Dec. 2, 2006
Primm, Nev. - The No. 2 Missouri wrestling team earned its first-ever Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Title tallying 157 points to finish ahead of runner-up No. 8 Michigan (109) and No. 15 Pennsylvania (100.5). Askren brothers Ben and Maxwell (Hartland, Wis.) each claimed individual crowns in their respective weight class (174 and 197 pounds) with Ben earning Most Outstanding Wrestler and Gorrarian honors for his work on the mat. Senior All-American Matt Pell (Luxemburg, Wis.) finished second at 165 pounds bringing Missouri's total of top-eight finishers to eight, the most ever for a Missouri wrestling program.
A perfect 5-0 throughout the two-day tournament, senior defending National Champion Ben Askren breezed through the championship bracket pinning all five of his opponents including runner-up and fourth-ranked Matt Harrington of Pennsylvania in 46 seconds. With his title, Askren claimed Most Outstanding Wrestler as well as the Gorrarian honors for most pins in the tournament. Askren has collected 75 falls in his four year career with the Tigers. The tournament win by Askren is his third consecutive at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. With the five wins, Askren has extended the nation's longest win streak to 60 victories.
Younger brother and 197 pound grappler Maxwell Askren finished first in his first appearance at the 25th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Askren won his semi-final bout by default and notched a 4-3 decision victory over second-ranked Jerry Rinaldi of Cornell in the title round. To date, No. 3 Askren has knocked off three of the nation's top-five ranked wrestlers.
Pell, a 2005 All-American tied his career high finish at the Invitational finishing second to No. 5 Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan. Prior to the championship finals, Pell bested Indiana's 13th-ranked Max Dean 9-6, but suffered a 5-3 loss in the final hard-fought bout.
Redshirt freshman John Olanowski (Virginia Beach, Va.) finished seventh at 125 pounds after taking a win by forfeit over Tennessee Chattanooga's Javier Maldonado. Fellow redshirt freshman Mark Ellis, a heavyweight from Peculiar, Mo., took sixth. Junior All-American Tyler McCormick (Leawood, Kan.) grappled his way to a fourth place finish at 133 pounds with sophomores Michael Chandler (High Ridge, Mo.) and Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) landing sixth-place finishes at 157 and 184 pounds, respectively.
Missouri will travel to the state of Michigan for a pair of duals beginning Saturday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. (CT) against Central Michigan followed by a Sunday, Dec. 10 dual against Michigan State at 1 p.m. (CT).
125-John Olanowski: 4-2-7th Place Finish
#20 John Olanowski (MU) decision Brandon Zoetheway (Cal State-Bakersfield): 5-1
#20 John Olanowski (MU) decision #22 Collin Cudd (Wisconsin): 7-6
#4 Tanner Gardner fall #20 John Olanowski (MU): 4:31
#20 John Olanowski (MU) decision #26 Jeff Hedges (UNC-Greensboro): 9-7
#19 Pat Castillo (Northern Illinois) decision #20 John Olanowski (MU): 4-3 SV
#20 John Olanowski win by forfeit #15 Javier Maldonado (UTC)
133-Tyler McCormick: 5-2-4th Place Finish
#4 Tyler McCormick (MU) decision #27 Will Powars (George Mason): 3-2
#4 Tyler McCormick (MU) fall Matt Smith (Ohio): 6:22
#10 Mark Budd (Buffalo) decision #4 Tyler McCormick (MU): 3-1 SV
#4 Tyler McCormick (MU) major decision Chad Vandiver (N. Illinois): 15-1
#4 Tyler McCormick (MU) major decision Matt DeLorenzo (Columbia University):10-0
