Marable, Jordan Advance in Championship Bracket - MUTIGERS.COM - The University of Missouri Official Athletic Site

Marable, Jordan Advance in Championship Bracket
Six Tiger Wrestlers Sill in Hunt for All-American Honors

March 21, 2008

St. Louis, Mo. - Two Tiger grapplers, sophomore Nicholas Marable (Collierville, Tenn.) and junior Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) advanced in the championship bracket of the Division I Wrestling Championships held in the Scottrade Center of St. Louis, Mo., and will wrestle in the 165 and 184-pound semi-finals, respectively, tonight beginning at 6 p.m. (CT). Three additional Missouri wrestlers will make a run through the consolation brackets in search of a top-eight All-American finish. The Tigers now stand in seventh place in the team competition with 38.5 points, while the Iowa Hawkeyes continue to distance themselves from the rest of the pack with 67 team points.

Wrestling in front of 15,861 fans, Marable met at center circle with Iowa State's Jonathan Reader for the third time of the season and improved to 3-0 against Reader and 3-0 at the National Tournament with a 5-3 win at 165 pounds. Marable scored four of his five points through takedowns in the first and third period and escaped in the second period after choosing downs. Marable held the lead for the entire match and refused to give up a takedown, extending his streak to 14 straight matches without being taken down. Marable's next match will pit the Tiger against second-seeded Mark Perry of Iowa. Marable and Perry wrestled once this season at the NWCA National Duals, with Perry coming out on top 3-2 in overtime. It was one of only three losses that Marable suffered this season.

Jordan also improved to 3-0 at the tournament, his best showing in his three appearances, after taking down Vince Jones of Nebraska, 3-1. Scoreless through the first period, Jones chose down to start the second and escaped in 15 seconds to take the lead. Jordan chose down to start the third, escaped and took down the Husker with 59 seconds remaining in the match. The Tiger grappler owns a 3-1 advantage over Jones with all three wins coming this season.

Junior Michael Chandler (High Ridge, Mo.) and sophomore Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.) suffered their first losses of the tournament at 157 and 197-pounds respectively. Pairing with second-seeded Michael Poeta of Illinois, Chandler lost the bout 7-3 to fall from title contention. Chandler managed a reversal on Poeta after being taken down, but was quickly reversed himself to end the period down 4-2. Chandler escaped the Illini's hold but found himself down by three points entering the third period, a lead he was unable to erase. The meeting between Missouri and Illinois was the third of the tournament.

Askren suffered his first loss of the tournament to Wynn Michalak of Central Michigan, 5-4. Michalak entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed at 197 pounds and held Askren to a first period takedown, second period escape and 1:26 of riding time.

Two-time All-American Tyler McCormick (Leawood, Kan.) became the first Tiger to see his run through the National Tournament come to an end. After finishing day one with a 1-1 record, McCormick began session two in the 133-pound consolation bracket against unseeded Steve Bell of Maryland. Within two points of Bell at the end of the first and second periods, McCormick was unable to counter the Terps' takedowns and managed only six escapes in his 11-6 loss. McCormick, one of two Missouri seniors at the NCAA Championships, finished his Tiger career with a 77-33 record that included numerous wins over several of the nations top-ranked grapplers.

Fellow senior Josh Wagner (Milton, Wis.) finished his tournament run with a 3-2 record that included two wins by way of fall. Wagner opened the morning session with a 2-1 decision of Mitch Mueller from Iowa State. Wrestling in the final consolation match of session three, Wagner and Brandon Carter of Central Michigan scrambled on the mat, but it was Wagner that loss the match by fall in 3:41.