University of Missouri
Missouri Valley
Mizzou Wrestling Ties Missouri Valley, beats Lindenwood Saturday
1/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 20, 2001
Columbia, Mo. - The Missouri wrestling team returned to the Hearnes Center Saturday to take on Missouri Valley and Lindenwood University, The Tigers tied Missouri Valley 19-19 and defeated Lindenwood 22-19.
Missouri Valley and Lindenwood come in rated No. 1 and 2, respectively, in the NAIA. Even with a win and a tie, Missouri Head Coach Brian Smith was less than pleased with his team's performance.
"I think today was a prime example of our inexperience," said Coach Smith. "We really have to learn to wrestle consistently, and we aren't doing that at all right now. We practice hard, but we can't turn that into big wins in competition. Every match comes down to the wire, whether it's with ninth-ranked Nebraska, or with NAIA teams like Missouri Valley and Lindenwood. I think it's probably going to be that way all year. We just have to hope for some maturity from the team. If we are going to become contenders, we have to be able to go out, battle, and come away with a win."
The Tigers went in to the double dual slightly handicapped, though, without two of their most consistent wrestlers. At 125, #15 freshman Justin Spates did not wrestle due to sickness, and at 141, redshirt freshman J.P. Reese did not compete due to a rib injury. Both wrestlers are expected back for the next competition Thursday against Central Missouri State.
At 133, Jesse West went 1-1 as he received a forfeit against Missouri Valley and lost to Lindenwood's Brant Bruner 5-3. Bruner is ranked third in the NAIA.
At 141, junior Cliff Sutcliffe was 0-2, losing to Missouri Valley's Shane Cristelli 12-4 and to Lindenwood's C.J. Campbell 24-8.
Kenny Burleson lost his first match against top-ranked (NAIA) Jeremy Biddle 2-1. He came back to win his second match against Lindenwood's fifth-ranked (NAIA) Jeff Carlson 12-1.
Jesse Jordan also lost his first match against top-ranked Missouri Valley grappler Tim Cobb 11-5, then returned in the second dual to defeat second-ranked (NAIA) Tim Michel 9-2.
In the 165-pound division, Mark Vollmar wrestled Missouri Valley's third-ranked (NAIA) Rafael Maturino and lost 5-3. In the second dual, freshman Clint Freeman filled the 165 slot for Missouri and was edged out 2-1 by Lindenwood's Jason Fox.
#10 John Kopnisky went 2-0 on the day, besting Missouri Valley's top-ranked (NAIA) Matt Cobb 3-1 and Lindenwood's fourth-ranked (NAIA) John Venne 17-0. Kopnisky's overall record improves to 24-2, and his win streak increases to eight. His last loss was at the hands of Purdue's Ryan Lange on Dec. 9.
At 184, Ry Stone won two, defeating Missouri Valley's Anthony Ochoa 13-4 and Lindenwood's Nathan James 12-1.
Dante Stone split, beating Missouri Valley's third-ranked (NAIA) Joe Potts 3-1, then losing to No. 5 (NAIA) Wayne James 5-3.
Finally, at heavyweight, freshman Scott Barker beat Missouri Valley's No. 3 (NAIA) Wes Walker 9-4 and Lindenwood's Tim Hildenbrant by pin in 2:13.
The Tigers return to the mat Thursday as they travel to Warrensburg, Mo., to compete against Central Missouri State at 7 p.m.
