Nov. 29, 2007
The seventh-ranked Missouri wrestling team will make it's sixth consecutive appearance at the 26th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational beginning Friday, Nov. 30, at Noon (CT). The two-day tournament will wrap up Saturday, Dec. 1, with finals slated to begin around 7 p.m. (CT). Returning to Las Vegas after a one-year stint in Primm, Nev., this year's prestigious event will be held in the Las Vegas Convention Center with nearly 500 wrestlers expected to compete.
A team-scored event, Missouri captured the 2006 Invitational title, its first in program history, and looks to become the second school in six years to win the honor in back-to-back seasons. Of the 48 teams attending this year's event, 13 are currently ranked among the top-25 in the nation, with Missouri ranked highest at seventh. Close to 90 Division I wrestlers, currently ranked among the top-20 of their respective weight class, will be competing for the coveted tournament crown. Five of the nation's number one ranked grapplers (Paul Donahoe of Nebraska at 125 pounds, Lou Ruggirello of Hofstra at 133 pounds, Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro at 157 pounds, Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan at 165 pounds and Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh at 174 pounds) are expected to compete in the two-day tournament and five winner's from last year's tournament (Donahoe at 125 pounds, Josh Churella of Michigan at 149 pounds, Tannenbaum at 165 pounds, Mike Pucillo of Ohio State at 184 pounds and Maxwell Askren of Missouri at 197 pounds) will also return to the mat.
Four weight classes (125, 174, 197 and HWT) each contain 10 ranked wrestlers. Askren and Tiger sophomore Mark Ellis (HWT) are one of 10 ranked in their respective weight class.
Missouri Head Coach Brian Smith and his staff are taking 10 grapplers, seven ranked among the top-20 of their respective weight class, to the 2007 Invitational. A sophomore, Askren returns to defend his 2006 title at 197 pounds, while four Tiger grapplers look to improve on last season's finish and five are making their first appearance.
In last season's outing, the Tigers finished the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in first with 157 points. Eight Missouri wrestlers finished among the top-eight of their respective weight class, with Askren and current volunteer assistant coach Ben Askren claiming wins at 197 pounds and 174 pounds respectively. In addition, Ben Askren was awarded Most Outstanding Wrestler and Gorarrian Award honors for his perfect 5-0 record that included all wins by fall. Relying on bonus point victories to help win the tournament title, 24 Tiger bouts were decided by either major decision, fall or technical fall.
Looking Ahead
The Tigers will have two weeks to prepare for their third dual of the season. Traveling to Chattanooga, Tenn., on Dec. 16, Missouri will take on the Mocs at Noon before heading to Pittsburgh for a Dec. 19 dual set to begin at 6 p.m. Missouri owns an 8-1 record against both programs combined. This marks the third straight season in which the Tigers have battled with both Pittsburgh and Tennessee Chattanooga in the same season.
Make Note
Senior 133 pounder Tyler McCormick looks to become the 15th Tiger in program history to join the 100-win club. With 71 wins on his career, McCormick could become the fifth consecutive Tiger to hit the century mark and the ninth Tiger since Head Coach Brian Smith took the reigns in 1998 to join the prestigious club.
Nicholas Marable, Missouri's 165 pound starter, made the biggest jump in this week's rankings, moving from 13th to seventh. Marable is one of eight top-20 ranked wrestlers in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational 165 pound bracket.
How They Faired Last Year
Five Missouri wrestlers will again try their luck in Las Vegas beginning Friday, Nov. 30. Last season, Maxwell Askren earned the 197 pound title. Of the remaining four returners, Josh Wagner (149) failed to finish among the top-eight last season, while Michael Chandler (157), Raymond Jordan (184) and Mark Ellis (HWT) all finished sixth.
First-Timers
Five Tiger wrestlers are making their first appearance at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Redshirt freshman Tony Pescaglia (125), redshirt freshman Nick Veliquette (133), junior Marcus Hoehn (141), sophomore Nicholas Marable (165) and senior James Williamson (174) all will attempt to grapple their way to a tournament title. Over the past five seasons, 11 Missouri first-time Invitational competitors finished among the top eight of their respective weight class. Last season, three Tiger first-timers, John Olanowski, Maxwell Askren and Mark Ellis finished among the top eight of their weight class with Askren earning a first place finish at 197 pounds. Olanowski took seventh at 125 pounds while Ellis took sixth at heavyweight.
History in Vegas
Over the past five years at least three Tigers have come home from the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational with a top-eight finish. Last season, a program-high eight Missouri grapplers finished among the top eight of their weight class. The second highest total was five in 2003.
Wrestling Higher Ranked Opponents
This weekend's Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational has the potential to move a few of Missouri's already ranked wrestlers up in the polls. Josh Wagner is one of nine ranked wrestlers at the 149 pound weight class and is ranked sixth highest of the nine. Wagner is currently ranked 10th in the nation. In similar situations, Michael Chandler and Nicholas Marable at 157 and 165 pounds respectively, may have the opportunity to square off with the current No. 1 ranked wrestler in the nation at their weight class, while Raymond Jordan (184) and Maxwell Askren (197) could see time against two top-five opponents and Mark Ellis (HWT) have the possibility of meeting with five of the nation's top-10 heavyweights.
