March 5, 2011
AMES, Iowa. – The Missouri wrestling team sits in third place after the morning session of the 2011 Big 12 Championships, as they have sent four grapplers through to tonight's finals. After the first session, the Tigers find themselves in third place in the team standings.
Senior Todd Schavrien (141), redshirt freshman Kyle Bradley (149), sophomore Nick Gregoris (157) and junior Dom Bradley (HWT) will all wrestle tonight for the Big 12 title in their respective class after winning their semifinal matches this morning. Schavrien and Dom Bradley have punched their tickets to NCAA's, while wins by Kyle Bradley and Gregoris will send them to nationals as well.
The Tigers five other wrestlers in third or fourth place and have automatically qualified seven grapplers for Nationals. Alan Waters, Nathan McCormick, Dorian Henderson and Brent Haynes each took third in their class, while Zach Toal placed fourth, sending all five to the NCAA Championship.
Missouri sent three grapplers to the finals with three straight wins at 141, 149 and 157. Schavrien earned a 6-3 win over Iowa State's Chris Drouin. Schavrien defeated Drouin 3-1 on Senior Day at the Hearnes Center in the team's final dual of the season, avenging a 3-2 loss at the hands of Drouin at Midlands. Schavrien will take on Oklahoma's Zack Bailey in the finals. Bailey beat Oklahoma State's Josh Kindig by a 3-2 decision in the semifinals.
Kyle Bradley advanced to the finals with a 2-0 win over Oklahoma's Matt Lester. Bradley scored a takedown in the first minute of the match and used strong riding and tough defense to fight off Lester. Bradley had defeated Lester 5-4 at Midlands but lost to him 4-2 at the dual. Bradley will face Jamal Parks of Oklahoma State, who won 7-4 over Iowa State's Max Mayfield in the semis.
Gregoris knocked off No. 2 seed Chase Nelson of Oklahoma with a 4-2 decision in the second tiebreaker. Each wrestler worked an escape in regulation and in the first tiebreaker. After another scoreless sudden victory, Gregoris took bottom in the first period of the second tiebreaker and scored a reversal. He rode Nelson out for the rest of that period and the second half of the second tiebreaker, giving him the win. He'll move on to face Neil Erisman in the finals. Gregoris pinned Erisman at National Duals but lost by technical fall in the dual.
Dom Bradley became the fourth Tiger grappler to move on to the finals, picking up a 2-1 win over Iowa State's Kyle Simonson. Bradley escaped in the second and was awarded a point on Simonson's second stall warning.
Waters dropped his first match to Jarrod Patterson of OU, losing 1-0 in the first tiebreaker. Waters bounced back, edging Iowa State's Brandon Jones by an 8-2 score before taking third when his opponent had to medical forfeit.
McCormick had to fight back after losing his first match to ISU's Ben Cash, 9-6, in the 133 pound pigtail match. In the first round of consolations, McCormick took out Nebraska's Ridge Kiley by a 3-2 score, and then got revenge on Cash in the third place match, winning 5-0.
Losing his first two matches, Toal was able to put a win on the board in the fourth place match. Toal was up on Iowa State's Chris Spangler when Spangler was injured on a takedown and opted to default.
After losing 9-0 in his opening match, Henderson rallied off back-to-back wins, the first two of his career at Big 12's, to earn the final 174 pound automatic qualifier spot. Henderson edged Caleb Kolb of Nebraska 6-2 before scoring a sudden victory takedown on Oklahoma's Jeff James to win 3-1 in the third place match.
Haynes won his pigtail match over Keldrick Hall by a 4-2 score before falling to top seeded Clayton Foster, 7-4 in the semifinals. In the third place match, Haynes edged Andy Johnson of Nebraska by a 3-2 score in the first tiebreaker, riding Johnson out in the first period before scoring an escape in the second.
Missouri's four finalists will be back in action at 7 p.m. CT tonight. Follow @MIZLive on Twitter or join the MUTigers.com live blog to follow along. FoxSportsMidwest.com will also stream a live video feed free of charge.
Team Standings
1. Oklahoma State – 61.0
2. Oklahoma – 59.5
3. Missouri – 54.0
4. Nebraska – 40.5
5. Iowa State – 27.0
125: Alan Waters (Record: 2-1) – THIRD PLACE – AUTOMATIC QUALIFIER
Jarrod Patterson (OU) dec. Alan Waters (MU), 1-0 (TB1)
Alan Waters (MU) dec. Brandon Jones (ISU), 6-2
Alan Waters wins via medical forfeit
133: Nathan McCormick (Record: 2-1) – THIRD PLACE – AUTOMATIC QUALIFIER
Ben Cash (ISU) dec. Nathan McCormick (MU), 9-6
Nathan McCormick (MU) dec. Ridge Kiley (NU), 3-2
Nathan McCormick (MU) Ben Cash (ISU), 5-0
141: Todd Schavrien
Todd Schavrien (MU) dec. Chris Drouin (ISU), 6-3
149: Kyle Bradley
Kyle Bradley (MU) dec. Matt Lester (OU), 2-0
157: Nick Gregoris
Nick Gregoris (MU) dec. Chase Nelson (OU), 4-2 (TB2)
165: Zach Toal (Record: 1-2) – FOURTH PLACE – AUTOMATIC QUALIFIER
Tyler Caldwell (OU) dec. Zach Toal (MU), 6-0
Dallas Bailey (OSU) dec. Zach Toal (MU), 5-2
Zach Toal (MU) wins by injury default
174: Dorian Henderson (Record: 2-1) – THIRD PLACE – AUTOMATIC QUALIFIER
Mike Benefiel (OSU) major dec. Dorian Henderson (MU), 9-0
Dorian Henderson (MU) dec. Caleb Kolb (NU), 6-2
Dorian Henderson (MU) dec. Jeff James (OU), 3-1 (SV1)
184: Mike Larson (Record: 0-2)
Cole Shafer (ISU) fall Mike Larson (MU), 6:19
Eric Schmidtke (OU) dec. Mike Larson (MU), 3-1
197: Brent Haynes (Record: 2-1) – THIRD PLACE – AUTOMATIC QUALIFIER
Brent Haynes (MU) dec. Keldrick Hall (OU), 4-2
Clayton Foster (OSU) dec. Brent Haynes (MU), 7-4
Brent Haynes (MU) dec. Andy Johnson (MU), 3-2 (TB1)
HWT: Dom Bradley
Dom Bradley (MU) dec. Kyle Simonson (ISU), 2-1