Alright...no real idea or notion how this is going to work here, as Mizzou wrestled in FOUR dual matches on Saturday afternoon up in Troy, NY. Fortunately, each dual started at 125, so I will be able to go in order. I will recap the match VERY briefly and give you a running total so you can get some feel for how each dual was playing out. There were some nice upsets individually for the (now) #5 Tigers as they took on #21 Old Dominion, #26 Maryland, Harvard and Brown. Rankings are updated and courtesy of Intermat and off we go.
125: (Troy Dolan 2-2)
vs. Old Dominion - Dolan drew a real tough first match against the #4 wrestler in the country in James Nicholson. Still searching for his first dual win, Dolan showed considerable improvement in only losing the match 3-0. The early loss would put the Tigers down 3-0.
vs. Maryland - Dolan got even better in this match, but still could not pull out a win. Falling 4-2 against his Terp opponent, Dolan put the Tigers down 3-0 to begin this as well, but was getting very close to his first win.
vs. Harvard - Not entirely sure this is the way Troy Dolan wanted to get his first dual win at Mizzou, but he will take the forfeit victory and the 6 quick points which would put the Tigers up 6-0.
vs. Brown - This was more like it, as Dolan's confidence must be on the rise, as he gets another win, and in style this time with a pinfall for another 6-0 Tiger lead. With starts like that in a dual, the Tigers may be almost impossible to beat on the season.
133: (Todd Schavrien 3-1)
vs. Old Dominion - ODU certainly deserves their national ranking, as they are a very tough team at the top of the weight chart. Schavrien would step out on the mat after Dolan's loss to take on the #13 wrestler in the country, and he would step off the mat with a big 8-4 victory. This would even the match for the Tigers at 3-3, and give Schavrien his biggest win of the day.
vs. Maryland - Taking on another ranked opponent in #9 Steve Bell of Maryland, Schavrien could not make it two in a row, and fell to the Terp 6-1. The loss would be his only one on the day, and it would make the team score 6-0 Maryland.
vs. Harvard - The loss must have lit a fire under Schavrien, as he would go on to dominate his next two matches, starting with this one with a tech fall over his opponent 18-3. The 5 points would give the Tigers a very impressive 11-0 early lead over the Crimson.
vs. Brown - Trying to one-up himself, Schavrien would close out his day in fine fashion, scoring a major decision off of a 15-5 win. The four points would give Mizzou a 10-0 lead on the Bears and close out a very productive and exciting day for them at 133.
141: (#14 Marcus Hoehn 4-0)
vs. ODU - First off, yes folks...you are reading that correctly. Marcus Hoehn has parlayed an impressive start to his senior campaign into a #14 national ranking. He would do this by sweeping his day, starting with a 7-4 win over #11 Ryan Williams, the Tigers 2nd upset over a ranked ODU wrestler on the day. The win would give the Tigers a 6-3 lead which they would never relinquish.
vs. Maryland - It would not get much easier for Hoehn in his 2nd match, as his next opponent would be #15 ranked Alex Krom. In an exciting match, Hoehn would notch his second upset in as many matches, scoring a 6-5 win. This was the first one the day for Mizzou against Maryland, and would put them back in it at 6-3.
vs. Harvard - Must have scared off the Crimson wrestler, as Hoehn gets the forfeit, 6 points and a new Tiger lead of 17-0.
vs. Brown - The Ivy League forfeits against Hoehn continued, as the Brown wrestler did not take the mat, giving Hoehn the sweep on the day and 6 more points for the Tigers, who would lead in this match 16-0.
149: (Andrew Sherry 3-0, Brandon Wiest 0-1)
vs. ODU - With Mizzou now past the strength of the Monarch lineup, Sherry made quick work of his opponent, scoring a pinfall in the 1st period at the 2:04 mark. The pin gave Mizzou a 12-3 lead and they would not look back
vs. Maryland - Andrew would come right back after this pinfall victory and was almost as impressive in winning again, this time a major decision of 11-2. The four points would give Mizzou their first lead of the afternoon against the Terps and they would not look back either in this one.
vs. Harvard - Coach Smith decided to switch it up a little bit with the large lead and gave Brandon Weist the chance to see some action. Weist had wrestled well at the Missouri Open, but was not quite up to the task, losing the match 4-0. The loss would make the dual score 17-3 for the Tigers.
vs. Brown - The senior Sherry would get the nod in the final match of the day at this weight, and he would be impressive yet again in scoring another major decision, this time winning 11-3. Three bonus point wins on the day for Sherry is a great sign hopefully, and the win would lengthen the Tiger lead to 20-0.
