Nov. 1, 2014

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Missouri Wrestling kicked off its season Saturday morning with the second-annual Alumni Black & Gold Match. Eleven alum, including three All-Americans and two National Champions, returned to Columbia to wrestle against the current Tiger team.

Matt Manley put the current Tigers on the board with a decision win over recent graduate Eric Wilson. The alumni would win the next three matches, however, including a 6-1 win by Brandon Wiest over his younger brother, Trevor.

Continuing last year's tiebreaker rule, the crowd was encouraged to participate in matches that ended the three, one-minute periods in a tie. The rule came into play during the match between Le'Roy Barnes and Josh Wagner, and again during the match between Lavion Mayes and Marcus Hoehn. By fan decision, Barnes and Hoehn were named the winners, bringing the unofficial team scores to 6-12, Alumni.

Ty Prazma capped off the current member wins with a 4-3 decision over Khris Whelan. Whelan was the oldest alumni participating in the event; he graduated in '83 after earning All-American honors in '80 and '83. The alumni took the last four matches of the day, including a pin by former Tiger National Champion Ben Askren over Cody Johnston and decision win (4-0) by another former National Champion and Askren brother, Max, over current Tiger Mikey England. Winning eight of the 11 bouts, the Alumni unofficially won the dual 27-9.

Thirty minutes prior to the start of the dual, six exhibition matches between current Tigers took place. In the first, sophomore Barlow McGee won over redshirt sophomore Cody Hummer by major decision, 10-2 after adding a point for riding time. Redshirt sophomore Cole Baumgartner took the second match over freshman John Erneste, 7-5. In a close match that resulted in a lost contact lens, true freshman Daniel Lewis edged redshirt sophomore Matt Lemanowicz, 3-1. In the final exhibition match, true freshmen Jacob Semple and Wood Mancuso faced off at heavyweight; Semple took the bout, 5-1.

Current Tigers Alan Waters and J'den Cox will be competing in the All-Star Classic on Nov. 1, beginning at 5:30pm. Matches will be streamed live via Flowrestling.

Next Saturday, the Tigers head to Ames, Iowa for the Cyclone Open before returning home for a double-header at home against Truman and Missouri Baptist on Nov. 15. Check in to MUTigers.com for the latest information on all things Mizzou Wrestling. You can also find the Tigers on social media, by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter (@MizzouWrestling).

Past vs. Present Matches (Alumni in BOLD)
Matt Manley won by decision over Eric Wilson, 3-1
Luke Cherep won by decision over Zach Synon, 6-4
Nate McCormick won by decision over Robbie Mathers, 5-2
Brandon Wiest won by decision over Trevor Wiest, 6-1
Le'Roy Barnes won by fan decision over Josh Wagner, 5-5
Marcus Hoehn won by fan decision over Lavion Mayes, 2-2
Ty Prazma won by decision over Khris Whelan, 4-3
Dorian Henderson won by decision over Johnny Eblen, 6-3
Ben Askren won by pin (1:35) against Cody Johnston
Max Askren won by decision over Mikey England, 4-0
Mike Larson won by decision over Willie Miklus, 5-3