Nov. 22, 2010

Elite Bracket | Amateur Bracket

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Missouri wrestling team sent 23 wrestlers to the 2010 Kaufman/Brand Open in Omaha, Neb., on Saturday, and six Tigers returned to Columbia with hardware.  Sophomore Brent Haynes and freshman Devin Mellon led the charge, with each claiming first place in their respective classes.  Weston Keleher placed second, Drake Houdashelt took third, and Johnny Eblen and Clarence Neely each took sixth.

Haynes swept through the 197 pound elite bracket in dominating fashion, pinning four of his five opponents while scoring a technical fall on the other.  His fastest pin came in 1:41, and his 15-0 tech. fall win came in 2:51.  In the finals, Haynes pinned Minnesota's Joe Nord in just 2:05.

In the heavyweight amateur bracket, Mellon rallied off four decisions in five matches to claim the title.  He opened with wins of 7-3 and 7-4, and after getting credit for a fall due to disqualification, he then beat Kyle Slifka of Iowa State by a 5-3 score before winning the championship by a 3-1 score in sudden victory overtime.

Keleher took runner-up honors at the 184 pound amateur level, finishing 5-1 on the day.  He opened things up by pinning his first opponent in 1:03, and then earned an 8-2 decision.  After getting an 18-3 tech. fall on his next opponent, he'd rally off 4-1 and 6-5 decisions, sending him to the finals.

Houdashelt placed for the third time in as many tournaments this season, as he improved his record to 12-3 on Saturday.  After winning his first match 5-2, he then scored a 16-1 tech. fall and a 13-1 major decision in his next two matches.  He was then defeated by Nick Moore of Iowa by a slim 3-2 margin, but bounced back to tech. fall his opponent in the third place match, 19-4.

Neely, competing at 184 pounds in the elite bracket, won his first two matches and went on to finish sixth.  He started things off with a 7-5 win over Iowa's Tomas Lira and then beat his next opponent 5-2.

Eblen wrestled at 184 pounds in the amateur bracket and won four matches on the day as he earned his second tournament medal of the season.  Eblen opened his day with a 13-2 major decision, and then defeated Minnesota's Joel Bauman by a 3-2 final.  After dropping his next match, he defeated his next opponent, 6-2, and then won by pin in his next match to send him to the fifth/sixth place match.

The Tigers return to action this weekend with the Journeymen/ASICS Northeast Duals in Albany, N.Y.