Category Archives: Mizzou Wrestling

Mizzou’s Dom Bradley chases Olympic dream

Leave a Comment Posted by on April 22, 2013

By Peter Terpstra

You may think the Missouri wrestling season ended after the NCAA Wrestling Championships in March. As it turns out, the season never ends for senior Tiger heavyweight Dom Bradley.

Bradley is a former FILA Jr. World Champion and has his eyes set on an Olympic bid in 2016. He’s off to a quick start too after winning the U.S. Open this past weekend, beating American heavyweight Olympian Tervel Diagnev in the finals.

KBIA’s Peter Terpstra spoke with the Olympic-hopeful about his career after college.
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Mizzou’s Smith earns conference coach of the year

Leave a Comment Posted by on April 2, 2013

By Peter Terpstra

Coach Brian Smith’s list of accomplishments keeps growing.

The Mid-American Conference named Smith the conference coach of the year Tuesday. It’s the second year in a row the Missouri wrestling coach earned the honor after winning the Big 12 coach of the year last season.

The Tigers bested runner-up Central Michigan at the conference tournament by earning the most points in conference history. The Tiger victory stopped an 11-year championship run by the Chippewas.

Smith’s Tigers sent all 10 starters to the NCAA Championships for the second year in a row after winning the MAC Tournament team title. The Tigers took seventh place in the nation and came home with five All-Americans, tying a program high.

Smith started coaching at Missouri in 1998 where he’s coached the Tigers to 12 consecutive winning seasons. He’s the winningest wrestling coach at Missouri with a 189-88-3 record.

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Mizzou wrestlers don’t perform to their potential, fall short in NCAA medal rounds

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 23, 2013

By Peter Terpstra

DES MOINES, IOWA — Missouri’s final day of the NCAA wrestling championships seemed to follow the trend of the entire tournament.

On paper, Missouri finished with five All-Americans (eighth place finish or better), but coach Brian Smith walked off the mat Friday morning feeling the Tigers had potential to do more.

“I’m pleased we had five All-Americans, just not happy with the outcome of today. I’m a little frustrated. After a day like today you just need some time to get your head focused,” Smith said.

After losing in the semifinals Friday night, 125-pound wrestler and top seed Alan Waters bounced back with a pin over North Dakota State’s Trent Sprenkle in the first period to reach the third-place match. But in that match Waters lost to Cornell’s Nahshon Garrett 6-1 to finish in fourth place.

Missouri’s other top-seeded wrestler, Dom Bradley, started off his morning with a win as well, over Central Michigan’s Jarod Trice. Bradley’s beat Trice for the third time on the season with a 5-2 win to advance to the third-place match against Oklahoma State’s Alan Gelogaev. Gelogaev was the only wrestler to beat Bradley in the regular season and he would take the third place match from Missouri’s heavyweight 3-2.

“I’m not frustrated at them. I’m frustrated for them because it didn’t end the way they wanted it to,” Smith said. “I’m always proud of this team, but right now I’m just frustrated.”

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Day 2 of the national tournament leaves Mizzou feeling crushed

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 23, 2013

Story by Peter Terpstra
Photos by Karen Mitchell

No. 5 seed Michael McMullan from Northwestern celebrates his win over Missouri's Dom Bradley Friday, March 22 at the NCAA wrestling tournament in Des Moines, Iowa. Bradley was the No. 1 seed in the 285 pound division.

No. 5 seed Michael McMullan from Northwestern celebrates his win over Missouri’s Dom Bradley Friday, March 22 at the NCAA wrestling tournament in Des Moines, Iowa. Bradley was the No. 1 seed in the 285 pound division.

DES MOINES – The second day of Missouri’s NCAA wrestling championship had a bit of everything.

Things started off hopeful. The Tiger’s secured five All-Americans—matching a program high from 2009.

Then the lights went out in Wells Fargo Arena: a small technical problem providing a small amount of entertainment as competition continued without a hitch.

You could say the lights went out on Missouri’s evening success too.

Missouri's Alan Waters rides on the back of Penn State's Nicholas Megaludis, trying to gain an advantage in Friday's match in the NCAA wrestling tournament in Des Moines, March 22, 2013. Waters lost the match.

Missouri’s Alan Waters rides on the back of Penn State’s Nicholas Megaludis, trying to gain an advantage in Friday’s match. Waters lost the match.

“That stuff is nice, but we didn’t wrestle well this round. It’s just frustrating. We’ve been wrestling consistent all year but [Friday night] we just didn’t have our best there,”coach Brian Smith said.

Three Tigers entered the national semifinals and three Tigers fell short of the national finals. At 125 pounds, top-seeded Alan Waters wrestled through the second set of tiebreakers in overtime before losing to Penn State’s Nico Megaludis. It was Waters’ first loss of the season.

“He lost a heartbreaker. He had his opportunity to get a takedown too, but he just didn’t get the finish,” Smith said.

Missouri’s second top-seeded wrestler also lost a close match to miss a chance at a national championship. Heavyweight Dom Bradley lost to Northwestern’s Michael McMullan 3-1 in overtime.

“We were trying to hang and get a stalemate. Instead the foot popped out. That’s the match,” Smith said. “I’m just hurting for them. I know they worked really hard.”

The Tigers’ 149-pound unseeded Drake Houdashelt lost to second-seeded Jason Chamberlain of Boise State 7-3. All three semifinalists have a chance to a third place wrestling in the medal rounds tomorrow.

Two other Missouri seniors snatched All-American honors. Nathan McCormick pinned Northern Iowa’s Levi Wolfensperger in the second period to secure a spot on the podium. Mike Larson beat Pittsburgh’s Max Thomusseit 4-2 to become an All-American. It is each wrestler’s first time finishing on the podium at the NCAA Tournament.

The next round proved just as disappointing for both McCormick and Larson. McCormick lost 10-2 to Oklahoma State’s Jon Morrison—the same wrestler the 133-pounder beat in a dual on Feb. 1. Larson dropped a 3-0 decision to Iowa’s Ethen Lofthouse after securing an All-American berth. Both McCormick and Larson will wrestle for seventh place Saturday.

“I tell them it’s really important to come out and win your last match. So we’re going to come out and battle,” Smith said.

Missouri’s Nick Hucke (141), Kyle Bradley (157), Zach Toal (165), Todd Porter (174) and Brent Haynes (197) lost their second match in the double elimination style tournament to finish their seasons.

Here’s results from Friday’s competition:

125 Pounds:  Waters decision 4-0 decision over Matthew Snyder (Virginia)

Nico Megaludis (Penn State) decision over Waters in 2nd Tie Breaker Overtime (18 seconds RT)

133 pounds:  Tyler Graff (Wisconsin) 5-3 decision over McCormick

McCormick fall (4:54) Levi Wolfensperger (Northern Iowa)

Jon Morrison (Oklahoma State) 10-2 major decision over McCormick

141 pounds:  Hucke 6-2 decision over Luke Vaith (Hofstra)

Michael Nevinger (Cornell) 7-2 decision over Hucke

149 pounds:  Houdashelt 3-2  decision over Kevin Tao (American) in 1st Tie Breaker Overtime

Jason Chamberlain (Boise State) 7-3 decision over Houdashelt

157 pounds:  Daniel Zilverberg (Minnesota) 6-0 decision over Bradley

165 pounds:  Toal 4-2 decision over Pierce Harger (Northwestern)

Patrick “Bubby” Graham (Oklahoma) 5-4 decision over Toal

174 pounds:  Porter 8-7 decision over Jonathan Fausey (Virginia)

Porter 6-2 decision over Daniel Yates (Michgan)

Michael Evans (Iowa) 8-0 major decision over Porter

184 pounds:  Larson 2-1 decision over Boaz Beard (Iowa State)

Larson 5-2 decision over Daniel Rinaldi (Rutgers)

Larson 4-2 decision over Max Thomusseit (Pittsburgh)

Ethen Lofthouse (Iowa) 3-0 decision over Larson

197 pounds: Kyven Gadson (Iowa State) 7-3 decision over Haynes

285 pounds: Bradley 2-1 decision over Zac Thomusseit (Pittsburgh) in 1st Tie Breaker Overtimes

Michael McMullan 3-1 decision over Bradley in Sudden Victory Overtime

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Missouri sends four wrestlers to NCAA tournament quarterfinals

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 22, 2013

By Peter Terpstra

Imagine what Drake Houdashelt ate for breakfast before the first day of the NCAA Championships.

