What the heck...we'll pull a little double duty this morning and review two sports who competed last night, as the #17 wrestling team (per InterMat) traveled east to take on perennial power Hofstra, while the #14 gymnastics team hosted the annual Pink-Out against conference foe and #17 Iowa State.  Both teams would be victorious on the evening in pretty impressive fashion.  Let's dig into both contests just a little bit and see what we find.

Wrestling:

Over the past few years, the Pride of Hofstra have developed the reputation in NCAA wrestling of being a giant killer.  On a number of a occasions, they upset top-ranked teams, including even beating the #1 a time or two.  This season, they have been decimated by injury and red-shirt and Mizzou took full advantage of that last night, winning eight matches of ten on the evening and dominating for a 34-7 win.  Dom Bradley would start the evening off in the best way possible, earning six points via forfeit, and Hofstra would never be closer than that.  Coming around to 125, true frosh Eric Wilson earned his first dual win with a solid 3-0 win.  Then an interesting thing happened at 133...the Tigers saw the return of another true freshman in Brad Wisdom.  Wisdom, who Intermat still has ranked at #17 at 125, scored a major decision win of 13-5, and now I honestly have no idea what is going on with the Tigers at the light weights, but it will be interesting to keep tabs on that story moving forward.

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So after covering the Mizzou/Cal Poly match here the Tigers returned to the mats later on Friday evening and then again all day Sunday for further action.  Rather than going weight by weight, here are some off-the-top-of-my-head thoughts on what was a fairly mixed weekend for the Tiger grapplers.

vs. Purdue

Brad Wisdom won again, so perhaps he has overtaken Troy Dolan at 125.  Nathan McCormick gave up a lot of points and lost at 133, while Todd Schavrien finished a tough day with a bit of an unexpected loss, still leading me to raise an eyebrow about the decision to have him move up to 141.  The fairly gaping hole continues at 149, as the major decision loss by transfer Scott O’Donnell was not a great way to start a Tiger career.  Patrick Wright had his best win of the season at 157 over the tenth ranked wrestler, and Nick Marable continued his winning ways at 165.  Dorian Henderson also had a tough evening, losing a somewhat close match to the #12 wrestler, while Todd Porter continued to fill in for Max Askren at 184 and lost again.  At 197, Brent Haynes lost an OT match to the #11 wrestler, and Dom Bradley closed out the dual in fine fashion with an :18 pin which actually saw Bradley takedown his opponent, let him back up, take him down again and then finish him.  It all spelled out to a 19-15 loss to the unranked Boilers.  The fact is that if Max Askren is wrestling here, we absolutely win, so it is what it is.

Missouri Open

When this tournament started TEN years ago now, it drew very well from around the region.  I actually watched Cael Sanderson wrestle in this tourney.  Now a days, it seems the Tigers get some talent, but not nearly what they used to.  However, of the wrestlers there, five of them took home titles in either the open (more experienced) or freshman/sophomore division.  Brad Wisdom ran his winning streak to seven matches as he took the F/S title at 125. (and to be honest I don’t know why he wrestled there and not up, but oh well).  At 141, Todd Schavrien bounced back a bit to capture his second tournament title., avenging the loss against his Purdue opponent.  Nick Marable won the 165 title again, but the bigger news might have been the participation of freshman Nathan Toal who continues to really impress in the tournaments he has entered and seems to be the heir apparent to Marable at 165.  Brent Haynes avenged his earlier loss to Logan Brown of Purdue to claim the title, and Dom Bradley made fairly short work of the HWY division to win it.

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So…I have no real access to the website at work, so I am going to write this out like I would have a live blog, and you will just get to read ALL of it when it is completed.  How lucky for you.  I know…I know…you are welcome.

Anyway, a couple of changes to the lineup for the Tigers as they take on #25 Cal Poly.  True freshman Brad Wisdom will debut at 125.  Nick Gregoris appears to be wrestling #2 Chase Pami at 157 instead of Patrick Wright.  At 184, #1 Max Askren appears to be taking the morning off, and Todd Porter will get the spot instead.

