Dec. 3, 2005

Las Vegas - Closing out the morning session of the two-day Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in the Cashman Center of Las Vegas, juniors Matt Pell (Luxemburg, Wis., 165 pounds) and Ben Askren (Hartland, Wis, 174 pounds) advanced to tonight's championship bouts beginning at 5 p.m. (PST), while senior Austin DeVoe (Columbus, Kan.) finished fifth and redshirt freshman Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) took eighth at 125 and 184 pounds, respectively. Entering tonight's final matches, Missouri stands third of the 52 teams in competition, while Michigan continues to lead followed by Cornell in second.

Both Pell and Askren held off advances from Illinois opponents in the morning semi-finals to advance to the title match. Up first on mat seven, Pell exchanged shots with Mike Poeta and won his bout, 4-2, with Askren following on mat five adding two bonus points to Missouri's team total when Donny Reynolds bowed out in the second period with an injury default.

Wrestling the most matches of any Tiger grappler this weekend, DeVoe was the first Missouri wrestler to take to the mat in the early morning session. Facing off against Wyoming's Bruce Leonhardt the two battled back-and-forth for nearly six minutes before Leonhardt was forced to take an injury default. In his second bout of the morning, DeVoe paired with former high school rival Trevor Charbonne (Nebraska-Kearney) and won a 6-1 decision. DeVoe scored first with a second period three-point nearfall, allowing Charbonne only one escape. Dropping a hard-fought 8-5 decision to No. 1 seeded Chad Mendes (Cal Poly) DeVoe was forced to wrestle for a fifth place finish against Jeff Hedges of Northern Idaho, which he won, 4-2.

Jordan, who entered the tournament ranked 17th in the nation, earned his first victory, 4-2, over Willie Parks of Dana College. Advancing in the consolation bracket, Jordan took on Hofstra's Joe Rovelli but was shut out 6-0, and sent on to challenge Alex Clemson (Edinboro) for the second time for the second time of the season. Unlike the last meeting between the two 184-pounders, Jordan suffered a 4-2 loss to finish the day in eighth.

Senior Chris McCormick (Leawood, Kan.) and freshman Sean Connole (Erie, Penn.) closed out their Vegas campaign with 3-2 records. Suffering a disappointing loss at 141 pounds, McCormick was unable to stay with West Virginia's Brandon Rader who won the match 18-3. Connole's contest was the difference of a third period takedown. Scoreless through the first three minutes, Connole started down in the second and managed an escape to score first, but Andy Patrick (Boise State) came through in the end to win 4-2. Senior Jeff Foust (Blue Springs, Mo.) entered a medical forfeit closing his run at a third place finish.

125 Austin DeVoe: 7-2 at the tournament
#16 Austin DeVoe (MU) fall Jack Keene (UNCG): 3:52 (+2)
Sean Clair (E. Michigan) decision #16 Austin DeVoe (MU): 6-4
#16 Austin DeVoe (MU) decision Anthony Easter (The Citadel): 7-5
#16 Austin DeVoe (MU) injury default Kyle Turnball (West Virginia) (+2)
#16 Austin DeVoe (MU) fall Mark Johnston (Dickson State): 5:12 (+2)
#16 Austin DeVoe (MU) decision Cory Fish (Boise State): 5-0
Day 2 #16 Austin DeVoe (MU) injury default Bruce Leonhardt (Wyoming) (+2)
Day 2 #16 Austin DeVoe (MU) decision Trevor Charbonne (Nebraska-Kearney): 6-1
Day 2 Chad Mendes (Cal Poly) decision #16 Austin DeVoe (MU): 8-5

141 Chris McCormick: 3-2 at the tournament
#19 Chris McCormick (MU) decision Jalil Dozier (N.C. State): 6-3
#19 Chris McCormick (MU) decision Shanon Slack (ODU): 2-1
#19 Chris McCormick (MU) decision Cesar Grajales (Penn): 4-1
#5 Josh Churella (Michigan) technical fall #19 Chris McCormick (MU): 17-0
Day 2 Brandon Rader (West Virginia) technical fall #19 Chris McCormick (MU): 18-3

165 Matt Pell 3-0 at the tournament
#4 Matt Pell (MU) major decision Rob Maxwell (Cal Poly): 10-1 (+1)
#4 Matt Pell (MU) technical fall Keenan McCurdy (Nebraska-Kearney): 21-6 (+1.5)
#4 Matt Pell (MU) major decision Steve Anceravage (Cornell): 18-6
#4 Matt Pell (MU) decision Mike Poeta (Illinois): 4-2

174 Ben Askren 4-0 at the tournament
#1 Ben Askren (MU) fall Ray Lamb (Buffalo): 2:30 (+2) (Tied Reese's Career Record)
#1 Ben Askren (MU) fall Nick Padazan (Pittsburgh): 2:12 (+2)
#1 Ben Askren (MU) technical fall Mike Grogan (UVA): 19-1 (+1.5)
#1 Ben Askren (MU) fall Jeremy Larson (Oregon State):2:56
Day 2 #1 Ben Askren (MU) injury default Donny Reynolds (Illinois) (+2)
Day 2 #1 Ben Askren (MU) vs. Mike Patrovich (Hofstra)

184 Raymond Jordan 4-2 at the tournament
#17 Raymond Jordan (MU) major decision Ryan Hagen (Stanford): 12-3 (+1)
Dustin Wiles (Penn): decision #17 Raymond Jordan (MU): 8-3
#17 Raymond Jordan (MU) decision Justin Barent (Columbia): 9-7
#17 Raymond Jordan (MU) fall Josh Edmonson (North Idaho): (+2)
Day 2 #17 Raymond Jordan (MU) decision Willie Parks (Dana College): 4-2
Day 2 Joe Rovelli (Hofstra) decision #17 Raymond Jordan (MU): 6-0

197 Jeff Foust 2-1 at the tournament
#13 Jeff Foust (MU) major decision Jon Butler (Harvard): 14-4 (+1)
#13 Jeff Foust (MU) decision Casey White (Michigan): 5-1
#5 Kyle Cerminara (Buffalo) decision #13 Jeff Foust (MU): 7-1
Day 2 #13 Jeff Foust Medical Default

HWT Sean Connole 3-2 at the tournament
Sean Connole injury default Wade Morris (Ohio State) (+2)
Tyler Covlin (UNCG) fall Sean Connole (MU): 4:03
Sean Connole (MU) decision Zach Trammell (UTC): 2-1
Sean Connole (MU) injury default Charlie Walker (Eastern Michigan) (+2)
Day 2 Andy Patrick (Boise State) decision Sean Connole (MU): 4-2

Updated Records
Wt.	Name: Season (Career)
125	Austin DeVoe: 14-4 (57-35)
133	Tyler McCormick: 5-3 (25-17)
141	Chris McCormick: 16-3 (67-45)
149	Josh Wagner: 8-5 (26-14)
157	Michael Chandler: 10-4 (10-4)
165	Matt Pell: 8-0 (74-22)
174	Ben Askren: 15-0 (82-8)
184	Raymond Jordan: 12-3 (12-3)
197	Jeff Foust: 7-2 (77-31)
HWT	Sean Connole: 14-8 (14-8)