March 8, 2008
Stillwater, Okla. - Four members of the 12th-ranked Missouri wrestling team will compete in the Championship finals of the 12th annual Big 12 Championships held in Gallagher Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. Senior Tyler McCormick (Leawood, Kan.), junior Michael Chandler (High Ridge, Mo.) and sophomores Nicholas Marable (Collierville, Tenn.) and Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.) will make a run at an individual title at 133-, 157-, 165- and 197-pounds respectively. This marks the fourth time in program history and the third straight year that Missouri advances four Tigers to the title round.
Missouri stands fourth in the team standing with 32 points, while Iowa State leads with 48. The Tigers are only two team points behind Oklahoma State, who stand at third with 34. Nebraska is second with 41 and OU is fifth with only eight points.
Seeded fourth at 133 pounds, McCormick held off Oklahoma's Brian Shelton, 10-8, to win his first bout of the day. The second meeting of the season between the two grapplers, it marked McCormick's second win over the Sooner. Advancing through the championship bracket, McCormick upset No. 1 ranked Coleman Scott of Oklahoma State, 5-3, in front of a Cowboy-friendly crowd. After 9:32 of action, McCormick recorded a takedown in the second one minute, sudden victory period to record his first career win over Scott and hand the Cowboy only his fourth loss of the year.
As the No. 1 seed at 157 pounds, Chandler took on Oklahoma State's Newly McSpadden and won a 5-2 decision. Scoreless through the first two periods, McSpadden managed a reversal with 32 seconds left in the bout. Chandler's two point reversal four seconds later, sent the match into overtime, Missouri's third of five overtime matches on the day. Within the 60 second window, Chandler took down McSpadden and collected a five-count for the three-point nearfall and win.
Missouri entered the all-day tournament with three Tigers seeded No. 1 in their weight class. Marable's bye in the first round set him up for a competition with Oklahoma's Jon Dean. Marable was credited with two takedowns in the first period and earned an escape in the third, holding the Sooner to an escape and over a minute of riding time.
Returning conference champion Askren looks to become only the second Tiger in Big 12 history to take back-to-back titles. Askren paired with his last regular season opponent of 2008, David Bertolino of Iowa State, and won a 6-3 decision to advance to the finals. Askren, now 21-2 on the season, owns a 12 match win streak heading into the finals.
Sophomore John Olanowski (Virginia Beach), junior Marcus Hoehn (Farmington, Mo.), senior Josh Wagner (Milton, Wis.), junior Emanuel Brooks (Cahokia, Ill.), junior Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) and sophomore Mark Ellis (Peculiar, Mo.) have fallen to the consolation bracket and will battle for a third place finish beginning at 4 p.m. (CT). Finals will begin at 7 p.m. (CT).
125: Olanowski, No. 5 Seed
#14 Tyler Clark (ISU) decision John Olanowski (MU): 5-0
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
#16 Zack Bailey (OU) decision #29 Marcus Hoehn (MU): 3-2
149: Wagner, No. 2 Seed
Mitch Mueller (ISU) decision #12 Josh Wagner (MU): 9-5
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 (OU): 5-2
174: Brooks, No. 5 Seed
Emanuel Brooks (MU) decision Pat Flynn (OU): 5-3
Brandon Browne (NU) decision Emanuel Brooks (MU): 7-6
184: Jordan, No. 2 Seed
#6 Joshua Weitzel (OU) decision #4 Raymond Jordan (MU): 7-3
197: Askren, No. 1 Seed
#4 Maxwell Askren (MU) decision #16 David Bertolino (ISU): 6-3
HWT: Ellis, No. 4 Seed
#12 Mark Ellis (MU) decision Nathan Fernandez (OU): 5-1
#5 David Zabriskie (ISU) decision Mark Ellis (MU): 3-1
Updated Records
WT Wrestler Season Career
125 John Olanowski 8-12 26-29
133 Tyler McCormick 6-7 76-40
141 Marcus Hoehn 13-13 31-30
149 Josh Wagner 19-9 83-46
157 Michael Chandler 23-3 66-29
165 Nicholas Marable 21-3 47-11
174 Emanuel Brooks 7-4 48-16
184 Raymond Jordan 21-3 83-21
197 Maxwell Askren 21-2 49-5
HWT Mark Ellis 17-10 33-21