Wrestling Travels To Missouri

Feb. 14, 2000

Oklahoma at Missouri
Feb. 16 Columbia, Mo. 8 p.m.

The Sooners
OU enters Wednesday's dual at Missouri with a 15-4-1 record after falling to fourth-ranked Oklahoma State, 19-16, Sunday. So far this season, 14 Sooner grapplers have won at least 10 matches and six have 20 or more wins. All 10 OU starters are ranked by Amateur Wrestling News and InterMat, six of which are ranked in the top 10, including top-ranked 174-pounder Byron Tucker.

Missouri
Missouri brings a 10-10 record after falling to Northern Iowa, 31-2, on Sunday. Three Tigers have won 28 matches so far this season. Sophomore John Kopnisky (174) sports a 28-5 record but one of his losses was a 16-6 major decision to Byron Tucker at the St. Louis Open. Freshman Jeremy Spates (141), son of OU head coach Jack Spates, and Jeff Urban, Missouri's only NCAA qualifier from last season, bring identical 28-9 records into the dual. Jesse Jordan (157, 24-15) and Kevin Herron (197, 23-9) have also both won 20 matches for the Tigers.

Last Time Out
In a battle of teams tied for the fourth spot in the polls, Oklahoma State Cowboys defeated the Oklahoma Sooners, 19-16, in front of 5,052 fans at the Lloyd Noble Center. OSU won six of the 10 weight classes in the victory.

Tucker, Lightner Claim 100th Career Victories
Senior 174-pounder Byron Tucker and junior 141-pounder Michael Lightner both recorded their 100th career victories Sunday against Oklahoma State. A third Sooner, Quantres Bates, has recorded 108 wins, 87 those while competing at Findlay College.

The Rankings
The OU wrestling team is ranked fourth in the nation by the National Wrestling Coaches Association and fifth by InterMat. The following wrestlers are ranked in their individual weight classes by Amateur Wrestling News and/or InterMat.

125:	Quantres Bates #4 (AWN, IM)
133:	Witt Durden #15 (AWN), #14 (IM)
141:	Michael Lightner #2 (AWN), #4 (IM)
149:	Jared Frayer #7 (AWN), #8 (IM)
157:	David Kjeldgaard #5 (AWN, IM)
165:	Robbie Waller #9 (AWN, IM)
174:	Byron Tucker #1 (AWN, IM)
184:	Tommy Grossman #13 (AWN), #13 (IM)
197:	Orville Palmer #5 (AWN, IM)
Hwt:	Brent Boeshans #18 (AWN) #16 (IM)

Projected Lineup
#4/#5 Oklahoma (15-4-1) vs. Missouri (10-10)

125 pounds:	#4/#4 Quantres Bates, Sr. (21-1)	vs.	Jesse West, So. (9-4)
133 pounds:	#15/#14 Witt Durden, Fr.-RS (14-9)	vs.	Mark Bader, So. (11-25)
141 pounds:	#2/#4 Michael Lightner, Jr. (26-3)	vs.	#18/#18 Jeremy Spates, Fr. (28-9)
149 pounds:	#7/#8 Jared Frayer, So. (21-7)	vs.	16 Jeff Urban, Sr. (28-9)
157 pounds:	#5/#5 David Kjeldgaard, Jr. (25-3)	vs.	Jesse Jordan, So. (24-15)
165 pounds:	9 Robbie Waller, Fr.-RS (18-4)	vs.	Tim Hawks, Jr. (3-14)
174 pounds:	#1/#1 Byron Tucker, Sr. (25-0)	vs.	11 John Kopnisky, So. (28-5)
184 pounds:	#13/#13 Tommy Grossman, So. (13-8)	vs.	Josh Maze, Fr. (16-26)
197 pounds:	#5/#5 Orville Palmer, Sr. (17-8)	vs.	Kevin Herron, So. (23-9)
Heavyweight:	#18/#16 Brent Boeshans, Sr. (18-5)	vs.	Chad Hertzog, So. (116-16)

Team rankings: NWCA/InterMat Individual Rankings: Amateur Wrestling News/InterMat.

Starter Bios

Quantres Bates, Sr., 125 pounds, 21-1
Defeated Rocco Mansueto of Cleveland State for the championship at the Oklahoma Gold Classic...Downed seventh ranked Pat Cassidy of Indiana for the championship at the St. Louis Open...Defeated No. 13 Mike Kawamura of Arizona State, 5-4...Upset Nebraska's fourth-ranked Paul Gomez at the National Duals...Also defeated No. 14 Matt Azevedo of Iowa State, 9-3, in the semifinals of the National Duals...Also downed Azevedo by major decision, 15-5, in OU's 18-17 upset of the Cyclones...Defeated No. 12 Gomez in the Nebraska dual...Pinned OSU's sixth-ranked Jeff Ragan with one second remaining in the first period to avenge his only loss of the season.

