Imperfect victory

For perfectionists like the Missouri wrestlers, a 31-11 win isn’t good enough.

“Our whole team didn’t really wrestle our best,” Tigers 157-pounder

Michael Chandler said after Sunday’s dual victory against Nebraska. “We won 31-11, but we should have shut them out, easily.”

Chandler was especially frustrated after he lost a 4-3 decision to Nebraska’s unranked Chris Oliver in the day’s only major upset. Chandler, a sophomore, entered the match ranked No. 13 in the country, but dropped his second straight one-point decision. He squandered a late lead in a 6-5 loss to Minnesota’s C.P. Schlatter in the Tigers’ defeat in the championship dual of the NWCA National Duals on Jan. 14 in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Chandler said he felt he let his team down that day.

“I wouldn’t say it was my fault that we lost,” he said. “But, it was definitely a thought that crossed my mind, that if I pull through for the team there, we win that dual.”

Chandler said that loss motivated him, and he carried that motivation into Sunday’s match against Oliver. But Oliver broke a 3-3 tie with an escape in the third period, causing more disappointment for Chandler, who sat at the end of the Tigers’ bench with his head down and an angry look on his face, a stark contrast to his nearby teammates, who were smiling as they watched the Tigers dominate.

No. 2 Missouri (8-1, 1-0 Big 12) won seven of 10 matches in front of a record crowd of 2,728 at Hearnes Center. The No. 20 Huskers (7-5, 0-1 Big 12) got wins from Paul Donahoe and Dominick Moyer to go along with Oliver’s victory over Chandler. Missouri 149-pounder Josh Wagner had the only pin of the day, beating Robert Sanders just a minute and three seconds into the match. Wagner lost to Sanders in their most recent meeting at the Big 12 Championships last year. Missouri coach Brian Smith said the win was an important confidence builder for Wagner, who Smith says is Missouri’s most improved wrestler this year.

“He went out and dominated a kid that dominated him last year,” Smith said. “I knew he was better than him, but he went out and proved it. I’m sure there were some demons in there saying ‘I might not beat him’, but he did. He went out and wrestled like he has all year.”

After the dual, the Tigers huddled in the tunnel leading to their locker room and broke the huddle with a simple chant: “National Champs”. Once again, they left a clear impression that they only have one goal on their mind, and won’t settle for less than national champion-caliber performances, something they say they came a little short of Sunday.

“We have to get a little better,” Smith said. “We have to improve, and we know that. To win the national title, we’re going to have to get better at every weight. I think they’re frustrated because they know they can wrestle better.”

Even top-ranked 197-pounder Maxwell Askren, who had a dominant 11-3 win over No. 8 Craig Brester in the day’s premier match, left the Hearnes Center floor anxious to wrestle Nebraska again.

“I had to go through the seven minutes,” he said. “I was hoping it would be less. But, I let him know that I’m still going to come after him even if I’m winning. He’ll know. At the Big 12’s and nationals, I’ll see him again, and he’ll be afraid. He’s not going to want to wrestle me.”

Askren said that he heard Brester had some big wins earlier

in the season, but that he knew he would win Sunday’s match.

“My coach told me he beat Kurt Backes of Iowa State (the No. 9 wrestler at 197 pounds),” Askren said. “That’s great for him, it doesn’t mean he’s going to beat me.”

It’s that kind of confidence, or cockiness even, that all the Missouri wrestlers share.

The team says it is the best in the country, a team that feels it can do much better. It’s an attitude that even Chandler still possesses, despite his current slump.

He says he’s still the best wrestler in the Big 12 in his weight class, and that the Tigers’ best performances are still ahead of them.

“Check us at the end of the season during March,” he said. “We’re going to roll through people.”