12th Ranked Missouri Wrestling Team Falls to Tennessee Chattanooga
…Ben Askren Scores 15th fall of the Season…
Hampton, Va. – In a battle that came down to the final match, No. 12 Missouri fell to Tennessee-Chattanooga 19-16 in the championship bracket of the Virginia Duals. Missouri is now 9-2 on the season and will compete again tomorrow at 9 a.m. (CT) against North Carolina in the consolation bracket at the Hampton Coliseum.
Down 4-0 after the bout at 125 pounds, redshirt freshman Tyler McCormick (Leawood, Kan.) helped put the Tigers on the board after winning a hard-fought 4-3 decision over Tennessee Chattanooga wrestler Josh Keefe at 133 pounds. Ranked 20th in the nation, McCormick scored first in the match with an escape in the second period. After an exchange of shots and escapes, McCormick came out ahead in the bout, scoring a takedown with six seconds left on the clock.
Unable to overtake the seven point lead the Mocs had built up through lower weight class wins, Missouri senior middleweight Cody Greene (St. Charles, Mo.) tied things at 149 pounds with a 14-5 major decision over Wayne French. Greene is ranked 18th in the country and scored his final seven points in the third period with two takedowns, an escape, a point for stalling and one point for 1:36 of riding time. With his win, Greene improves to 19-4 on the season.
Tennessee Chattanooga retaliated and reeled off back-to-back wins at 157 and 165 pounds. It was sophomore 2004 NCAA All-American Ben Askren (Hartland, Wis.) who brought the Tigers even with the Mocs at 13 point a piece after pinning Justin Otis in 2:19 for his 15th fall of the season and 21st straight win of the 2004-05 campaign. To date, Askren is a mere four falls shy of setting an all new Missouri season falls record and four straight wins away from setting a new Missouri season consecutive wins record.
Junior Jeff Foust (Blue Springs, Mo.) was Missouri’s last winner of the evening. Wrestling at 197 pounds, the 18th ranked grappler scored a 5-3 decision over Josh Ward to tie the Tigers and Mocs at 16 points heading into the final heavyweight battle.
In the end, UTC heavyweight Wes Taylor proved too strong of an opponent for true freshman Chase Wetenkamp (Manitowoc,Wis.) who lost the match 4-2 in the final seconds of action.
The Tigers will wrestle again tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. (CT) in the consolation bracket of the Virginia Duals against ACC school North Carolina. To take a third place finish at the Virginia Duals, Head Coach Brian Smith and his team will have to wrestle in four more duals throughout the day tomorrow.
Missouri vs. UTC
Wt. Wrestler over Wrestler: Result Missouri UTC
125 #19 Matt Pitts (UTC) major dec. Tim Kephart (MU): 13-4 0 4
133 #20 Tyler McCormick (MU) decision Josh Keefe (UTC): 4-3 3 4
141 #20 Michael Keefe (UTC) dec. #12 Chris McCormick (MU): 12-6 3 7
149 #16 Cody Greene (MU) major dec. Wayne French (UTC):14-5 7 7
157 Jake Yost (UTC) decision Josh Wagner (MU):13-7 7 10
165 #9 Jon Sioredas (UTC) decision #8 Tyron Woodley (MU): 3-2 7 13
174 #2 Ben Askren (MU) fall Justin Otis (UTC): 2:19 13 13
184 John Davis (UTC) decision Matt Pell (MU): 13-10 13 16
197 #18 Jeff Foust (MU) decision Josh Ward (UTC): 5-3 16 16
HWT Wes Taylor (UTC) decision Chase Wetenkamp (MU): 4-2 16 19
Missouri Lineup and Updated Records: Season (Career)
125-Tim Kephart: 17-9 (17-9)
133-#20 Tyler McCormick : 17-7 (17-7)
141-#12 Chris McCormick : 21-5 (47-37)
141/157-Josh Wagner: 11-4 (11-4)
149-#16 Cody Greene: 19-4 (58-21)
157-#14 Brad Cieleski : 19-5 (19-5)
165-#8 Tyron Woodley : 23-3 (96-35)
174-#2 Ben Askren : 21-0 (53-5)
184-#9 Matt Pell : 24-4 (55-16)
184-Tristan Hansen: 11-3 (41-26)
197-#18 Jeff Foust : 18-4 (63-25)
HWT-Chase Wetenkamp: 20-11 (20-11)
Wrestling Gear