Witt Durden, Fr.-RS, 133 pounds, 14-9
Pinned Central Oklahoma's Weston Moore (:37) in his first collegiate dual...Collected two falls at the Lone Star Duals.

Michael Lightner, Jr., 141 pounds, 26-3
Champion of the Oklahoma Gold Classic...Defeated eighth-ranked Jason DeBruin of Hofstra, 3-2, for the title...Won the championship at the St. Louis Open...Selected to compete in his second NWCA All-Star Classic...Upset OSU's third-ranked Jamill Kelly, 5-1, at the National Duals...Defeated #14 Sonny Marchette, 3-0, in the dual's final match to propel OU to an 18-17 upset of Iowa State...Downed seventh-ranked Damion Logan, 8-3. at the NWCA All-Star Classic...Defeated fifth-ranked Kelly again in Norman, 2-1...The win against Kelly was his 100th career victory.

Jared Frayer, So., 149 pounds, 21-7
Avenged an early season loss to Hofstra's seventh ranked Schmiesing, upseting him 10-5...Pinned his first two opponents at the Lone Star Duals...Upset Iowa's fifth-ranked Mike Zadick, 11-4, in the final match of the Lone Star Duals...Named Big 12 Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 11...Defeated ninth-ranked Cole Sanderson, 10-4, to avenge an earlier loss in OU's 18-17 upset of Iowa State...Won by major decision against No. 14 Joe Henson at Nebraska.

David Kjeldgaard, Jr., 157 pounds, 25-3
Won the championship at the Oklahoma Gold Classic...Defeated Bloomsburg's 14th-ranked Ed Hockenberry, 4-2, in the finals...Defeated OSU's #14 Shane Roller, 7-6, in the dual's final match to bring the final score to 16-16...Pinned N.C. State's Steve Wiggins in :59...Pinned Zac Becker of Northern Illinois at the Lone Star Duals...Wrestled up a weight class at 165 pounds and defeated Iowa's Matt Anderson at the Lone Star Duals...Downed eighth-ranked Cole Sanderson of Iowa State, 8-3, at the National Duals...Beat Sanderson again a week later in a 18-17 Sooner victory...Scored four points in the third period for a come-from-behind win against No. 15 Roller in Norman.

Robbie Waller, Fr.-RS, 165 pounds, 18-4
Defeated Hofstra's Noel Thompson, 15-4, to win the championship of the Oklahoma Gold Classic...Won the championship at the St. Louis Open...Defeated Wisconsin's Don Pritzlaff (ranked fourth nationally) and Heath Eslinger of Tennessee-Chattanooga (No. 13) on his way to the championship...Reversed seventh-ranked Ty Wilcox of Oklahoma State with four seconds remaining in their match for a 4-3 win...Collected two falls in one day when he pinned Matt Demers of Fresno State and Nate Knutson of Cal Poly...Pinned Nebraska's Tony Denke in 2:46.

Byron Tucker, Sr., 174 pounds, 25-0
Named the outstanding wrestler of the Oklahoma Gold Classic...Winner of the St. Louis Open...Defeated sixth-ranked Kole Clauson from Wisconsin at the St. Louis Open...Moved into InterMat's No. 1 ranking on Jan. 12 and Amateur Wrestling News' top spot on Jan. 17...Pinned Arizona State's Curtis Owen in 2:30...Pinned R.D. Pursell of Arizona State in 2:46 at he National Duals...Won all four of his matches at the National Duals by major decision or better...Defeated #15 Perry Parks by technical fall, 15-5, in OU's 18-17 upset win over Iowa State...Won by major decision over Nebraska's No. 19 Ati Conner...Defeated OSU's Tony Gansen, 19-6, for his 100th career victory.

Tom Grossman, So., 184 pounds, 13-8
Overcame a 5-1 third period deficit to defeat OSU's #16 Pat Popolizio, 8-6, in sudden victory overtime...Downed No. 20 Fikret Darzanoff of Seton Hall, 6-4.

Orville Palmer, Sr., 197 pounds, 17-8
Won the championship of the Oklahoma Gold Classic by defeating Bloomsburg's Todd Hockenbroch, 9-3...Downed Iowa's seventh-ranked Lee Weber in the final match of the Lone Star Duals.

Brent Boeshans, Sr., Hwt., 18-5
Defeated teammate Gary Barber, 18-7, for the championship of the Oklahoma Gold Classic...Won his first Sooner dual by fall, pinning Central Oklahoma's Bryan Wilson in 3:38...Upset OSU's eight-ranked Dave Anderton, 3-1, at the National Duals

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