157: (#4 Mike Chandler 3-0, Patrick Wright 1-0)
vs. ODU - After not wrestling in the first few dual meets after his loss to Emanuel Brooks in the Black and Gold meet, Mike Chandler has been extremely impressive in not only winning, but winning big. In his first match of the day, he easily took apart his Monarch opponent, winning a major decision of 10-2. This would push the Tiger lead out to 16-3
vs. Maryland - Up next was the ol' fashioned takedown clinic against his Terp counterpart, as Chandler went to town and won a tech fall by the big score of 22-7. These 5 points would get the Tigers to 12-6 and they would begin to pull away from Maryland at this point.
vs. Harvard - One of the top matches of the day would pit Chandler against the #5 wrestler in the nation in J.P. O'Connor of the Crimson. This is the type of match you might expect to see in the semis of the NCAA's, and Chandler pulled this one out by the closest of margins at 3-2. Another solid win in his cap, the Tigers now lead Harvard in the dual meet by the big score of 20-3.
vs. Brown - Chandler took the last match off (deservedly so) and turned it over to perhaps his replacement in waiting in RS freshman Patrick Wright, another member of the big class of two seasons ago, but perhaps a bit less heralded.
Wright would make a nice little name for himself in these duals, as this was his second match of the day (more on that in another few paragraphs). Here, Wright would go out and earn a 2nd period fall at 4:34, giving the Tigers another 6 points and a very commanding 26-0 lead.
165: (#7 Nick Marable 2-1, Patrick Wright 1-0)
vs. ODU - A tough start to the season for Marable would continue, as he would tweak his knee in the first against the #13 wrestler and they would finish regulation tied at 1-1. No points in sudden victory, and Marable would be ridden for 30 seconds to keep the score knotted at 1-1. Marable would release his opponent to make it 2-1 and tried to come back to get the takedown for the win. Evidently, he got in deep on a shot (takedown attempt), but could not finish it and lost the match 2-1. The loss would keep ODU in shouting distance, though still down at 16-6.
vs. Maryland - Looks like Marable did a good job of shaking off the injury, as he came right back in the next dual to wrestle again, this time scoring a tough 3-2 win, typical of how Marable usually wins. The decision would give the Tigers another 3 points against the Terps and make the score 15-6.
vs. Harvard - Here is where Patrick Wright saw his first action of the day, giving Marable a breather and taking on Michael Sadler of Harvard. So, what did Wright do in his first dual action? He scored a third period pin at the 6:28 mark. The pin would make the match 26-3 and almost close out the Crimson officially.
vs. Brown - Not wanting to have his thunder stolen (and because Wright just wrestled against Brown at 157), Marable would return to the mat to win another decision, this time scoring a few more takedowns en route to a 8-3 win. The three points to the Tigers would make the team score 29-0 and Brown was mathematically eliminated from winning...clearly a foregone conclusion.
174: (#4 Raymond Jordan 4-0)
vs. ODU - Was going to be a pretty boring day for the #4 ranked senior, as he would not face a ranked opponent all day. He would also not score less than 11 points on the day, starting out with a major decision by the score of 13-3. The four points here gave the Tigers a commanding lead of 20-6 with the Monarch almost put away.
vs. Maryland - Another match, another impressive final score, though this time Jordan would just win a regular decision with the 11-4 final. The three points extended Mizzou's lead to 18-6 over Maryland as they drew closer to officially taking the dual win.
vs. Harvard - You know the Tigers are having a good day when Jordan can officially close out wins from the 174 slot, and that is exactly what he did against Harvard.By pinning his opponent in only 1:16 (tied for the fastest MU pin on the day), he would push the team score to 32-3 and close this one out.
vs. Brown - Jordan would return to the mat for his final match of the afternoon and would score another 12 points on his way to a 12-5 decision. Three more points for Mizzou would extend their already winning lead out to 32-0 and preserved the shutout.