On to the action, but first, catch up on the preview of this match here.

125

Wisdom off to a great start with an early takedown and near fall for a 5-0 lead.  Micah Ferguson (a RS Frosh) with an escape, but Wisdom is right back on him for another takedown.  A final escape by Ferguson leaves Wisdom a 7-2 lead after P1.  Wisdom chooses bottom to start the second and gets the escape to make it 8-2.  Impressive start by the frosh today and a great start for the Tigers.  P2 ends with no other action.  P3 begins with Ferguson on bottom in need of all sorts of points to get back into this one.  Ferguson is out and the score is 8-3.  It is safe to assume Wisdom has the riding time advantage right now.  Ferguson now with a takedown to make it 8-5 and Wisdom is hit with a stall warning.  It wont matter as the match ends an 8-5 win for Wisdom and an early 3-0 lead for Mizzou

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Rather than being reactive, let’s get pro-active this week and break down the potential matchups for the Tigers as they take on #23 Cal Poly at noon today and Purdue later on this evening at the Hearnes Center.  Remember, these matches, along with the Open Tournament on Sunday, are your last chance to see the Tigers in person until conference season in February.

Mizzou vs Cal Poly & Purdue

The Tigers will start with the #23 ranked Mustangs of Cal Poly.  Let’s go weight for weight to see how the Tigers stack up against both schools, with a closing paragraph on each dual to close.  We will lead off with Poly and as always, all rankings are care of Intermat Wrestle.

125 – Senior Micah Ferguson of Poly was pinned his last time out against Fullerton.  Sophomore Troy Dolan was shut out in his first match.  Consider this class on Brad Wisdom Watch.  Until then (and until Wisdom in turn proves himself), I will have to always give the advantage to the opposition.

For the Boilers, RS Frosh Matt Fields is 7-2 on the season, with three falls already to his credit.  I think it is very possible we will see Wisdom wrestle with two matches on the same day, but I still have to side with Purdue here.

133 -  RS Frosh Nathan McCormick has looked good coming out of the gate, but he will have his work cut out for him against sophomore #14 Boris Novachkov.  A win by McCormick would really make a statement, but I have to go Mustangs on this.

Junior Akif Eren is likely to see the start here for Purdue, and sports a 6-1 record so far on the season.  Tough to call this one so early in the season, but given that Eren does not have a career winning record (was only 20-33 coming into the year), let’s mix it up and step out on a limb and go with McCormick

141 – Junior #19 Todd Schavrien overcame his opening loss to get the title at the UCM Open last weekend.  He will once again face a ranked opponent, this time against junior #14 Filip Novachkov.  This is probably a pretty even batter, and one Mizzou may need to win, but I will go with Poly again here.

Junior Juan Archuleta is likely to see the mat at 141 for Purdue, and does so with a 6-0 record on the season.  He recently won the Eastern Michigan Open with a 4-0 mark.  I still like Schavrien here, as I do not anticipate the Purdue dual to be as close as the Poly one might be.

149 – Senior Eric Maldanado of Poly has been ranked before I believe, but finds himself out of the Top 20 currently.  Junior Brandon Weist looked OK against Illinois, but may still be finding his way.  Will Poly really win four matches in a row?

Purdue has a couple of wrestlers who have seen just about split action this season, one of which is Sam Patacsil, whose brother was a prominent wrestler for the Boilers and whose grandfather was a national champion.  Sam is only 5-3 on the season (senior Nick Bertucci is 7-3), but I like both to beat Weist here.

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Mizzou Wrestling began their season last night, and as always, below is a recap from The Beef...

