Redshirt freshman Tony Pescaglia (Columbia, Mo,) is one of four Tigers that will continue a run through the championship side of the bracket. Wrestling at 125 pounds. Pescaglia has managed two major upsets, first toppling sixth-ranked and fourth-seeded Collin Cudd of Wisconsin before knocking off No. 11 Gabe Flores of Illinois, 8-4. Pescaglia will open his second day of competition against current No. 1 ranked Paul Donahoe of Nebraska. Pescaglia has held off all four of his Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational opponents by a minimum of four points.
"Tony looked a little sluggish in his opening match," Head Coach Brian Smith said. "But he looked great later in the day. It's like something clicked all of the sudden for Tony. He looked like the wrestler I saw at the end of last season. He's looking really good."
Nicholas Marable (Collierville, Tenn.) wrestling at 165 pound will also make a run at his first Cliff Keen Title. In his first appearance at the prestigious tournament, Marable, seeded third in his weight class, went 4-0 on the day after winning two of his matches by bonus point victories.
Fifth-ranked Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) looks to improve on his sixth place finish of last year at 184 pounds. Currently 3-0 in the tournament, Jordan has won two of his matches by major decision.
Helping Missouri to its second place showing, sophomore Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.) improved to 8-1 on the season after pinning all three of his Las Vegas Invitational opponents. Askren's fastest fall came in 2:24 over Pittsburgh's Dave Crowell. Askren returns to this year's competition with hopes to defend his 2006 title.
Junior Marcus Hoehn (141 pounds), senior Josh Wagner (149 pounds), junior Michael Chandler (157 pounds) and sophomore Mark Ellis (HWT) will all fight to stay alive in the consolation brackets. Ellis suffered an opening round loss to former heavyweight TJ Wright of Rider but has won three straight matches to remain in contention for a top-eight finish.
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