#4 Tyler McCormick (MU) decision #9 Drew Headlee (Pittsburgh): 8-2
#7 Derrell Vasquez (Cal Poly) decision Tyler McCormick (MU): 10-5
141-Amond Prater: 1-2
#22 Steve Delorenzo (Brown) decision #18 Amond Prater (MU): 5-1
#18 Amond Prater (MU) decision Virgil Lockett (San Francisco State): 3-2
#17 Don Fisch (Rider) fall #18 Amond Prater (MU): :44
149-Josh Wagner: 3-2
#16 Josh Wagner (MU) decision Derek Kipperberg (Oregon State): 10-8
#6 Josh Churella (Michigan) decision #16 Josh Wagner (MU): 9-3
#16 Josh Wagner (MU) fall Shawn Haratani (Cal-Davis): 1:50
#16 Josh Wagner (MU) fall Kirk Platt (UNT): 1:12
#28 Brandon Doyle (Cal-State Bakersfield) decision #16 Josh Wagner (MU): 9-4
157- Michael Chandler: 4-3-6th Place Finish
#7 Michael Chandler (MU) fall Tom Fazio (Brown): 3:48
#7 Michael Chandler (MU) fall Tyler Sherfey (Boise State) 1:59
#3 Craig Henning (Wisconsin) decision #7 Michael Chandler (MU): 7-0
#7 Michael Chandler (MU) decision #18 Travis Piccard (The Citadel): 8-3
#7 Michael Chandler (MU) fall Devin Mesanko (Columbia University): 4:42
#13 Matt Kocher (Pittsburgh) decision #7 Michael Chandler (MU): 4-3
#6 James Strouse (Hofstra) decision #7 Michael Chandler (MU): 6-3
165-Matt Pell: 4-1-2nd Place Finish
#6 Matt Pell (MU) fall Daniel Atondo (Cal-State Bakersfield): 2:54
#6 Matt Pell (MU) major decision Dustin Noack (Cal-Davis): 10-2
#6 Matt Pell (MU) major decision #27 Christopher Vondruska (Ohio State): 12-4
#6 Matt Pell (MU) decision #13 Max Dean (Indiana): 9-6
#5 Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan) decision #7 Matt Pell (MU): 5-3
174-Ben Askren: 5-0-1st Place Finish
#1 Ben Askren (MU) fall Casey Roberts (Nebraska): 1:35
#1 Ben Askren (MU) fall Luke Feist (Stanford): 2:48
#1 Ben Askren (MU) fall #24 Jeremy Larson (Oregon State): 2:07
#1 Ben Askren (MU) fall #10 Keith Gavin (Pittsburgh): 216
#1 Ben Askren (MU) fall #4 Matt Herrington (Pennsylvania): 46
184-Raymond Jordan: 4-3-6th Place Finish
#4 Raymond Jordan (MU) fall Kyle Sand (North Idaho): 4:28
#4 Raymond Jordan (MU) major decision Joffrey Lander (Embrey-Riddle): 13-5
#4 Raymond Jordan (MU) technical fall Michael Marable (UTC): 18-2
#4 Raymond Jordan (MU) major decision #12 Rocco Caponi (UVA): 13-4
#8 Michael Pucillo (Ohio State) decision #4 Raymond Jordan (MU): 3-1
#15 Louis Caputo (Harvard) decision #4 Raymond Jordan (MU): 4-0
#10 Marc Bennett (Indiana) decision Raymond Jordan (MU): 4-3
197-Maxwell Askren: 5-0-1st Place Finish
#3 Maxwell Askren (MU) decision Nathan Everhart (Indiana): 5-4
#3 Maxwell Askren (MU) fall Ernesto Ancona (Cal-State Bakersfield): :57
#3 Maxwell Askren (MU) decision #15 Jared Villers (West Virginia): 6-5
#3 Maxwell Askren (MU) win by default Nick Roy (Michigan)
#3 Maxwell Askren (MU) decision #2 Jerry Rinaldi (Cornell): 4-3
HWT-Mark Ellis: 4-3-6th Place Finish
Mark Ellis (MU) fall Jeff Burdorf (Northern Illinois): 6:19
Mark Ellis (MU) fall Dustin Rogers (West Virginia): 3:50
Tervel Dlagnev (UNK) major decision Mark Ellis (MU): 12-4
Mark Ellis (MU) major decision John Buck (The Citadel): 8-0
Mark Ellis (MU) decision Joe Sheffield (UNC Greensboro): 5-4
#7 Jon May (Nebraska) fall Mark Ellis (MU): 1:59
#16 Wade Sauer (Cal State-Fullerton) decision Mark Ellis (MU): 7-5
UPDATED SEASON AND CAREER RECORDS
Wt. Name Season Career Day
125 John Olanowski 10-3 10-3 4-2
133 Tyler McCormick 6-2 57-25 5-2
141 Amond Prater 6-5 69-30 1-2
149 Josh Wagner 9-4 46-28 3-2
157 Michael Chandler 8-4 27-20 4-3
165 Matt Pell 8-1 107-29 4-1
174 Ben Askren 10-0 126-8 5-0
184 Raymond Jordan 8-4 41-16 4-3
197 Max Askren 10--0 10-0 5-0
HWT Mark Ellis 5-5 5-5 4-3
