Dual upsets for Missouri wrestling
The Tigers lost to No. 25 Cal Poly and Purdue.
Published Nov. 20, 2009
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True freshman Brad Wisdom keeps his footing while Cal Poly wrestler Micah Ferguson trys to bring him down to the mat during a dual Friday at the Hearnes Center. Wisdom went on to win his match 9-6 and became the first true freshman to win their first match in five years.
Friday’s wrestling homecoming is one the Tigers would soon like to forget. Missouri was upset twice in one day, first to No. 25 Cal Poly, 22-15, and then to unranked Purdue, 19-15.
“I don’t panic,” coach Brian Smith said. “We have some young kids, and it’s still November. I thought we wrestled better against Purdue, but we’re going to learn. We’ll get better, and we know that.”
One of the bright spots for Missouri was the 125-pound weight class, which has recently been a weak spot for the Tigers. Missouri substituted freshman Brad Wisdom in place of two-year starter, sophomore Troy Dolan, and the move paid off. Against Cal Poly, Wisdom put senior Micah Ferguson to his back early in the match to jump out to a 5-0 lead and eventually won the match 8-5.
“It’s a long season and I still have a lot of work to do,” Wisdom said. “It’s crazy because last February I was wrestling high school state, and now it’s November, and I’m wrestling for one of the top teams in the country. 2-0 is going to be a memorable day for me.”
Wisdom’s success continued against Purdue when he defeated sophomore Matt Fields. Wisdom held a commanding 9-3 lead going into the final period but got turned to his back at the end of the match. Fields was unable to get the pin, and Wisdom won 9-6.
“It’s a seven minute match and I only wrestled for six and a half minutes,” Wisdom said. “If I go in there and wrestle a seven minute match, I shouldn’t lose.”
Wisdom is the first true freshman to step into Missouri’s lineup and win in his first appearance since heavyweight Sean Connole accomplished the feat five years ago.
Against Cal Poly, Missouri lost four consecutive matches following Wisdom’s win. Senior Nick Marable got the Tigers back on the winning track when he defeated Cal Poly’s redshirt freshman Steven Vasquez, 5-2.
Two matches later, the Mustangs clinched the upset. Missouri freshman Todd Porter substituted in for senior Max Askren and was pinned early in the match, giving Cal Poly six points and enough to clinch the upset.
Against Purdue, Missouri lost three consecutive matches after Wisdom’s win, but sophomore Patrick Wright upset Purdue’s junior Colton Salazar, ranked No. 10 in the country, 4-0.
Marable then followed up Wright’s win by defeating senior Jason Martin, 6-3. But that was where Missouri’s second attempt at a comeback fell short. Purdue won the next three matches to clinch the upset.
“We’re just going to keep improving,” Marable said. “I think this was a wake up call for our whole team. I don’t look at this as a bad thing, I look at it as a good thing. It’s better for this to happen early in the season rather than late, and I feel our team’s going to step up to the challenge. I’m looking forward to how our team reacts to this.”
In both duels, Missouri was without two of its returning All-Americans, Askren and senior Mark Ellis. Both are resting for the NWCA All-Star Classic on Sunday at Cal State Fullerton, which features two of the top-ranked wrestlers in each weight class squaring off against each other.
Askren will compete against Binghamton senior Josh Patterson, and Ellis will compete against Iowa State senior David Zabriskie, who holds a 5-0 all-time lead over Ellis.