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The 2009-2010 Mizzou Wrestling season kicked off last night at the Hearnes Center, as the Tigers opened their campaign by welcoming the Illinois Fighting REDACTED.  The #8 Tigers (care of Intermat) welcomed a few new faces to the starting 10, and some had success, helping lead Mizzou to a 18-16 win over the unranked Illini.  I was NOT in attendance last night (nor will I likely be for many if ANY matches this season), but thanks to the miracle of the Interwebs, I should be able to get some thoughts together based on what is out there.

The dual started with the team agreeing to begin at 174 pounds, meaning one of the featured bouts of the night would start things off.  Sophomore Dorian Henderson, who is starting the year at a new weight and with a national ranking (#20) took on fellow sophomore and #7 ranked Jordan Blanton.  Henderson was hot out of the gate, taking an early 2-0 lead after a takedown.  Blanton would escape and take him back down himself, before a Henderson escape would leave the match tied at 3 after one.  Blanton would tack on an escape in the second period, but Henderson returned the favor in the third to tie it at 4.  Blanton got the last takedown and had the riding time advantage, winning 7-4 and putting Mizzou down in an early 3-0 hole.

Mizzou would not be there for long, as senior and #2 ranked Max Askren took on #10 John Dergo.  The two were scoreless in the first and tied after a takedown by Askren and reversal by Dergo in the second.  The third period saw Askren escape, but then be taken down by Dergo to be trailing 4-3.  However, he strung an escape (4-4), takedown (6-4) and near fall (9-4) before the buzzer, winning 9-4 and tying the dual at 3-3.

Up next was an intriguing match featuring one of the newbies for the Tigers.  RS Frosh Brent Haynes, made a debut of sorts against #13 Patrick Bond, a senior.  Haynes was down 1-0 through two after a scoreless first and a Bond escape (heh heh..Bond escape) in the 2nd.  However, after tying it with his own escape, Haynes took down Bond and rode him out to earn the extra point and an impressive 4-1 win, moving the Tigers into the lead at 6-3.

At HWY, returning national champ and #1 senior Mark Ellis had his way with Patrick Walker, taking his opponent down four times before pinning him in second period.  The six big points extended the Tigers’ lead to 12-3, which they would need as the dual turned to the lighter weight.  Starting back at 125, Troy Dolan got the call (even though true frosh Brad Wisdom had defeated him in the Black and Gold meet) and put up very little resistance, losing a major decision 9-0 as he was rolled twice for near-fall points.  The dual was tightened up at this point, with Mizzou still leading 12-7

On to 133 where another Tiger newbie would make his debut.  Nathan McCormick (of the Wrestling McCormick’s) got off to a good start against Daryl Thomas of Illinois, taking a 2-1 lead into the second period.  McCormick would extend that lead via an escape to 3-1, and while Thomas was able to earn that point back to make 3-2 with an escape of his own, McCormick held on (even with a stall warning) for a tough 3-2 win.  This would prove to be a big win for the Tigers, getting them back up 15-7.

The last marquee (two ranked wrestlers) match of the evening was between #18 Todd Schavrien, who is new to 141 this season, against #13 Kyle Prater.  This was a wild affair from the start, as Schavrien was turned early and faced a 6-2 deficit after one period.  However, he was able to take the lead after a reversal (6-4) and near fall (7-6).  Prater would escape and get a takedown of his own to hold a 9-7 advantage headed to the final stanza.  There, an early escape would extend the lead to 10-7.  Schavrien would close the gap with a takedown to make it 10-9, but that is as close as he would get, as Prater would reverse and get a 2-point near fall, and with riding time, take home a 15-9 win.  This moved the Illini closer at 15-10.

Brandon Weist at 149 would be another Tiger making his "debut", taking on Eric Terrazas of Illinois.  Weist held a 1-0 lead after two periods with a second period escape, but Terrazas would escape in the third and get the lone takedown.  Riding time would make this a 4-2 loss for Weist, which drew Illinois closer at 15-13.  Patrick Wright stepped out at 157 looking to get the Tigers back in the win column against Clinton Arlis.  Wright took the lead in the second with an escape, but Arlis had a takedown and the period ended tied at 2-2 after another Wright escape.  Arils got his escape in the third to take the 3-2 lead and Wright could not find a way to score, losing 3-2 and putting the Tigers down 16-15 with one match remaining.

