Tigers Attack Sooners, 23-10

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The No. 12 ranked Missouri Tigers denied No. 18 Oklahoma of its first Big 12 victory of the season Friday night at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo., winning by a 23-10 final tally.

Despite impressive performances from OU's freshman and a 7-3 lead after three matches, Oklahoma (12-4, 0-3 in the Big 12) was unable to stop MU (8-3-1, 2-1 in Big 12) from rallying, cutting off Oklahoma's bid for victory.

"This was a tough meet," head coach Jack Spates said. "There were some bright spots, but there is no doubt we are disappointed with the loss."

Joey Fio at 125 pounds came into the dual riding a three-match losing streak, but jumped back into the win column with a 11-2 major decision over John Olanowski. Fio scored three takedowns, a reversal and a nearfall to take the victory. The true freshman stands third on the team with a total of 46 takedowns on the season and picked up his 16th overall win and his first Big 12 victory of his young Sooner career.

Tyler McCormick quickly put the Tigers on the board at 133 pound by blanking OU's Brian Shelton in a 6-0 decision. Shelton, who has sat out the last five matches due to a hip injury, returned but was unable to get anything going offensively in the loss.

With the team score in OU's favor at 4-3, freshman Zack Bailey recorded a 3-1 decision over Marcus Hoehn at 141 pounds to extend the Sooner lead back to four. Bailey scored all three points in the final two minutes after being down 1-0 after two periods to notch his team-leading 25th victory of the season. He was the second Sooner of the night to pick up his first career Big 12 victory.

The momentum quickly swayed back into the Tigers favor with an upset at 149 pounds. No. 15 Josh Wagner took the win over OU's No. 13 Will Rowe by a 10-6 decision to tie the Sooners, 6-6, as a team point was taken away after an unsportsmanlike penalty was called on the OU bench. The loss gave Rowe just his third in dual competition this season (12-3).

No. 14 Michael Chandler then took control of his bout versus Shane Vernon of Oklahoma in dominant fashion, scoring a technical fall over the Tulsa native, 18-1. Chandler posted nine points in the third period and the win propelled the Tigers into the lead, 11-6.

The Tigers extended the lead once again with No. 2 Nicholas Marable topping No. 20 Max Dean by a 5-2 decision at 165 pounds. Marable scored three points in the final 44 seconds to break away from Dean.

The Sooners looked to redshirt freshman Jeff James to stop the bleeding. James delivered in convincing fashion, posting a 12-4 major decision in the 174 pound bout to pick up four team points, closing the OU deficit to 14-10. In route to getting his first career conference victory, James recorded four takedowns and reached 10 wins in dual competition this season (10-6).

Two showdowns among the nation's elite were next up, with the first at 184 pounds as No. 6 Joshua Weitzel for the Sooners met No. 4 Raymond Jordan. After three periods Weitzel was only able to garner two escapes, losing a 5-2 decision to Jordan.

It was a pair of No. 5 ranked wrestlers who met at 197 pounds, and it was Missouri who again came out on top and put the match out of reach for the Sooners. MU's Maxwell Askren handed Joel Flaggert the loss in a 3-0 decision and the Tigers went up 20-10 in the match.

The defeats gave Weitzel (20-2) and Flaggert (19-2) just their second losses on the season.

Sooner heavyweight Nathan Fernandez was then able to only score two escapes in a loss to No. 11 Mark Ellis, 6-2, to end the match between the two Big 12 foes.

The Sooners will next bus from Columbia to Lincoln, Neb., for a dual against the No. 2 Cornhuskers (11-2, 2-0 in Big 12) on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m.

"We have to lick our wounds and prepare for Nebraska," Spates said. "We have to come out on Sunday ready to battle and fight in every match."

The Sunday showdown marks the last road dual for the Sooners this season.

Match-by-Match Results

FINAL
OKLAHOMA 10
MISSOURI 23

125: Joey Fio (OU) maj. dec. John Olanowski (MU), 11-2
133: Tyler McCormick (MU) dec. No. 13 Brian Shelton (OU), 6-0
141: No. 15 Zack Bailey (OU) dec. Marcus Hoehn (MU), 3-1
149: No. 15 Josh Wagner (MU) dec. No. 13 Will Rowe (OU), 10-6
157: No. 14 Michael Chandler (MU) tech. fall Shane Vernon (OU), 18-1
165: No. 2 Nicholas Marable (MU) dec. No. 20 Max Dean (OU), 5-2
174: Jeff James (OU) maj. dec. Brock Wittmeyer (MU), 12-4
184: No. 4 Raymond Jackson (MU) dec. No. 6 Joshua Weitzel (OU), 5-2
197: No. 5 Maxwell Askren (MU) dec. No. 5 Joel Flaggert (OU), 3-0
HWT: Mark Ellis (MU) dec. Nathan Fernandez (OU), 6-2

Next Event

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics