Nov. 15, 2005
Columbia, Mo. - Wrestling unattached at the Central Missouri State University Open in Warrensburg, Mo., Nov. 13., the brother tandem of junior Ben Askren and freshman Max Askren each finished at the top of their respective brackets.
Following up a pin over Luke Feist of Stanford in the first dual of the season Nov. 11, Ben Askren (Hartland, Wis.) pinned all five opponents he faced on the way to the tournament title at 174 pounds. Ranked No. 1 in the nation, Askren recorded his fastest fall of the day by pinning Mat Seechuck of Missouri Valley College in just 38 seconds.
Max Askren (Hartland, Wis.) earned his second tournament title of the season, winning four matches to finish atop the bracket at 197 pounds. Along the way Askren picked up two falls of his own to get to the championship round. Facing off against No. 2 Joel Flaggert of Oklahoma, Askren upset Flaggert, 7-3, to earn the win.
Six grapplers lost one match during the day and finished in third place. Sophomore Tim Kephart (O' Fallon, Mo.) notched his first win of the season in impressive fashion, pinning Gabe Rodriguez of Lindenwood in just 46 seconds. After losing his third match to Mimi Miller of Bacone College, 11-4," Kephart earned victories in his last four bouts to finish third at 125 pounds.
On the mat for more time than any other wrestler, senior Chris McCormick (Leawood, Kan.) piled up nine victories on his way to third place at 141 pounds. Picking up five pins, McCormick ended three of those matches in the first period.
Junior Jed Lewis (Norfolk, Neb.) picked up his first win of the season with a 16-4 major decision over John Carnes, then built on that success by winning five of his next six matches to take third at 149 pounds. Sophomore James Williamson also earned his first win of the campaign on his way to third place, finishing 5-1 at 157 pounds. Senior Jeff Foust (Blue Springs, Mo.) and redshirt freshman Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) ended the day with 4-1 records and third-place finishes at 197 and 184 pounds, respectively.
"The coaching staff thought that the guys wrestled well, and we had more student-athletes place at the CMSU Open than ever before," Head Coach Brian Smith said. "We were expecting to take a few more firsts, but the matches we lost were close ones, and overall we gained a lot of experience heading into the Missouri Open."
The Tigers host the sixth-annual Missouri Open Sunday, Nov. 20, in the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse, with the first bouts of the day beginning at 9 a.m.