Tiger wrestling stumbles at Midlands
No Missouri wrestler got past the semifinals.
Published Dec. 31, 2009
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Senior Nick Marable drags Harvard's Adam Hogue by during their match Wednesday at the Midlands Tournament at Northwestern University. Marable, who received the No. 4 seed, won the match by injury default.
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Sophomore Dorian Henderson takes down American's Spence Patrick during their match Wednesday at the Midlands Tournament at Northwestern University. Henderson defeated Patrick 14-5.
For the second consecutive year, Missouri struggled in the semifinals of The Midlands wrestling tournament in Evanston, Ill.
Missouri, which placed four wrestlers in the semifinals, was unable to put anyone in the finals. Last season, the Tigers went 1-3 in the semifinals.
“Today was a rough day,” coach Brian Smith said. “We lost a lot of close matches. I don’t even know how many we lost. To be a great team, you have to win those close matches, and we lost a lot of them.”
Senior Nick Marable started off Missouri's semifinal matches by wrestling against Wisconsin sophomore Andrew Howe, defending NCAA championship runner-up. Marable lost in double overtime when both wrestlers were tied. Howe had the advantage in riding time throughout the match, so the tiebreaker went to Howe. Marable went on to finish in fourth place after losing another match in double overtime to Iowa senior Ryan Morningstar.
“I thought I had the takedown (against Howe) but that was at the ref’s discretion, and I thought I had it, my coaches thought I had it but I didn’t get it,” Marable said. “Against Morningstar, I was pushing the pace for the entire match, the refs never called stalling on him and then I gave up that takedown. I just can’t make mistakes like that.”
In the match against Howe, Marable gave up his first takedown of the year. He gave up another takedown in his match against Morningstar, which cost him the match.
Senior Max Askren lost to Illinois senior John Dergo in their semifinal match. Askren defeated Dergo earlier in the season, but it was Dergo who got the better of Askren this time around, scoring a last-second takedown for a 3-2 win. The loss was Askren’s first of the season.
Askren went on to finish in third place after defeating Iowa senior Phillip Keddy 7-1. In the beginning of the match against Keddy, he came out and slapped Askren’s headgear off in an effort to try and intimidate Askren.
“He came out and because he wrestles for Iowa, thought he was going to intimidate me,” Askren said. “But I know who they are, and it’s not going to intimidate me. I’m out there to wrestle and so are they.”
Sophomore Dom Bradley, trying to get at least one Missouri wrestler into the finals, also lost in double overtime, 2-1, to Central Michigan sophomore Jarod Trice. Bradley then wrestled against Tiger senior Mark Ellis. The two have gone back and forth this season, but Ellis got the better of Bradley this time, winning 3-1 in double overtime.
Missouri sophomore Dorian Henderson also lost in the semifinals when he attempted to upset Central Michigan redshirt freshman Ben Bennett but fell just short and lost 3-2 in the final seconds of the match when Bennett got a takedown.
Overall, Missouri finished fourth in the tournament, which featured some of the top teams in the country.
The team will now head to the NWCA National Duals at Northern Iowa on Jan. 9 and 10.
“I know we’re going to get better,” Smith said. “We have to.”