University of Missouri
NCAA Championships
Ben Askren Takes Second at NCAA Wrestling Championships
3/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 20, 2004
St. Louis, Mo. -- In a Missouri wrestling season known for its history making accomplishments, the Tigers closed out the campaign with one last honor earning three All-Americans in redshirt freshman Ben Askren's (174) second place finish, senior Jeremy Spates (149) fifth place finish and senior Kenny Burleson's (157) seventh place finish. This marks the first time in the 60-year history of the Missouri wresting program that the Tigers have been honored with more than two All-Americans in one year.
Competing in the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Oklahoma State clinched their second straight and 32nd overall team title with 123.5 points, followed with Iowa in second with 82 and Lehigh and Ohio State tying for third with 77.5 points. Improving on last season's finish, the Tigers finished in 13th place with 43 points. It was Missouri's third highest finish in the history of the wrestling program, and highest finish under the direction of Head Coach Brian Smith.
Walking down a green carpet to the raised stage, Askren met at center circle and shook hands with Big 12 opponent Chris Pendelton of Oklahoma State for the Championship bout. Suffering a heartwrenching loss, Askren fell to Pendelton 11-4. It was Askren's third loss of the season to Pendleton. Askren took the last win over Pendleton with a 9-7 victory at the Big 12 Championships on March 6.
Only able to score two escapes and a reversal throughout the seven-minute match, Pendelton found three takedowns, a two-point nearfall, and two escapes, adding one point for over a minute of riding time. Askren's finish is the tied for the highest by any Missouri wrestler at an NCAA Championship.
"We have three All-Americans, so let's look at this as the glass is half full," Smith said. "Askren had some really close calls in his match. He can only improve, and he has three more years to come back and take the win."
Making his third NCAA Championship appearance, senior captain Jeremy Spates finished fifth at 149 pounds earning his first All-American honors. For the second time of the Championships, Spates was able to hold off Big 12 opponent Jeff Eckloff of Oklahoma, taking an 8-0 win over the freshman. Scoreless through the first period, Ecklof chose down to start the second, giving Jeremy his opportunity at a three-point nearfall. After a short injury timeout by Ecklof, Spates added 2:17 of riding time, plus an escape and takedown to shutout the Sooner wrestler. In their earlier, second round, Thursday night match, Spates held on for a 3-2 decision.
"It's strange that the last match I ever wrestled was against my Dad's team," Spates said about wrestling father Jack Spates' (head coach) Oklahoma Sooner Jeff Ecklof. "I had a lot of confidence going into the match, and I knew that it was my last time to go out there. Knowing that, I wanted to make sure I went out and just had fun. It wasn't a national title, but I'm glad that I was able to have my hand raised and reach my goal of becoming an All-American."
Opening his morning at 10 a.m., Spates suffered a 6-0 loss to No. 4 seed Ryan Churella of Michigan. It was the first time all season that Spates was unable to put points on the board. Closing out the first period at 2-0, the two were scoreless through the second, with Churella taking an escape and reversal in the third period. Strong on top, Churella was able to ride Spates for 4:02, adding one point to his final score. Earlier in the season, Spates won a 7-5 decision over Churella at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 5.
Senior Kenny Burleson took his first All-American honor with a 6-3 win over Phil Simpson of Army in the seventh-place medal round. Having confidence from an earlier season 7-5 win over the Cadet, Burleson had a takedown at 1:35 to put himself on top in the point total. Scoring another takedown in the second, Simpson had two escapes and two cautions to close out the period 4-3 in favor of Missouri. It was Burleson's final reversal with 32 seconds left on the clock that secured his win and seventh place finish.
"It's sad to think we'll be losing such strong seniors," Smith said. "I don't think they'll ever know just how much they've done for the program. We continue to get better year-after-year and we'll continue to work hard until we reach our goals of bringing home a national championship title."
Missouri's highest finish at an NCAA Wrestling Championship came in 1984 at 10th place.
Championship Round Results: 125: Jason Powell (Nebraska) technical fall Kyle Ott (Illinois): 17-2, 5:32 133: Zach Roberson (Iowa State) dec Josh Moore (Penn State): 7-3 141: Cliff Moore (Iowa) dec Matt Murray (Nebraska): 5-2 149: Jesse Jantzen (Harvard) dec Zack Esposito (Oklahoma State): 9-3 157: Matt Gentry (Stanford) dec (Jake Percival (Ohio): 4-2 165: Troy Letters (Lehigh) dec Tyrone Lewis (Oklahoma State): 5-2 174: Chris Pendleton (Oklahoma State) major decision Ben Askren (MU): 11-4 184: Greg Jones (West Virginia) dec Ben Heizer (Northern Illinois): 10-5 197: Damion Hahn (Minnesota) dec Ryan Fulsaas (Iowa): 7-2 HWT: Tommy Rowlands (Ohio State) dec Pat Cummins (Penn State): 6-2
Missouri Results for the Fifth Session: 149: Ryan Churella (Michigan) dec Jeremy Spates (MU): 6-0 149: Jeremy Spates (MU) dec Jeff Ecklof (OU): 8-0 157: Kenny Burleson (MU) dec Phil Simpson (Army) 6-3
