March 8, 2008
Stillwater, Okla. - Missouri sophomore heavyweight Mark Ellis (Peculiar, Mo.) earned his second third place finish at the Big 12 Championships after holding off Nebraska's John May, 3-1, in overtime in the final bout of the consolation round held in Gallagher Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. Prior to entering the championship matches, in which Missouri has four grapplers competing, the Tigers stand in fourth place with 43.5 points behind Iowa State (63.5), Nebraska (52.5) and Oklahoma State (47.5). Oklahoma rounds out the five programs with 24 points.
Three Tigers, senior Josh Wagner (Milton, Wis.) and juniors Emanuel Brooks (Cahokia, Ill.) and Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) ended their Big 12 run with fourth places finishes. All three Missouri wrestlers went 1-2 on the day and will have to await the results of the wild card meeting to determine their NCAA fate. The Big 12 Conference sends 38 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, the top three finishers in each weight class and eight wild cards. The wild card meeting will be held in Gallagher Iba Arena immediately following the championship finals.
Wagner rebounded from an opening round loss at 149 pounds to hold off Ryan Freeman of Oklahoma State, 6-3. Wagner came behind for the win to advance to a meeting with Oklahoma's Will Rowe. A high scoring match, Wagner came close to collecting a third place win, but fell, 16-13 to the Sooner.
Brooks, who spent a majority of his season wrestling at 157 pounds, made his first career start at 174 pounds and defeated opening round opponent Pat Flynn of Oklahoma, 5-3. Brooks scored two points through a third period reversal with his other two points coming by escape. Brooks suffered back-to-back losses to finish the day in fourth.
A surprise outcome for Jordan, seeded No. 2 at 184 pounds, the Tiger lost a 7-3 decision to drop to the consolation bracket. Last year's Big 12 Champion looked solid against Nebraska's Vince Jones, winning the match, 8-3, but lost a two point decision, 3-1 to Jack Jensen of Oklahoma State.
Senior Tyler McCormick, junior Michael Chandler and sophomores Nicholas Marable and Maxwell Askren will wrestle in the championship brackets beginning at 7 p.m. (CT).
125: Olanowski, No. 5 Seed, FINISHED 5TH
#14 Tyler Clark (ISU) decision John Olanowski (MU): 5-0
#15 Joey Fio (OU) decision John Olanowski (MU): 10-4
133: McCormick, No. 4 Seed
#14 Tyler McCormick (MU) decision Brian Shelton (OU): 10-8
#14 Tyler McCormick (MU) decision #1 Coleman Scott (OSU): 5-3
141: Hoehn, No. 5 Seed, FINISHED 5TH
#16 Zack Bailey (OU) decision #29 Marcus Hoehn (MU): 3-2
Mike Rowe (NU) decision #29 Marcus Hoehn (MU): 6-1
149: Wagner, No. 2 Seed, FINISHED 4TH
Mitch Mueller (ISU) decision #12 Josh Wagner (MU): 9-5
#12 Josh Wagner decision Ryan Freeman (OSU): 6-3
Will Rowe (OU) decision Josh Wagner MU): 16-13
157: Chandler, No. 1 Seed
#9 Michael Chandler (MU) decision #20 Newly McSpadden (OSU): 5-2
165: Marable, No. 1 Seed
#2 Nicholas Marable (MU) #8 Jon Reader (ISU): 5-2
174: Brooks, No. 5 Seed, FINISHED 4TH
Emanuel Brooks (MU) decision Pat Flynn (OU): 5-3
Brandon Browne (NU) decision Emanuel Brooks (MU): 7-6
Aron Scott (ISU) decision Emanuel Brooks (MU): 2-1
184: Jordan, No. 2 Seed, FINISHED 4TH
#6 Joshua Weitzel (OU) decision #4 Raymond Jordan (MU): 7-3
#4 Raymond Jordan (MU) decision Vince Jones (NU): 8-3
Jack Jensen (OSU) decision Raymond Jordan (MU): 3-1
197: Askren, No. 1 Seed
#4 Maxwell Askren (MU) decision #16 David Bertolino (ISU): 6-3
HWT: Ellis, No. 4 Seed, FINISHED 3RD
#12 Mark Ellis (MU) decision Nathan Fernandez (OU): 5-1
#5 David Zabriskie (ISU) decision Mark Ellis (MU): 3-1
Mark Ellis (MU) decision John May (NU): 3-1
Updated Records
WT Wrestler Season Career
125 John Olanowski 8-13 26-30
133 Tyler McCormick 6-7 76-40
141 Marcus Hoehn 13-14 31-31
149 Josh Wagner 20-10 84-47
157 Michael Chandler 23-3 66-29
165 Nicholas Marable 21-3 47-11
174 Emanuel Brooks 7-5 48-17
184 Raymond Jordan 22-4 84-22
197 Maxwell Askren 21-2 49-5
HWT Mark Ellis 18-10 34-21