University of Missouri
NCAA Championships Day 1
Tigers Wrap Up Day One of NCAA Championships
3/17/2005 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 17, 2005
Columbia, Mo. -- The 13th-ranked Missouri wrestling team opened competition today at the 75th annual Division I Wrestling Championships in the Savvis Center of St. Louis and three of Missouri's five qualifiers went 2-0 to advance in the championship bracket. Oklahoma State leads the team competition with 39 points and Missouri is in 15th-place with 14.5 points.
Senior 2003 All-American Tyron Woodley (165) was Missouri's first Tiger to wrap up the day with a perfect record. Opening with a defensive fall in 4:46 over Illinois' Donny Reynolds, Woodley found his second opponent in 12th-seeded Mike Patrovich of Hofstra. The two wrestled hard for seven minutes and were scoreless through the first two minutes of action. Choosing down to start the second period, Woodley got an early escape to pull ahead for the lead. Moving into the third period, Patrovich was down and got out for an escape, was quickly taken down and turned for a two-point near fall. In the end, Woodley came out with 1:17 of riding time to win the bout, 6-1.
Sophomores Ben Askren (174) and Matt Pell (184) wrestled their second matches simultaneously on mats seven and six, respectively. Askren won his opening morning session bout in the form of an 18-2 technical fall in 6:25 over Mark Himes of Duquense. In his afternoon match, the 2004 All-American squared off with Indiana's Brady Richardson and shut him down with a 9-0 major decision.
Easily Missouri's most intense bout of the day, Pell squared off with 2004 All-American and eighth-seeded Paul Bradley of Iowa and won 7-6, earning his final go-ahead point with a buzzer-beater escape. Leading 2-1 entering the second period, Bradley tied the match in the second with an escape. Bradley pulled Pell down for two takedowns in the third, but the wild-card entry and unseeded wrestler was able to escape both takedowns and earned a penalty point after Bradley locked hands. Bringing the action back to center circle, Pell and Bradley were tied at six with Pell's 1:31 of riding time and as the seconds ticked off, Pell escaped Bradley's grip for his second win on the day. Earlier in the morning, Pell upset ninth-seeded Shane Webster of Oregon, 5-1.
Seniors Brad Cieleski and Cody Greene both suffered disappointing losses in the early morning matches and only Cieleski will advance to the Friday morning wrestleback sessions. Wrestling at 149-pounds, Greene, a first-time NCAA qualifier, lost a 7-4 decision to 10th-seeded Mark DiSalvo of Central Michigan to fall to the consolation bracket, while Cieleski dropped a 2-0 decision to Clarion's Chris Horning. In round No. 2, Greene lost 9-7 to Tyde Prater of Virginia Tech. Missouri's last bout of the day was wrestled on mat No. 4 as Cieleski went hard against Marcus Effner of Cleveland State and won a 9-3 decision to mark his first career win at an NCAA tournament. In his previous three appearances, Cieleski went 0-2.
Woodley, Askren, Pell and Cieleski will all wrestle in tomorrow morning's third session set to begin at 10 a.m. CT.
Friday morning matches: 157: Brad Cieleski vs. Colton Salazar (Purdue) Of Note: Cieleski and Salazar last met Dec. 3 at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Cieleski won the bout 9-3.165: Tyron Woodley vs. Mark Perry (Iowa)
174: Ben Askren vs. E.K. Waldhaus (Oklahoma) Of Note: Askren leads Waldhaus 2-0 this season after scoring an 8-4 decision in Norman, Okla., Feb. 5, and 5-1 decision March 5, at the Big 12 Championships.
184: Matt Pell vs. Greg Jones (West Virginia) Of Note: This is the first pairing between Pell and Jones. Jones entered the tournament undefeated and is the 2004 184-pound defending champion.
First Round Results 149: Mark DiSalvo (Central Michigan) decision Cody Greene (MU): 7-4 157: Chris Horning (Clarion) decision Brad Cieleski (MU): 2-0 165: Tyron Woodley (MU) fall Donny Reynolds (Illinois): 4:46 174: Ben Askren (MU) tech. fall Mark Himes (Duquense) 18-2 (6:25) 184: Matt Pell (MU) Shane Webster (Oregon): 5-1
Second Round Results 149: Tyde Prater (Va. Tech) decision Cody Greene (MU): 9-7 157: Brad Cieleski (MU) decision Marcus Effner (Cleveland State): 9-3 165 Tyron Woodley (MU) decision Mike Patrovich (Hofstra): 6-1 174 Ben Askren (MU) major decision Brady Richardson (Indiana): 9-0 184: Matt Pell (MU) decision Paul Bradley (Iowa) 7-6
Team Scores After Day One 1 Oklahoma State, 39 2 Minnesota, 28.5 3 Iowa State 27 4 Oklahoma, 26.5 5 Michigan, 25.5
Updated MU Records 149 Cody Greene: 27-10 (66-27) 157 Brad Cieleski: 24-9 (108-29) 165 Tyron Woodley: 35-4 (108-36) 174 Ben Askren: 32-2 (64-7) 184 Matt Pell: 33-8 (64-20)