The Rest of the Team
With only 10 Tiger grapplers competing in Las Vegas, the remainder of the 40-member Missouri wrestling squad will travel to Northern Iowa for the UNI Open beginning at 9 a.m. (CT), Sunday, Dec. 2. Held in the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the all-day tournament features wrestlers from Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska-Omaha and Iowa. Last season, five Missouri wrestlers finished among the top-six of their weight class with Ashtin Primus (141) and Nicholas Marable (157) eaching finishing third in their respective weight class. Both Tigers have moved up a weight class for the 2007-08 campaign.
Later in the season, Missouri will return to the UNI Dome for the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Duals, Jan. 12-13.
Five In A Row
For the fifth straight year, the Missouri wrestling team has started the season with a 2-0 record. Earning a season opening win against No. 27 Rider on Nov. 9, Missouri is now 33-29 in season openers and 6-4 under the direction of Head Coach Brian Smith. This ties Missouri's longest season-opening win streak of five straight seasons with dual opening wins. The previous two five-year periods were from 1964-1968 and 1983-1987, In 1969, Missouri lost its season-opening dual to Purdue, 25-6 and in 1988, the Tigers opened with a 19-19 tied against Nebraska.
Heavy-Hitter
Missouri's sophomore heavyweight Mark Ellis becomes the first Tiger heavyweight in over five seasons to start back-to-back campaings. Prior to Ellis' start at heavyweight in 2006, five individuals have held the title of starter. Ellis became the first heavyweight starter since Kevin Herron (2003) to qualfiy for the NCAA Championships. Ellis is currently 6-0 on the season, having won both of his matches with bonus point victories.
Perfection
Four members of Missouri's current 10-man lineup still own perfect records, Michael Chandler (157), Nicholas Marable (165), Raymond Jordan (184) and Mark Ellis (HWT). For the record, these guys have a ways to go to reach the current Missouri consecutive wins streak set at 87 by recent graduate Ben Askren.
Smith Hits Decade Mark
Missouri Head Coach Brian Smith enters his 10th year at the helm of the Tiger wrestling program. Owning a 112-56-1 record with the Tigers, Smith holds the highest winning percentage of any wrestling coach in Missouri history at 67 percent.
MatChat Returns
Monday, Nov. 5, Missouri wrestling Head Coach Brian Smith opened the second season of MatChat. An interactive 30-minute session in which you, the fans, can ask a Missouri wrestler whatever questions you want, the weekly chat begins at 3 p.m. (CT) and lasts approximatley 20 minutes. This week's guest, for Monday, Dec. 3, is Mark Ellis. Fans are encouraged to submit their questions early, so check back to www.mutigers.com to see when the latest chat is posted.
Tiger Wrestlers Dominate at Missouri Open
Twenty Missouri wrestlers finished among the top six of their respective weight class, with six earning tournament titles at the eighth annual Missouri Open held in the Fieldhouse on the campus of the University of Missouri. Junior Raymond Jordan collected his third consecutive Missouri Open title at 184 pounds, while sophomore Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.) defended his title for the second straight year at 197 pounds. Wrestling unattached, true feshman Patrick Wright (Grand Ledge, Mich.) wrestled his way to Missouri's only title in the Freshman/Sophomore Division, doing so in the 165 pound weight class.
Junior 157 pounder Michael Chandler (High Ridge, Mo.) captured Missouri's first title of the day, finishing with a 4-0 record that included two wins by major decision. Chandler, now 5-0 on the season, is one of three Tigers on this years' squad to keep his perfect record in tact.
Pinning eighth-ranked Roger Smith Bergsrud of Illinois in 46 seconds, 12th-ranked sophomore Nicholas Marable (Collierville, Tenn.) earned his first Missouri Open title at 165 pounds. Marable began his run through the championship bracket with a win by technical fall, 20-4, in 6:02 over Jon Forbes (McKendree) and went on to earn a 21-8 victory over Matt Bailes of Central Michigan. Marable is 6-0 on the season and owns a 32-8 career record.
Jordan won four bouts in the all-day tournament, pinning two of his 184 pound opponents, the fastest clocked at 4:09 in his opening round match. Besting third-seeded Jesse Strawn of Old Dominion, 7-4, Jordan's Missouri Open title is the third of his career.
Recording back-to-back falls in his first two matches of the morning, Askren went on to win the 197 pound weight class with a 4-2 decision over No. 1 seeded Eric Lapotsky (Oklahoma). Missouri totaled 16 wins by fall in the Open Division of the tournament.
Ellis improved to 6-0 on the season, having won four of his six bouts by extra point victories. Ellis began his season with a fall and technical fall against his Rider and Hofstra opponents respectively, and opened today's tournament with a fall in 55 seconds over Indianapolis' Alex Williams. Following with a 16-4 win by major decision and 4-3 win by decision, Ellis held off second-seeded John Wise of Illinois, 6-5, to earn his first Missouri Open title.
Wright, who wrestled at 165 pounds, opened the tournament with a bye and went on to finish 4-0 outscoring his opponents 18-6, and winning his first Freshman Sophomore Division title with a 3-1 sudden victory decision.