Pepper met up with SIUE's Karsten Van Velsor, who he defeated in the finals at the Joe Parisi Open earlier this season, 9-7. The two traded a flurry of points throughout the first period, as Pepper took Van Velsor down first before being reversed eight seconds later. Pepper regained the lead quickly though with a reversal of his own, and added a takedown halfway through the frame to take a 6-3 advantage after three minutes. The Mizzou redshirt freshman started on bottom in the second, and escaped before scoring another two-point takedown. Pepper held Van Velsor down, and finally turned him onto his back for a pin at 4:02.
Immediately after at 157 pounds, redshirt freshman Matthew Lemanowicz followed suit with a pin of his own in what was his dual collegiate debut as well. Lemanowicz carried a 4-1 lead into the third period over Logun Taylor before reversing and adding two more on a takedown versus his SIUE counterpart. With under a minute to go, Lemanowicz rolled Taylor into danger, and at the 6:10 mark, the official smacked the mat and awarded the fall. The two pins increased the Tigers lead to 22-0 before a quick intermission.
True freshman J'den Cox also added a pin at 197 pounds with a cradle over Chris Johnson with less than 30 seconds to go in the first period.
Saturday's victory is the Tigers' third shutout in the past two seasons, as the Tigers blanked Old Dominion and Baker in 2012-13. The win also increases Mizzou's all-time record versus SIUE to 21-4, and marks the 13th straight victory over the Cougars over a 15-year span. The two squads have faced off the past four seasons, with the Tigers outscoring SIUE, 173-3.
Following this non-conference victory, the Tigers are now slated for three conference battles, beginning on the road at Central Michigan on January 19. The Chippewas are 2-1 in Mid-American Conference action following a 24-15 loss to Northern Iowa on Saturday night.
For all the latest on Tiger Style wrestling, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Results:
125 Barlow McGhee (Missouri) def. Dakota Leach (SIUE) 3-2
133 Matt Manley (Missouri) def. Patrick Myers (SIUE) 3-2
141 Lavion Mayes (Missouri) def. Drew Vrbenec (SIUE) 12-3
149 Blake Pepper (Missouri) pinned Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) 4:01
157 Matt Lemanowicz (Missouri) pinned Logun Taylor (SIUE) 6:09
165 Zach Toal (Missouri) def. Connor McMahon (SIUE) 7-2
174 Mike England (Missouri) def. Jake Residori (SIUE) 6-4
184 John Eblen (Missouri) def. Deshoun White (SIUE) 4-2
197 J`Den Cox (Missouri) pinned Chris Johnson (SIUE) 2:33
285 Devin Mellon (Missouri) def. David Devine (SIUE) 3-2
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