Missouri Wrestler Ben Askren Heads to NCAA Finals
3/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 19, 2004
St. Louis, Mo. - Missouri redshirt freshman Ben Askren will advance to Saturday night's NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship finals after defeating Tyler Nixt of Iowa 4-2 in the 174-pound semifinals. With wins by Jeremy Spates (149) and Kenny Burleson (157) the three wrestlers will bring home All-American honors to Missouri. The most All-Americans Missouri has ever had is two, most recently taking two last season.
At the end of session four, Missouri moved up one notch to 13th with 41 points. Oklahoma State continues to lead with 106.5 points followed by Iowa with 70.
Askren secured his trip to the Championship round with a win over Tyler Nixt of Iowa 4-2. Scoreless through the first period, Askren took an escape and takedown in the second period adding one final point to his score for riding time.
"Askren is a great wrestler," head coach Brian Smith said. "He's so unorthodox in the way he wrestles and he's able to catch his opponent off guard. He's exciting to watch, and I'm thrilled that he's found his way to the Championship match. I never had any doubts about his skills."
Missouri's only finalist, Askren of Hartland, Wis., will pair with Chris Pendleton (Oklahoma State) for the fifth time of the season. Out of the four previous matches, Askren holds the most recent victory, taking a 9-7 decision in the Championship round at the Big 12 Championships on March 6. Askren's victory in Ames, secured his Most Outstanding Wrestler award as voted on by the coaches of the Big 12 Conference. In all, Askren is 1-3 against Pendleton.
The first Tiger to compete in tonight's wrestlebacks, senior captain Jeremy Spates revenged two losses from prior matches on the season taking a 6-5 decision over Matt Storniolo of Penn State and 4-2 win over Nebraska's Travis Shufelt. Previously, Spates had dropped a 6-4 decision to Stornilio on Jan. 17, at the National Duals and most recently fell to Shufelt at the Big 12 Championships on March 6.
Scoring the first points of the bout against Storniolo, Spates landed a takedown at 2:03, allowing Storniolo an escape only two seconds later. Increasing his point total by two, Spates chose down entering the second period and made a reversal followed by Storniolo's escape. Storniolo made a strong fight in the final two minutes of action with a reversal at 1:46 and an escape at 43 seconds, but Spates countered with a reversal at 1:04 to take the one point decision.
In an all too familiar matchup, Spates met with junior Travis Shufelt of Nebraska, taking his second win of the seasonover the Husker in the form of a 4-2 decision. Battling until the end, the two were scoreless in the first period, but it was Shufelt who put the first point on the scoreboard with an escape at 1:45. Spates came back with a takedown at 26 seconds, entering the third period with a 2-1 lead. Down to the final two minutes of competition, Spates landed his second takedown to total four points, giving up only one escape to Shuflet at 45 seconds. With the two wins, Spates advances to Saturday morning's third place competition against Ryan Churella of Michgan.
Senior captain Kenny Burleson split his matches today, with a 5-2 win over Lehigh's Derek Zink and 4-2 loss to Travis Paulson of Iowa State. Wearing Missouri's gold singlet on mat four of the six mat layout in the Savvis Center, Burleson paired with Derek Zink of Lehigh, Burleson outpowered his opponent and won the match 5-2. A two-time NCAA qualifier, Burleson had a takedown in the first period and an escape and reversal in the second to make for five points. Zink could only escape Burleson's grip twice during the match.
Already an All-American, Burleson fought to advance to the third place bracket, but suffered a disheartening loss to Paulson. Down 2-0 at the end of the first period, Burleson was able to cut the lead in half with a takedown at 1:09 in the second period, but Paulson managed two escapes. In the end, Burleson could only escape once more, but Paulson found a takedown to make the match 6-4.
Redshirt freshman Matt Pell of Luxemburg, Wis., also split his matches on the day. Winning his first bout in the wrestleback bracket, Pell advanced to a match with Bryan Glynn of Illinois but lost the 6-3 decision. Pell took the first points with a takedown, but Glynn managed an escape and continued to add to his total.
The fifth session of the Division I NCAA Wrestling Championships will begin at 10 a.m. in the Savvis Center of St. Louis. Both Burleson and Spates will wrestle in the morning matches with Askren wrestling for an NCAA title at 5:30 p.m. The Championship round will be televised live on ESPN.
Missouri Results for the Third and Fourth Session: 149: Zack Esposito (Oklahoma State) dec Jeremy Spates (MU): 5-3 149: Jeremy Spates (MU) dec Matt Stornilio (Penn State) 6-5 149: Jeremy Spates (MU) dec Travis Shufelt (Nebraska): 4-2 157: Jake Percival (Ohio) dec Kenny Burleson (MU): 9-6 157: Kenny Burleson (MU) Derek Zink (Lehigh): 5-2 157: Travis Paulson (Iowa State) dec Kenny Burleson (MU): 4-2 174: Ben Askren (MU) dec Brad Dillon (Lehigh): 12-7 184: Matt Pell (MU) dec Nick Halsey (Cal-Poly): 4-2 OT 184: Matt Pell (MU) dec Travis Pascoe (NU): 11-6 184: Bryan Glynn (Illinois) dec Matt Pell (MU): 6-3 197: Jeff Foust (MU) wins by medical forfeit over Chris Jones (Drexel) 197: J.D. Bergman (Ohio State) dec Jeff Foust (MU): 6-3
