri) over Matthew Pelligrino (American)-Fall, 3:22 133-Brett Watkins (Missouri) over Ben Lamson (American)-Fall, 1:55 141-J.P. Reese (Missouri) over Daniel Lobsenz (American)-Fall,:32 149-Cody Greene (Missouri) over Tom Kniewski (American)-10-7, decision 157-Kenny Burleson (Missouri)- Forfeit 165-Tyron Woodley (Missouri)-Forfeit 174-Ben Askren (Missouri)-Forfeit
Missouri over West Virginia: 22-15 184-Greg Jones (WVU) over J.C. Russell (Missouri)-Fall, 3:44 197-Jeff Foust (Missouri) over Ryan Wilman (WVU)-4-1, decision HWT-Brent Miller (WV) over Mike Whitehead (Missouri)-4-2, decision 125-Austin DeVoe (Missouri) over Casey Brewster (WVU)-4-1, decision 133-Seth Lisa (WVU) over Paul Collum (Missouri)-5-3, decision 141-Joe Clarke (WVU) over J.P. Reese (Missouri)-6-3, decision 149-Jeremy Spates (Missouri) over Andrew Joseph (WVU)-10-1, major decision 157-Kenny Burleson (Missouri) over Matt Lebe (WVU)-7-4, decision 165-Tyron Woodley (Missouri) over Zack Fryling (WVU)-4-3, decision 174-Ben Askren (Missouri) over Douglas Studenik (WVU)-Fall, 1:52
Missouri over Cal Poly: 37-6 184-Ryan Halsey (CP) over J.C. Russell (Missouri)-8-2, decision 197- Jeff Foust (Missouri) over Ralph Garcia (CP)-Fall, 5:53 HWT- Mike Whitehead (Missouri) over Art Basulto (CP)-6-4, decision 125-Vic Moreno (CP) over Austin DeVoe (Missouri)-8-5, decision 133- Paul Collum (Missouri) over Darrell Vaszuez (CP)-Fall, 2:41 141-J.P. Reese (Missouri) over Steve Esparza (CP)-Fall, 2:40 149-Jeremy Spates (Missouri) over Matt Cox (CP)-10-2, major decision 157-Kenny Burleson (Missouri) over Keith Kroeger (CP), Fall-3:40 165-Tyron Woodley (Missouri) over Eric Shortenhaus (CP)-9-0, major decision 174- T.J. Hansen (Missouri) over Sam Temko (CP)-11-4, decision
