Jan. 13, 2011
Complete Match Notes | Mizzou vs. Chattanooga Live Scoring | Mizzou vs. SIUE Live Scoring | Mizzou Wrestling on Facebook
Fresh off the team's first Midlands Championship and a fifth-place showing at the NWCA National Duals, the No. 7 Missouri wrestling team returns home for the first time in 2011 this Saturday, Jan. 15. The Tigers will take on Chattanooga at 2 p.m. CT and SIU-Edwardsville at approximately 3:45 p.m. CT. The Missouri grapplers will share the floor with the Tiger gymnastics squad, as the two teams will co-host the fifth annual Beauty and the Beast competition. The gymnastics team will take on SEMO at 2 p.m. CT at the Hearnes Center.
Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for youth and senior citizens. Fans can purchase tickets on MUTigers.com or by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS. Fans can also enter the meet by bringing in their ticket stubs from the Mizzou Women's basketball game on Saturday morning.
Scouting Chattanooga
The Chattanooga Mocs come into this dual sporting a 5-8 record on the season, having lost four of their last five. Last weekend, the Mocs lost both matches at the Virginia Duals, falling 22-18 to Arizona State and 33-10 to Rider. Earlier in the week, UTC knocked off Ohio by a 20-18 score. The Mocs are led by second year head coach Heath Eslinger.
The Mocs' top performers are Josh Condon at 157 pounds, Jason McCroskey at 184 pounds and Niko Brown at 197 pounds. Condon is 16-6 on the season, and is 7-3 in duals. He's pinned three opponents and has scored a major decision in three other matches. McCroskey boasts a record of 17-6, with a 10-3 dual record, and has scored bonus points in six of his victories. Brown is currently 14-7 on the year and 6-3 in duals. Of his 14 wins, six have come via fall.
This will be the tenth meeting all-time between Missouri and Chattanooga, with the Tigers holding an 8-1 advantage. Mizzou has won the last five, with the lone Chattanooga win coming at the Virginia Duals in the 2004-05 season, where the Mocs knocked off the Tigers by a final score of 19-16.
Scouting SIU-Edwardsville
Southern Illinois-Edwardsville comes into the weekend with a 2-9 record and on a two match losing streak. SIUE's lone victories this year came in an 18-12 win over South Dakota State and a 21-17 victory over Gardner-Webb. The Cougars have gone up against some of the top programs in the country this year, facing off against Cornell, Iowa and Indiana thusfar. Head Coach David Ray is in his third year as head coach of the Cougars. Missouri holds an 18-4 edge against SIUE all-time. The Tigers have won the last six meetings, with SIUE's last win coming by a 21-12 margin in 1987.
Beauty and the Beast History
The Beauty and the Beast event made its debut in 2007, combining two of Missouri's most successful programs to give fans a fast-paced and unique experience. With a 2-2 record all-time at Beauty and the Beast, the Missouri wrestling team will look to improve its record this year. The Tigers won each their first two Beauty and the Beast duals, knocking off Northern Iowa by a 36-13 final in 2007 and Oklahoma by a 23-10 score in 2008. Missouri has dropped the last two contests, losing to Central Michigan in 2009 and Oklahoma last season.
Follow Live
Live scoring will be available for the NWCA National Duals through the NWCA scorebook. Links to live scoring can be found on the wrestling page sidebar at MUTigers.com. Mizzou All-Access subscribers will also be able to watch live on mutigers.tv.
What's Next
After a week off, the Tigers will open the Big 12 season against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at the Hearnes Center on Sunday, Jan. 30. What could possibly be the last matchup between these two programs will get started at 1 p.m. CT. This event is also the annual “Wrestling Supporting Wrestling” dual, where all proceeds from the event go directly to the Missouri wrestling scholarship endowment fund.
Mizzou Places Fifth at National Duals
The Missouri Tigers took fifth place at the 2011 NWCA National Duals after posting a 4-1 record at the tournament.
Mizzou opened up with a 27-9 win over host Northern Iowa, as their first three wins all came with bonus points. Alan Waters opened things up with a pin at 125, while Todd Schavrien scored a technical fall at 141 and Kyle Bradley picked up a major decision at 149, pacing the Tigers to a big margin early on.
The Tigers' next match was against No. 1 Cornell, who edged out Mizzou by a slight 18-15 margin. Missouri jumped out to a 9-0 lead after the first three matches, but the strength of the Big Red's middle weight classes pulled them ahead. Brent Haynes and Dom Bradley won at their respective classes, but the bonus points by Cornell at 174 and 184 was enough to give them the match.
Missouri bounced back with an impressive 29-12 victory over No. 17 Central Michigan in the team's first consolation match. After falling behind 6-3 after the first two matches, Schavrien scored a fall at 141 to put the Tigers up 9-6, a lead they would extend to 19-6 over the next three matches. Back-to-back technical falls by Mike Larson at 184 and Haynes at 197 put the match out of reach for the Chippewas, and guaranteeing the Tigers their first top-eight finish since 2007.
On day two, the Tigers opened up with a 21-12 upset of No. 6 Boise State. Schavrien scored another victory by bonus points to give them an early 7-3 lead. Kyle Bradley and Nick Gregoris battled hard at 149 and 157 with Boise State's grapplers, who are ranked No. 3 and No. 2 in those classes respectively, holding them to wins by decision to keep the Tigers within striking distance. The Broncos led 12-10 heading into the 184 pound match, but the Tigers took the last three matches to claim the dual. Dorian Henderson started things off by wrestling up to 184 and scoring a 19-5 major decision to put Mizzou ahead by a pair. A decision by Haynes put Mizzou up five, leaving Boise State needing a fall at heavyweight over No. 6 Dom Bradley to take the meet. Instead, Bradley picked up a 13-3 major decision, sending the Tigers to the fifth place match.
Paired up against conference rival Oklahoma State, the Tigers pulled off their second straight upset over a top-six team, beating the No. 2 Cowboys by a 21-19 final to claim fifth. Down 12-3, Gregoris pulled off the upset of the weekend for Mizzou, pinning No. 14 Neil Erisman in 2:35 to cut the lead to 12-9. Zach Toal scored a tough decision over No. 16 Dallas Bailey, and a win by default for Dorian Henderson put the Tigers up six. Oklahoma State picked up seven points over the next two matches to take a one point lead into the final match, by Bradley finished off his perfect 4-0 weekend with a 6-1 decision to clinch it for Missouri.
Early Points Helping Tigers
Much of the Tigers' success this season has been because of the success they've had right off the bat in their dual meets. More specifically, the success they've had at 125, 133 and 141 pounds. The Tigers have scored 369 total team points in duals this season, and 152 of those have come from the first three weight classes, making up over 41% of the team's total. Mizzou has accumulated 36 points at 133 pounds, 55 points at 125 and 61 points at 141.
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