Missouri sends six to national wrestling championships
Senior Mark Ellis is looking to defend his heavyweight title.
Published March 19, 2010
Six members of the Missouri wrestling team left for Omaha, Neb., and the NCAA Championships this week. The tournament began Thursday and continues through Saturday.
Senior Mark Ellis attempted to defend his heavyweight championship, and seniors Max Askren and Nick Marable were looking to win NCAA titles for the first time in their careers. Junior Todd Schavrien, sophomore Dorian Henderson and redshirt freshman Brent Haynes also competed for their first NCAA titles.
"I'm bringing six great individuals," coach Brian Smith said on Monday. "I think they realize that at this point in the season that it just matters what you've done successfully all through the year. You never look at the negative, and you look at the positive. These guys have had a lot of positives in the season and they're going to look at that, and find the way they wrestle their best."
Last season, Ellis won the national title at heavyweight with a victory over then-junior Konrad Dudziak of Duke. Ellis is 18-9 this season and finished in fifth place at the Big 12 Championships two weeks ago. Ellis was the No. 9 seed in the heavyweight bracket after being the No. 2 seed last season, but he was not giving any thought to last year.
"That was then and this is now," Ellis said Monday.
Dudziak is the No. 4 seed, which means both he and Ellis would have to reach the semifinals for there to be a rematch. Ellis won his first round and second round matches on Thursday.
Marable was the No. 3 seed in the 165-pound bracket and lost to redshirt sophomore Nick Amuchastegui of Stanford in the first round. Marable was coming off a third consecutive conference title and had high expectations.
"I'm pretty confident that I will (win), and I'll worry about it being my last tournament after I win it," Marable said on Monday.
Marable took his second round match.
It will also be the last tournament for Askren, who was the No. 6 seed in the 184-pound bracket after a 15-2 season. Askren's first match in Omaha was a win against Stanford redshirt junior Zack Giesen and he took his second round match, as well.
Smith hoped the three seniors would approach this tournament as they have all the others in their careers.
"It's just another tournament," Smith said. "If you focus on your last, you start getting emotional about it."
After the seniors, Haynes is the only other Missouri wrestler who is seeded in his bracket. Haynes is the 12-seed in the 197-pound bracket after 25-12 season. It was his first NCAA tournament appearance.
"I just approach it just like any other tournament," Haynes said Monday. "I don't think it's really any different, just a different place and different arena."
Schavrien and Henderson were both unseeded. Schavrien's first match was a loss against top-seeded freshman Kyle Dake of Cornell but he won his second match.
Before going against Dake, Schavrien realized the challenge he was facing.
"No matter who I'm wrestling in the first round, I'm going to wrestle hard," Schavrien said Monday. "If I want to be a national champion I've got to beat him sometime."
Henderson defeated Bucknell senior Shane Riccio, who is also unseeded, in the first round but fell in the second round.
"I think with the group we have we can finish very, very high in the country," Smith said. "If we wrestle up to our capabilities, we're going to have a very good (tournament)."