184: (John Andrews 0-3, Dorian Henderson 1-0)
vs. ODU - Interesting decision here to give Andrews the majority of the action on the day...perhaps to send a message to Henderson (TOTAL speculation by the way). At any rate, the senior took the mat to start the day and lost his first match in pretty close fashion 5-2. The loss was the last of the day for the Tigers against the Monarch, as the lead now sat at 20-9.
vs. Maryland - Henderson would get the 2nd match of the afternoon, and he would make good use of his opportunity (maybe he tweaked something too...who knows...just guessing) by winning his lone match of the day in a wild 10-8 score. The decision would put the Tigers up 21-6 and officially close out the Terps on the afternoon.
vs. Harvard - After the wild win by Henderson, Andrews would be called back to the mat against the already-defeated Crimson. A REAL tough draw here for Andrews as he took on #4 ranked (and former Raymond Jordan nemesis) Louis Caputo. Caputo would romp like you might expect, winning a major decision 11-0 and giving the Crimson four points to make the score 32-7.
vs. Brown - Last, but not least, Andrews would get one more match and would be unsuccessful in both turning his day around and keeping the Mizzou shutout going, as he would lose 5-1 and make the team score 32-3. On the day, this was the only weight class which would have a losing record.
197 (#4 Max Askren 4-0)
vs. ODU - With the backs of the Monarchs to the mat from a team competition standpoint, all Askren needed was a decision of any kind to clinch the Tigers first meet of the day. He would get the win via a 7-3 decision, making the team score a solid 23-9 against another nationally ranked opponent.
vs. Maryland - Probably the match of the day for the Tigers, and maybe the entire tournament as Askren would wrestle then #2 (now #4) Hudson Taylor. Taylor would employ a very stange strategy of wrestler from his back against Askren, and Max would take advantage. Word is the 9-4 win was not even that close, and a great win for Askren on the national level. The decision would give the Tigers another three points against the Terps and push the score out to 24-6 on the day.
vs. Harvard - With his toughest match of the day having been a solid statement, Askren backed that up in his next competition, and tied Raymond Jordan for the quick pin award (no such thing) with a 1:16 fall of his Crimson counterpart. The pin would make the score a pretty much total romp of 38-7 with still HWY to go.
vs. Brown - Askren would close out his afternoon with a pretty simple major decision, a win of 11-4 over Branden Stearns to make the Brown team score 35-3...an even bigger romp than against Harvard.
HWY (#4 Mark Ellis 3-0, Dom Bradley 1-0)
vs. ODU - The exclamation point that was Mark Ellis started off in style, as he pinned his opponent at the 4:18 mark of the 2nd period to stretch the Tiger lead out to a final 29-9, a pretty solid thrashing of a very competitive ODU squad. The Tigers took seven of ten matches on the afternoon.
vs. Maryland - Back again in the 2nd closer of the day, and he was not much less dominating than he was in the 1st match. This time, a 11-2 major decision would close out the dual and push the Tiger win to a 28-6 margin and give the Tigers eight wins out of ten against the Terrapins.
vs. Harvard - Dom Bradley got the call against the Crimson and he did not waste his chance, scoring his own major decision by a solid 14-4 score. The four points would push Mizzou over the 40 point threshold, which is a VERY good score. The final of 42-7 saw the Tigers take eight of ten matches for the dual.
vs. Brown - Ellis would be called back to finish the entire day for the Tigers, and once again, he would close it out in impressive style, this time with a 1st period pin only 1:30 into the match. The final six points gave the Tigers a crushing 41-3 dominatin over the Bears, as they took nine of their final ten matches for the day.
In Summation....
Anytime you wrestle four duals and take 32 of 40 matches with 8 pins and 20 of the 40 in bonus points, you have been very impressive. Coach Smith singled out the performances of Marcus Hoehn and Patrick Wright on the day. Obviously, getting sweeps from the likes of Chandler, Jordan and Askren, along with our duo at HWY is to be expected. However, if Hoehn continues at this high level and Dolan and Schavrien can supplement the lower weights with wins, the Tigers become a VERY tough team to beat in the dual format. Winning these four matches in this fashion show the potential this lineup could have come conference season.
Next Up:
The Tigers have this week off before travelling to the west coast for what I think is a fun and important event in the Big 12/Pac 10 duals Wrestling in the west is still growing, and getting teams like Mizzou and other national powerhouses from the Big XII in front of the people is good for the sport. The Tigers will take on Cal State - Fullerton, Cal State-Bakersfield and Cal Poly on Saturday the 13th before making a trip up the coast to Corvallis to take on #28 Oregon State on Sunday. Coach Smith is loading up on the duals this season, as the Tigers will only compete in the Midland Tournament (aside from the National Duals). Actually, in looking at the schedule, I believe the Tigers will likely wrestle in 23 duals before all is said and done....that is as big of a number as I can remember.