March 22, 2008
St. Louis, Mo. - Three Tigers, Nicholas Marable (Collierville, Tenn.), Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) and Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.), earned All-America honors for the first time of their career by finishing third, fifth and seventh at 165, 184 and 197 pounds, respectively, at the Division I Wrestling Championships contested in the Scottrade Center of St. Louis.
Wrestling on blue mat No. 4 for both of his matches, Marable strapped on green ankle-bands and shutdown eighth-seeded Moza Fay of Northern Iowa, 7-4, in his morning match and followed with a 3-2 decision of Cornell's Mack Lewnes to finish his first NCAA Tournament in third place. Marable closed out his season with a 27-4 record and finished the tournament with Missouri's best showing, 5-1. The meeting between Fay and Marable was the first of the season but the second of Marable's career. In Marable's redshirt freshman season, Fay earned a 5-2 decision, Dec. 3 at the UNI Open. In Saturday's match, Marable was first to score, managing two takedowns in the first period, followed by a single takedown in the second. Marable held his UNI opponent to only four escapes, and for the first time of the season, recorded over a minute-and-a-half of riding time, securing one point for his 1:40 of work.
Marable and Lewnes squared off for the second time of the season in a battle for third place. The two grapplers with similar style and size were scoreless through the first period. Starting down to start the second period, Marable escaped in seven seconds and took down Lewnes with 1:28 left in the period. Allowing Lewnes only two escapes, the result of the third-place match was the same as that of their previous meeting, Jan. 27 in the Hearnes Center.
"The last time we met it was a close match," Marable said. "My whole body hurts after three days of hard wrestling. But I knew I had to find a way to win and I did. I feel that I've wrestled better these past three days than I have all year."
After suffering a one point loss, 3-2, to Michigan's Tyrel Todd, Jordan took his fifth place match with Iowa's Phillip Keddy into overtime where he scored a takedown 33 seconds into the one minute overtime period to win, 6-4. Jordan was down 2-1 entering the second period but escaped six seconds into the second to tie the match at two. In the third, Keddy escaped Jordan's hold but was quickly returned to the mat only to escape one final time for the 4-4 tie that forced overtime.
"We both wanted to go out on a good note, so we both were wrestling hard," Jordan said. "It was tough to get back up and wrestle after losing last night. But I had to shake it off and finish with a win."
Missouri's Askren recorded the final Tiger victory of the tournament with an 11-4 win in overtime over Iowa State's David Bertolino. The victory was Askren's third of the season over the Big 12 grappler and helped the Tiger claim his first All-America honor in his second Tournament appearance. Askren recorded four takedowns in his bout with Bertolino the final coming with four seconds remaining in overtime.
"I can't complain too much about finishing seventh," Askren said. "It's not where I wanted to finish, but it's still a win. If nothing else, it really motivates me for next year."
Championship finals are slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. (CT) and will air live on ESPN. Missouri sits in 11th with 48.5 points after the completion of the fifth session, while Iowa has all but locked up the team title with 109.5 team points. Big 12 opponent Nebraska stands in second with 74 points, while Iowa State is in third with 72.
"It's tough losing the heartbreaker matches that we did the other night," Head Coach Brian Smith said. "Our guys did a good job of walking it off and coming back strong today. These three wrestlers (Marable, Jordan and Askren), have wrestled consistent all year.
"Our team has spring break this week and they'll have some time to relax and get recharged," Smith said. "When they get back, we'll start working towards next year."
133: Tyler McCormick (1-2)
Tyler McCormick (MU) decision Tyler Dillashaw (Cal State Fullerton): 5-2
James Kennedy (Illinois) decision Tyler McCormick (MU): 6-1
Steve Bell (Maryland) decision Tyler McCormick (MU): 11-6
149: Josh Wagner (3-2)
Matthew Fittery (Lock Haven) decision Josh Wagner (MU): 11-6
Josh Wagner (MU) fall Nick Pickerell (UNI): 2:04
Josh Wagner (MU) fall Ryan Adams (North Dakota State): 2:00
Josh Wagner (MU) decision Mitch Mueller (ISU): 2-1
Brandon Carter (Central Michigan) fall Josh Wagner (MU): 3:41
157: Michael Chandler (2-2)
Michael Chandler (MU) decision David Nakasone (Lehigh): 5-3
Michael Chandler (MU) decision Cyler Sanderson (ISU): 5-3
Michael Poeta (MU) decision Michael Chandler (MU): 7-3
Brandon Becker (Indiana) decision Michael Chandler (MU): 8-2
165: Nicholas Marable (5-1)
Nicholas Marable (MU) decision Luke Manuel (Purdue): 4-2
Nicholas Marable (MU) decision Patrick Pitsch (Arizona State): 3-1
Nicholas Marable (MU) decision Jonathan Reader (ISU): 5-3
Mark Perry (MU) decision Nicholas Marable (MU): 4-2
Nicholas Marable (MU) decision Moza Fay (Northern Iowa): 7-4
Nicholas Marable (MU) decision Mack Lewnes (Cornell): 3-2
184: Raymond Jordan (4-2)
Raymond Jordan (MU) technical fall Matthew Gevelinger (Brown): 23-7 in 5:30
Raymond Jordan (MU) decision Rocco Caponni (UVA): 8-2
Raymond Jordan (MU) decision Vince Jones (NU): 3-1
Mike Pucillo (Ohio State) decision Raymond Jordan (MU): 2-1 (OT)
Tyrel Todd (Michigan) decision Raymond Jordan (MU): 3-2
Raymond Jordan (MU) decision Phillip Keddy (Iowa): 6-4 (OT)
197 Pounds: Maxwell Askren (4-2)
Maxwell Askren (MU) major decision Joe Fagiano (Indiana): 15-5
Maxwell Askren (MU) major decision Daren Burns (UNCG): 15-5
Wynn Michalak (Central Michigan) decision Maxwell Askren (MU): 5-4
Maxwell Askren (MU) decision Mike Tammillow (Northwestern): 7-3
Craig Brester (NU) decision Maxwell Askren (MU): 9-2
Maxwell Askren (MU) decision Craig Bertolino (Iowa State) 11-9 (OT)
HWT: Mark Ellis (3-2)
Mark Ellis (MU) decision John Wise (Illinois): 5-4
Jake Rosholt (OSU) decision Mark Ellis (MU): 4-2
Mark Ellis (MU) decision Travis Gardner (Oregon State): 8-2
Mark Ellis (MU) decision Justin Dobies (North Carolina): 5-3
Kyle Massey (Wisconsin) decision Mark Ellis (MU): 3-2
Updated Records
Wt. Wrestler Season Career
133 Tyler McCormick 7-10 77-43
149 Josh Wagner 23-11 87-48
157 Michael Chandler 25-6 68-32
165 Nicholas Marable 27-4 53-12
184 Raymond Jordan 26-6 88-24
197 Maxwell Askren 26-4 54-7
HWT Mark Ellis 21-12 37-23
Team Scores
1. Iowa 109.5
2. Nebraska 74.0
3. Iowa State 72.0
4. Ohio State 71.0
4. Penn State 71.0