'The best tournament I've ever wrestled'

Matt Pell finished his career by receiving All-America honors for the second time.

By Ryan Huber

Published March 20, 2007

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — As the saying goes, strong trees bend but do not break. For senior 165-pounder Matt Pell, perhaps no phrase could better exemplify both his rollercoaster season and five-year career as a Missouri wrestler.

Cast under the mammoth shadow of fellow senior Ben Askren for four years, Pell stole the spotlight at the 2007 Division 1 Wrestling Championships despite being a nine-seed as he pinned a tournament-high four opponents en route to a third-place finish.

The NCAA gave him the Manuel Gorrarian Award, which recognizes the wrestler with the most pins in the least amount of time.

Not only was Pell the sole wrestler to have four pins, he also did so in a combined 22:46, averaging a pin every 5 1/2 minutes.

It is the journey to his incredible finish at the pinnacle of collegiate wrestling that makes his story stand out.

As a 184-pound sophomore, Pell solidified his first national tournament bid as a wildcard and surpassed expectations at the championships, attaining All-American status before falling to eventual national champion Greg Jones of West Virginia. Pell cut weight his junior year and dropped two weight classes.

The adjustment didn't hurt him that year at the Big 12 tournament as he finished second, but he "came out flat" at the national tourney, according to coach Brian Smith, and failed to take All-America honors after a 4-2 loss to Iowa State's Travis Paulson.

Senior year landed Pell in the driver's seat as both the team captain and a highly ranked wrestler.

But as the home stretch of the grueling season began for the Tigers, Pell caught the flu bug that had been circulating the team. The illness sidelined him for three matches, including Senior Day. At the Big 12 Championships, he suffered a slight injury in the opening minute of his first match and finished in fourth place.

Later that week, while lounging around at a local coffee shop with Sigmund Freud's Interpretation of Dreams in hand, Pell said he realized that he had made it to the tournament and that was all that actually mattered.

"I've kind of ripped the rear-view mirror off," he said before he left for nationals. "I'm not even focusing on the past at all. I've got one tournament left, and I want to make it happen."

On his first day of competition, Pell ripped through his first two opponents, pinning Nick Pullano of Old Dominion in 4:39 and winning by major decision 15-3, over Minnesota's Tyler Safratowich.

Pell fell to top-seeded Johny Hendricks of Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals, but pinned Johnny Galloway of Northern Illinois to claim his second All-American honor, becoming only the third Tiger to receive such honors in different weight classes.

In the third-place match, Pell overcame both the third-seeded Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan and the hometown crowd, pinning Tannenbaum in 4:09.

"It's a great feeling," he said after the match. "Coming into this tournament seeded ninth, and to prove to myself that I'm better than that is awesome. This is the best tournament I've ever wrestled."