Senior Nick Marable stepped on the mat ranked #7 in the country at 165 and looked to close out the dual win against Conrad Polz.  After a scoreless first, Marable would earn the escape to go up 1-0, then took Polz down for the 3-0 lead.  Polz would escape before the end of the stanza, making it 3-1 as they headed to the final period.  Polz would escape again to close the gap to 3-2, and while Marable was warned for stalling, the clock ran out on Polz and the Illini, as Marable won (fairly typically) 3-2, giving the Tigers the final three points of the dual and the win at 18-16.

Overall, the dual showed some good efforts and results, but certainly some room for growth.  I am encouraged by the great starts by Haynes at 197 and McCormick at 133 and for Henderson to have held his own against a solid opponent at 174.  I was also encouraged to hear true freshman Nathan Toal took an Open Title at Lindenwood a couple of weeks ago at 165 as he likely preps to take that spot from Marable next season.  Askren, Ellis and Marable all came up big, as they will need to all season.  I am not too concerned about Wright, as he certainly proved himself last season when he saw action.  I will remain curious about Schavrien at 141, and remain skeptical about Dolan at 125.  I believe he does not hold the spot all season.

Some of the team will travel to Warrensburg this Saturday for an Open at UCM, while the rest will begin to prepare for two upcoming home duals.  The first will be next Friday at NOON (strange) against #23 Cal Poly (kind of a jerk move to make a west coast team wrestle that early), with the second on Friday against Purdue at 7:00 p.m.  The Missouri Open will be held on Sunday, and will be the last home action until OU and OSU in Feb.  Moral of the story…not many chances to see the Tigers in local action this season, so take advantage next weekend.

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Rock M Nation is blocked from The Beef's current location, so he asked me to post this for him on this lovely(ish) Friday afternoon.

With the Black and Gold meet (Saturday at 1:00 p.m. for FREE at the Hearnes Center) around the corner, we are going to take a somewhat abbreviated look at the team.  I had some thought which I put on the site back over the summer in the Reviewin’ and Previewin’ piece (please link) and needless to say, some things have changed since I wrote that piece.  Let’s go weight by weight and see Coach Smith has lined up for Saturday afternoon.

125

Back over the summer, I based a lot of my hopes around the healthy return of Tony Pescaglia.  However, the roster on MUTigers.com does not reflect Pescaglia as currently being on the team.  As such, Brian Smith will trot out sophomore Troy Dolan and true freshman Brad Wisdom from Farmington, MO.  I expect Dolan, who had some ups and mostly downs last year, to be the winner of this match, but Wisdom should not be discounted as he was the state champ this past year in Missouri.

133

Todd Schavrien will return for the Tigers…just not at this weight class (which came to me as a bit of a surprise).  Schavrien will move up to 141 (more on that in the next paragraph), leaving Taylor (don’t call me Tyler) Crane, who did see some action last year while Schavrien was on the shelf.  He will take on Nathan McCormick, younger brother of former Tiger standout Tyler McCormick.  Crane has the experience here, but I will say I am a tad down about the hope I had of our lighter weights improving over last season.

141

So, color me surprised at this weight class.  Back in the summer, I talked about how I believed RS Frosh Nick Hucke would be the owner of this class for Mizzou, and I suppose he may still be.  However, NCAA participant Todd Schavrien makes the surprising move up, and will challenge Hucke on Saturday.  I don’t really know what to expect.  The Tigers are loaded numbers-wise at this weight, as there will also be an exhibition match at this class featuring  Cody Farinella and Kyle Bradley.  Farinella is a RS frosh, while Bradley is a true frosh.

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