Whatever it was, it sure did a better job than Wheaties ever could.

In the first round, unseeded Houdashelt was able to best 11th-seeded Andrew Alton of Penn State. The St. Louis native controlled most of the second round to spur him toward the win.

Then the wrestler once again found himself in a match with a higher seed. In the second championship round, Houdashelt beat sixth-seeded Dylan Ness of Minnesota to advance to the quarterfinals. After scoring an escape with less than a minute left in the third period, Houdashelt scored a takedown in the last 12 seconds to win the match.

“He just did a good job. He was down most of the match. He just stuck with his game plan. There were some close calls. He had a cradle and I challenged it. I lost, but he just went right back to it and wins the match with it,” Missouri Coach Brian Smith said.

After the first day of competition, the Tigers have three other wrestlers in the quarterfinals. Top-seeded 125-pound wrestler Alan Waters went 2-0 on the day, winning by decision 5-2 over Minnesota’s David Thorn and 4-2 over Michigan’s Sean Boyle.

At 133 pounds, Missouri’s Nathan McCormick beat Eric Spjut from Virginia Tech in the first round 3-0 before scoring a major decision 11-1 over Dane Harlow of Boston. Missouri’s other top-seeded wrestler Dom Bradley landed in the quarterfinals after scoring a 10-1 major decision over Cornell’s Stryker Lane and a 4-2 decision over former Big-12 foe Matt Gibson of Iowa State.

“Dom looks real good. Alan looks a little tentative. But we’ll have to get him going. He’s going to get better as the tournament goes on,” Smith said.

Missouri still has all 10 wrestlers alive in the bracket for Friday.

“We’re not getting a lot of bonus points. So we’re wearing a hard hat and bringing a lunch pale. We’re winning the hard way,” Smith said.

The quarterfinals start at 10 a.m. Missouri sits in sixth place tied with Ohio State with 14.5 points after day one.

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Mizzou wrestlers successful in second round of championship matches

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 22, 2013

Four of Missouri’s 10 wrestlers won Thursday night to remain in the championship bracket of the NCAA DI Wrestling Championships at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.

The six other wrestlers remain in the tournament but have moved down to the consolation bracket.

Penn State continues to hold onto the lead in team scoring with 32.5 points. Missouri is tied for sixth place with 14.5 points.

The third session of matches, scheduled for Friday morning. Semi finals are scheduled for Friday night with the finals scheduled for Saturday night.

Attendance for the two sessions was 32,262.

These are the results from Friday night and who the wrestlers face in Round 3:

Championship Round

125
No. 1 seed Alan Waters (31-0) won by 4-2 decision over Sean Boyle (Michigan, 23-11)
• Faces Matthew Snyder (Virginia, 22-7) who won by 10-6 decision over Trent Sprenkle (North Dakota St., 29-5)

133
Nathan McCormick (32-4) won by 11-1 major decision over Dane Harlowe (Boston U., 10-6)
• Faces Tyler Graff (Wisconsin, 30-4) who won by 3-0 decision over Randy Cruz (Lehigh, 32-11)

149
Drake Houdashelt (30-9) won by 5-2 decision over Dylan Ness (Minnesota, 15-5)
• Faces Kevin Tao (American, 26-13) who won by 9-3 decision over Raymond Borja (Navy, 23-8)

285
Dominque Bradley (37-1) won by 4-2 decision over Matthew Gibson (Iowa St., 19-10)
• Faces Zac Thomusseit (Pittsburgh, 25-2) who won by 6-0 decision over Mike McClure (Michigan St., 32-6)


Consolation round

141
Nicholas Hucke (14-14) won by 6-1 decision over Dean Pavlou (Chattanooga, 25-14)
• Faces Luke Vaith (Hofstra, 22-13) who lost by 13-2 major decision to Mitchell Port (Edinboro, 32-3)

