Jan. 24, 2006

Columbia, Mo. - Wrestling unattached Jan. 21 at the 13th annual Roger Denker Open in Warrensburg, Mo., freshman John Olanowski (Virginia Beach, Va.) marched through the 125-pound bracket, earning the third title of his redshirt season.

Dominating the bracket throughout the day, Olanowski pinned his first opponent, Danny Morreale of Lindenwood, in 3:16, then won by technical fall over Missouri Baptist's Gary Brooks in 5:58. A 15-2 decision over Tommy Edgmon of Neosho County Community College put Olanowski into the championship bout, where he squared off against a familiar opponent in Josh Sampo of Lindenwood. In their first meeting of the campaign Sampo earned the victory, 6-3, but this time Olanowski was able to turn the tables on his opponent for an 8-3 victory and the title.

Freshman Nick Marable (Colliersville, Tenn.) lost just one match on the day to finish third at 157 pounds. Fighting his way through the wrestleback bracket after a loss in the quarterfinals, Marable earned victories in three matches to make it to the third-place bout. Wrestling against Randy Vanderveen of Lindenwood, Marable outscored his opponent, 3-1, picking up the win.

Freshmen Dirk Hurrin (Alexandria, Va.) and Mark Ellis (Peculiar, Mo.) each recorded 3-2 marks on the day to take fourth place at 174 and 285 pounds, respectively. Hurrin placed in the top six for the second week in a row after winning the Dan Gable Open a week ago, and Ellis improved to 22-9 in his redshirt season. Sophomore Justin Cole (Gladstone, Mo.) rounded out the placewinners for Missouri by taking sixth place at 149 pounds.