Missouri wrestling suffers weekend sweep

Oklahoma and Oklahoma State spoiled MU's last home meets of the season.

By Zach Miller

Published Feb. 9, 2010

The No. 18 Missouri wrestling team lost to No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 4 Oklahoma State over the weekend. The duel with Oklahoma came as part of the Beauty and the Beast event Saturday at the Hearnes Center, and Missouri's seniors were recognized before the duel Sunday with Oklahoma State.

The Tigers' three seniors were the only Missouri wrestlers to win in a 25-10 defeat to the Sooners. No. 8 Mark Ellis beat No. 12 redshirt junior Nathan Fernandez in overtime to start the match. No. 6 Nick Marable won a decision against No. 18 freshman Tyler Caldwell, and No. 3 senior Max Askren won a major decision over redshirt freshman Erich Schmidtke.

The Tigers suffered close losses at 157 pounds and 141 pounds. At 157 pounds, sophomore Patrick Wright lost 5-2 after the match was tied at two with less than a minute to go. At 141, No. 19 junior Todd Schavrien held No. 3 redshirt junior Zack Bailey to three points but was not able to get a takedown in a 3-0 loss.

"I thought Schavrien wrestled pretty well," coach Brian Smith said. "He's in it to win it, but you've got to get a takedown."

Sunday was much of the same for the Tigers in a 24-9 loss to Oklahoma State. After receiving recognition and a standing ovation from the Missouri fans before the match, all three Missouri seniors faced opponents ranked in the top 10 for their weight class.

"It was cool," Askren said about being recognized before the game. "It was a nice time to kind of stop. It was weird to reflect at a time like that when I was also getting ready to wrestle, but it was cool to be out here and be able to take things in while I wasn't wrestling."

Marable and Askren both won two-point decisions over their opponents, with Marable needing overtime to beat No. 9 redshirt freshman Alex Meade. Ellis lost a 3-2 decision to No. 1 senior Jared Rosholt in the last match of the afternoon.

The only other victory for the Tigers against the Cowboys was a last-minute upset victory by No. 15 redshirt freshman Brent Haynes over No. 7 sophomore Alan Gelogaev at 197 pounds. Haynes trailed 4-1 at the end of the first period and 7-4 at the end of the second period but used an escape and takedown in the third period to tie the match at seven. Haynes then racked up more than a minute of riding time to win the match 8-7 and bring the Missouri fans to their feet.

"He's got one of the toughest weight classes in the Big 12," Smith said about Haynes. "You look at it and there are four seniors, four stinking studs. To get a win was big. All five of those guys are going to be at the national tournament. He's battled with them, he's battling with these guys."

The Tigers faced some of the same difficulties in both duels, especially at 125 pounds and 133 pounds. At 125, freshman Eric Wilson lost major decisions in both matches, and at 133, redshirt freshman Nathan McCormick suffered technical falls in both matches.

"Our lighter weights just aren't very good right now," Smith said.

The last match of the season for the Tigers comes at No. 2 Iowa State this Sunday. After that, Missouri will compete in both the Big 12 Championships and the NCAA Championships.

"Our team definitely needs to work on bottom," Marable said.

Marable is a member of the senior class Smith said could go out as one of the best in school history.

"They're good kids that work hard," Smith said. "They've worked really hard to get here."