Four Huskers Advance to Big 12 Finals

Stillwater, Okla. -- Four members of the ninth-ranked Nebraska wrestling team advanced to the finals of the 2001 Big 12 Championships Friday night in front of 5,000 fans at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. As a team, NU sits in fourth place with 33 team points. Leading the way is Oklahoma State with 58, trailed by Oklahoma with 45.5 points and sitting in third is Iowa State with 37 team points. Missouri has yet to score in the championships.

NU got off to a slow start in the pigtail matches, winning just one out of six matches. The lone win came at 165 pounds where Tony Denke major decisioned Missouri's Mark Vollmar, 14-5. At 174 pounds, NU's Ati Conner, who did not score a takedown against a conference opponent during the regular season, scored three takedowns against 10th-ranked John Kopnisky of Missouri, but it wasn't enough as he dropped his fifth-straight conference match by one point, 8-7.

In the semifinals, redshirt freshman Jason Powell got the Huskers back on track with a 4-1 win over Oklahoma State's seventh-ranked Matt Brown. Powell's opponent in the 125-pound Big 12 final will be fifth-ranked Matt Ridings. Ridings defeated Powell in the two's only previous meeting on Feb. 11, 8-7.

At 133 pounds, senior All-American Todd Beckerman advanced to his second consecutive Big 12 final with a 6-2 decision over No. 18 Witt Durden. His opponent in the championship match will be second-ranked Johnny Thompson of Oklahoma State, who Beckerman pinned on Feb. 10 in 1:31.

Junior Bryan Snyder will go for his third Big 12 title in as many tries tomorrow after advancing with a 19-7 major decision over Oklahoma's Brian Burrows. Standing in Snyder's way of becoming just the second Husker ever to win three conference crowns will be Iowa State's Cole Sanderson, who Snyder beat on Feb. 16, 6-4.

NCAA Champion Brad Vering gave Nebraska its fourth finalist with a 4-2 win over 11th-ranked Waymon May, avenging his 3-2 loss to May on Feb. 10. Vering's opponent in the finals will be long-time nemesis Mark Munoz, who defeated Zach Thompson in the other semifinal match, 4-2. Vering and Munoz have split their two matches this season, while Munoz leads the all-time series, 6-4.

"We have to make the most of our scoring opprotunities," Coach Mark Manning said in respect to tomorrow's 197-pound final. "If we do that, we should be in good shape."

In NU's fifth semifinal match, Denke fell to Iowa State's second-ranked Joe Heskett, 12-2. Denke will wrestle for third place against the winner of Oklahoma State Chris Pendleton and his pigtail opponent, Vollmar.

The Big 12 Championships conclude tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. with the consolation semifinals and finals, while the championship finals begin at 2 p.m.

Individual Match Results
141 pounds J.P. Reese (Missouri) dec. Dusty Spualding (NU), 5-3
149 pounds Billy Maldonado (Iowa State) dec. Travis Baker (NU), 11-3
165 pounds Tony Denke (NU) maj. dec. Mark Vollmar (Missouri), 14-5
174 pounds #10 John Kopnisky (Missouri) dec. #12 Ati Conner (NU), 8-7
184 pounds Ry Stone (Missouri) dec. Matt Fletcher (NU), 9-3
Heavyweight Scott Barker (Missouri) maj. dec. Pat Miron (NU), 13-1
Semifinals
125 pounds #6 Jason Powell (NU) dec. #7 Matt Brown (Oklahoma State), 4-1
133 pounds #3 Todd Beckerman (NU) dec. #18 Witt Durden (Oklahoma), 6-2
157 pounds #2 Bryan Snyder (NU) maj. dec. Brian Burrows (Oklahoma), 19-7
165 pounds #2 Joe Heskett (Iowa State) maj. dec. Tony Denke (NU), 12-2
197 pounds #1 Brad Vering (NU) dec. #11 Waymon May (Oklahoma), 4-2