A perfect 3-0 on the day at 174 pounds, earning all three wins by fall, senior defending National Champion Ben Askren (Hartland, Wis.) has recorded 121 wins on his career and now holds 55 consecutive victories, the nation's longest active win streak. Askren now stands 10 wins shy of the Missouri career win record (131) set by 2006 Hall of Fame Inductee Wes Roper between 1978 and 1982. Forced to compete against teammate and All-American senior Matt Pell (Luxemburg, Wis.) the two were deemed co-champions of the 174 pound class. With the wins, Askren, Pell became the first Tigers in the history of the Open to earn back-to-back titles. Pell also was 3-0 on the day recording consecutive falls in his first two matches and landing a 5-3 decision over 16th-ranked Josh Weitzel (Oklahoma) to advance to the championship finals.
Competing at 184 pounds, sophomore Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) won all four of his bouts by major decision, with the largest margin of victory coming in his opening match against Kyle Jones of Meramec, 20-6. Jordan is now one of three wrestlers to earn consecutive titles at the Missouri Open. (Askren and Pell became the first Missouri wrestlers to do so purely because 174 pounds competes prior to 184 pounds).
Ninth-ranked freshman Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.), who bested No. 2 J.D. Bergman (Ohio State) Thursday night, took down another top-five wrestler when he knocked off No. 4 Joel Flaggert of Oklahoma, 2-1. Askren was 4-0 with wins over Steve Doeschot (Truman State, major decision, 15-2), Eddie Hernandez (Missouri Valley College, fall, 4:04), Patrick Bond (Illinois, Decision, 7-4) and Flaggert.
Missouri sophomore Michael Chandler (High Ridge, Mo.) finished the day in second place at 157 pounds after falling to seventh-ranked Michael Poeta of Illinois, 10-4. Prior to his match with Poeta, Chandler advanced through the championship bracket with three wins by decision.
"It's been a long day of wrestling, but overall I was pleased with how the team competed," Head Coach Brian Smith said. "This was a great opportunity to really see what the team is made of and it gave our fans in the community a chance to see 35 of our wrestlers in action."
As a team, Missouri tallied 18 falls in the Open Division with nine individuals contributing to the count. Freshman Ashtin Primus (South Connelsville, Penn.) recorded the most falls of any Missouri wrestler, with four on the day. Primus finished the 141-pound bracket in third place after besting teammate Amond Prater (Marietta, Ga.) in a hard-fought 7-6 decision.
Up next for the Tigers, Missouri will travel to the 25th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational beginning Friday, Dec. 1 in Primm, Nev. The two-day event will feature over 10 of the nation's top-25 wrestling programs.
REMINDER: Monday MatChat with Missouri All-American Matt Pell will begin tomorrow, Nov. 20 at 2:30 p.m. (CT). Please log on to mutigers.com for more information.
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