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March 7, 2009
Photos: Big 12 Wrestling Championships
Oklahoma State's Jared Rosholt tries to escape from junior Mark Ellis during their semifinal match Saturday at the Big 12 Championships in Lincoln, Neb. Ellis, ranked No. 2 in the nation, defeated Rosholt, ranked No. 3 in the nation, off of a bonus point for riding time.
Photos from the Big 12 Wrestling Championships held in Lincoln, Neb. on Saturday. The Tigers placed third overall, and six Missouri wrestlers will compete in the NCAA Tournament March 19-21 in St. Louis.
Junior Nick Marable picks up Oklahoma State's Brandon Mason during their semifinal match Saturday at the Big 12 Championships in Lincoln, Neb. Marable defeated Mason 5-3.
Junior Max Askren tries to escape from Nebraska's Craig Brester during their semifinal match. Marable lost 15-4 in a major decision.
Senior Michael Chandler takes down Iowa State's Cyler Sanderson in a semifinal match. Chandler will wrestle Nebraska's Jordan Burroughs, ranked No. 1 in the nation in the final.
Sophomore Todd Schavrien shoots in on Nebraska's Matt Vacanti of during their third place bout Saturday at the Big 12 Championships in Lincoln, Neb. Schavrien defeated Vacanti 3-2 to clinch a birth in the NCAA Tournament.
Sophomore Todd Schavrien gets a hold of Nebraska's Matt Vacanti. The home crowd expressed displeasure for Vacanti not receiving any points for Schavrien stalling.
Junior Max Askren works off the bottom against Oklahoma's Eric Lapotsky during their consolation bout at the Big 12 Championships in Lincoln, Neb. Akren defeated Lapotsky 9-7.
Oklahoma's Brian Shelton tries to escape from sophomore Todd Schavrien during their consolation match. Schavrien defeated Shelton 5-3.
Askren takes third
In his bout for third place, Askren got taken down by Oklahoma State's Clayton Foster in the first period. Askren escaped to bring the deficit to one point. In the second period, Askren was able to ride out Foster for the entire period. Askren then took down in the third period. It took only 22 seconds for Askren to turn Foster to his back and gain a big lead. Askren defeated Foster 7-2.
Schavrien qualifies for NCAA's
In his rematch against Vacanti, Schavrien gave up the first point of the match when, after a scoreless first period, allowed Vacanti to escape in the second period. Schavrien then took Vacanti down at the end of the second period, but Vacanti was able to escape before the buzzer. Vacanti cut Schavrien loose nine seconds into the period to give Schavrien a one point lead. Vacanti threw shot after shot against Schavrien but was unable to score to give Schavrien a 3-2 win and a spot at the NCAA Tournament
Three wrestlers fall in do-or-die round
In the opening matches of the consolation round, Dolan saw his season come to an end, losing to Oklahoma State's Oberson Blanc 13-2.
Schavrien came up with a big win by defeating Oklahoma's Brian Shelton 5-3, to continue on to the third place bout. If Schavrien is able to win in a rematch against Vacanti, he will finish in third place and will qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
Sherry's career as a Missouri Tiger likely ended after getting pinned by Nebraska's Robert Sanders in 1:33. The crowd erupted at Sanders pin, as Sherry was completely dominated during his match.
Henderson wrestled against Oklahoma's Pat Flynn, with the winner earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament. In their previous meeting, Henderson lost to Flynn 2-0. In this match, with 19 seconds remaining in the first period, Flynn took Henderson to his back and stuck him. Now, Henderson will have to wait for the NCAA Committee to meet on March 11 to see if he can earn an at-large bid.
The last MU wrestler to compete in the do-or-die round was Askren. Askren wrestled against Oklahoma's Eric Lapotsky. Askren gave up a takedown not even a minute into the match, as Lapotsky shot right in and was able to get to Askren's legs. Lapotsky then turned Askren to earn an additional three points. Askren then reversed Lapotsky to cut the lead to three at the end of the first period. Askren chose to go down in the second period and got another reversal to cut the lead to one. Lapotsky escaped in the third period to take a two-point lead, but Askren wasted no time in taking him down to take tie it up. Askren then cut Lapotsky and scored another takedown to take a one point lead. After riding time was factored in, Askren won by a final score of 9-7.
Six Missouri wrestlers have qualified for nationals
Missouri has now qualified six wrestlers for the NCAA Tournament. In addition to Marable, Askren and Ellis, Hoehn, Chandler and Jordan have locked up their spots at nationals.
Dolan, Schavrien, Sherry and Henderson will all have to win at least their next matches or there season will be over.
Ellis advances to finals
Ranked No. 2 in the country, junior Mark Ellis faced off against Oklahoma State's Jared Rosholt, ranked No. 3 in the country. After a scoreless first period, Ellis managed an escape just 11 seconds into the second period to take a one point lead. In the third period, Ellis was able to ride Rosholt out long enough to get a minute of riding time in and gain an additional point. Rosholt escaped, but it wasn't enough. Ellis was able to walk away from this dual with a 2-1 victory over Rosholt. Ellis will now wrestle Iowa State's David Zabriskie, ranked No. 1 in the country, for the championship.
Askren falls to Nebraska's Brester
Max Askren was up next for Missouri, wrestling against Nebraska's Craig Brester. Askren won the first four bouts between the two, but Brester has won two straight coming into this dual. Brester wasted no time in getting points, taking down Askren not even 15 seconds into the match. At the end of the period, Askren reversed Brester to tie the match up, but Brester rolled Askren to gain an additional two points at the last second.
Brester escaped in the second period and then took Askren down to just open up the lead. It's tough to tell whether Askren has a mental block against Brester or if Brester is just truly this much better than Askren. Brester continued to just dominate the match, winning by a final score of 15-4.
Askren will now wrestle Oklahoma's Eric Lapotsky. If Askren wins that match, he will wrestle Oklahoma State's Clayton Foster for third place. This marks the first time in Askren's career that he will not walk away with a Big 12 Championship.
Jordan advances to finals
Missouri is cleaning up in the semi-final round. Senior Raymond Jordan stepped up big in his match, scoring two takedowns, including one at the buzzer, in the first period. Jordan locked his hands though, and gave up two escapes to make it a 4-3 match. Jordan got an escape, followed by a takedown, and was able to hang on for a 9-5 win.
Jordan will wrestle Nebraska's Brandon Browne. Jordan defeated Browne 6-3 earlier this season.
Marable advances to finals
Junior Nick Marable took down Oklahoma State's Brandon Mason at the very beginning of the match. Mason escaped to end the first period with a 2-1 Marable lead. Mason took down in the second period and earned another escape but Marable was able to get in enough riding time to earn an additional point. The two battled on their feet for the entire third period, with Marable earning a 5-3 victory.
Marable will now wrestle Nebraska's Stephen Dwyer in the finals. Dwyer earned a dramatic 7-3 victory in double overtime over Iowa State's Jon Reader.
Chandler defeats Sanderson to advance to finals
Senior Michael Chandler started off his semi-final match against rival Cyler Sanderson of Iowa State, scoring a takedown not even a minute into the match. Sanderson escaped, but Chandler took him down once again to end the first period with a 4-2 lead. Chandler chose to go down, and escaped five seconds into the period to go into the final period with a three point lead. Sanderson escaped in the third period and took Chandler down. After cutting Chandler loose to give him a one-point lead, Sanderson took shot after shot, but was unable to take Chandler down. Chandler won by a final score of 7-5.
Chandler's finals' match will be against the hometown favorite Jordan Burrough's of Nebraska, ranked No. 1 in the nation.