157
Kyle Bradley (27-14) lost by 4-0 decision to David Bonin (Northern Iowa, 28-7)
• Faces Daniel Zilverberg (Minnesota, 17-13) who won by 7-1 decision over Joseph Napoli (Lehigh, 18-4)

165
Zach Toal (23-17) lost by 7-0 decision to Peter Yates (Virginia Tech, 32-1)
• Faces Pierce Harger (Northwestern, 26-9) who won by 6-5 decision over Johnny Greisheimer (Edinboro, 19-16)

174
Todd Porter (32-11) won by 8-1 decision over Billy Curling (Old Dominion, 20-12)
• Faces Chris Perry (Oklahoma St., 32-2) who won by 4-0 decision over Jonathan Fausey (Virginia, 30-9)

184
Mike Larson (28-11) lost by 2-0 decision to Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa, 32-4)
• Faces Boaz Beard (Iowa St., 16-8) who won by 9-0 major decision over Nick Vetterlein (Virginia Tech, 17-14)

197
Brent Haynes (32-9) won by 9-4 decision over Maxwell Huntley (Michigan, 17-16)
• Faces Kyven Gadson (Iowa St., 24-3) who lost by 8-7 decision to Blake Rosholt (Oklahoma St., 15-7)

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Bradley, Waters, lead 7 Missouri wrestlers to next round of wrestling championships

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 21, 2013

Seven of Missouri’s 10 wrestlers won their first round matches Thursday at the NCAA wrestling championship in Des Moines, Iowa.

The winners advance to the next round, while the losers fall to the “wrestleback” bracket. Wrestlers in that bracket will finish no higher than third place for the tournament.

In the team scoring, defending champion Penn State is in first place with 14.5 points. Missouri is tied for eighth place with eight points.

All second round matches are Thursday night. There are two rounds on Friday and the championship matches are Saturday night.

Here’s how the Missouri wrestlers did in the first round.

 

125
No. 1 seed Alan Waters (30-0) won by 5-2 decision over David Thorn (Minnesota, 13-11) (Dec 5-2)
• Faces Sean Boyle (Michigan, 23-10) who won by 8-3 decision over Mark Rappo (Pennsylvania, 23-6)

133
Nathan McCormick (31-4) won by decision, 3-0, over Erik Spjut (Virginia Tech, 17-12)
• Faces Dane Harlowe (Boston U., 10-5) who won by 9-7 decision over George DiCamillo (Virginia, 30-9)

141
Nicholas Hucke (13-14) lost in sudden victory – 1 over to Michael Mangrum (Oregon St., 37-4) • Faces Dean Pavlou (Chattanooga, 25-13) who lost 5-2 to Trevor Melde (Rutgers, 21-12)

149
Drake Houdashelt (29-9) won by 4-1 decision over Andrew Alton (Penn State, 26-5)
• Faces Dylan Ness (Minnesota, 15-4) who won by 4-2 decision over Daniel Young (Army, 16-10)

157
Kyle Bradley (27-13) won in tiebreaker over James Green (Nebraska, 20-5)
• Faces David Bonin (Northern Iowa, 27-7) who won by 1-0 decision over Bobby Barnhisel (Navy, 31-7)

165
Zach Toal (23-16) won by 6-2 decision over Austin Wilson (Nebraska, 24-13)
• Faces Peter Yates (Virginia Tech, 31-1) who won by 5-3 decision over Mark Lewandowski (Buffalo, 30-8)

174
Todd Porter (31-11) lost by major decision (10-1) to Mathew Brown (Penn State, 26-4)
• Faces Billy Curling (Old Dominion, 20-11) who lost to by 2-1 decision to Nick Bonaccorsi (Pittsburgh, 18-7)

184
Mike Larson (28-10) won by 8-5 decision over Ophir Bernstein (Brown, 24-10)
• Faces Ryan Loder (Northern Iowa, 31-4) who won by 4-0 decision over Cody Reed (Binghamton, 18-14)

197

Brent Haynes (31-9) lost by sudden victory to Jackson Hein (Wisconsin, 21-10) (SV-3 5-3)
• Faces Maxwell Huntley (Michigan, 17-15) who lost by fall to Taylor Meeks (Oregon St., 32-5) (Fall 1:49)

285
No. 1 seed Dominque Bradley (36-1) won by major decision (10-1) over Stryker Lane (Cornell, 20-13)
• Faces Matthew Gibson (Iowa St., 19-9) who won by 6-1 decision over Blake Herrin

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Mizzou wrestlers marches away with MAC title; looks ahead to nationals

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 18, 2013

by Peter Terpstra

The Missouri wrestling squad has won two conference championships in two years. It might have been the Tigers’ first time finishing first in the Mid-American Conference, but as KBIA’s Peter Terpstra shows, Missouri grabbed a title away from a team who hasn’t stepped off of the podium since 2001.

Ten Missouri wrestlers qualified for the 2013 NCAA Championships, which start Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa. Eight received automatic bids and two received at-large bids. Alan Waters (125) and Dom Bradley (HWT) are No. 1 seeds.

Here are the wrestlers who made the tournament and their first round matches:

125- No. 1 Alan Waters (29-0) vs. David Thorn, Minnesota, (13-10)
133- No. 6 Nathan McCormick vs. Erik Spjut, Virginia Tech, (17-10)
141- Nicholas Hucke (13-13) vs. No. 3 Michael Mangram, Oregon State, (36-4)
149- Drake Houdashelt (28-9) vs. No. 11 Andrew Alton, Penn State, (26-4)
157- Kyle Bradley (26-13) vs. No. 4 James Green, Nebraska, (20-4)
165- Zach Toal (22-16) vs. Ryan Leblanc, Indiana, (22-8)
174- Todd Porter (31-10) vs. No. 2 Mathew Brown, Penn State, (25-4)
184- No. 11 Mike Larson (27-10) vs. Ophir Bernstein, Brown, (24-9)
197- No. 12 Brent Haynes (31-8) vs. Jackson Hein, Wisconsin, (20-10)
285- No. 1 Dom Bradley (35-1) vs. Stryker Lane, Cornell, (20-10)

Information from MUTigers.com was used in this report.

MAC, Mizzou Wrestling, NCAA Tournament, Video

Remembering Mizzou’s Win Over Iowa

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 3, 2013

By Peter Terpstra

It’s been a week since Missouri wrestling beat Iowa to take third place in the Cliff Keen National Duals.
The win had special meaning for a Tiger assistant coach.
KBIA’s Peter Terpstra sat down with Joe Johnston on what the win meant not only for Missouri, but for himself too.

Two Missouri Tigers grabbed the spotlight in the victory.
Both Alan Waters and Kyle Bradley notched wins over top-ranked opponents.
KBIA’s Peter Terpstra talked with both wrestlers on how their individual performance helped the team pull off the victory.

Supervising Editor on this story was Megan Rentschler

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Mizzou’s McCormick follows family’s footsteps

Leave a Comment Posted by on February 19, 2013

By Peter Terpstra

Walk into the Hearnes Center for a Missouri wrestling dual and you will likely hear one voice above the rest. It’s a bit high pitched and if you don’t understand wrestling, you probably won’t know what he’s talking about.

His name is Tyler McCormick. He’s a former two-time All-American wrestler for the Missouri Tigers and he’s at every competition to cheer, or coach to use a more accurate word, his younger brother Nathan McCormick.

For many wrestlers, the sport just runs in the family. For Nathan McCormick, being great at the sport is part of the family.

Missouri’s 133-pound starter checks in as the No.5 wrestler in the nation. It’s his senior season and his last chance at landing on the podium in March — something he has yet to accomplish. But he’s familiar with success both on and off the mat.

Nathan is the third McCormick brother to start for the Tigers. His older brothers, Chris McCormick and Tyler, both started for four years at Missouri.

KBIA’s Peter Terpstra shows the story of Nathan McCormick and how he doesn’t see his brothers success as pressure, but as a path set for him that he plans to follow.

The Supervising Editor for this story was Megan Rentschler  
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