Three Wrestlers Place at the MVC Open

Three wrestlers post wins at Missouri Valley Open
Ross places second in tournament, while two other Cougars place
Levi KirbyIssue date: 2/11/10 Section: Sports
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Media Credit: Hunter Creel
Sophomore Steve Ross (pictured) along with fresmen Brendan Murphy and A.J. Smith led SIUE with victories at the Missouri Valley Open Saturday. SIUE has one more event left on the schedule before heading to the National College Wrestling Association North Central Conference Tournament.


A trio of SIUE grapplers left their mark on the mats of the Missouri Valley Open this weekend after making it high into the tournament rankings.

Sophomore Steve Ross and freshmen Brendan Murphy and A.J. Smith all walked away with a handful of wins at the open, and led the Cougars throughout the competition.

Ross won four straight to take him directly to the championship game at 157 pounds.

In the final match, he fell to his opponent from Lindenwood University and finished in second place, the highest finish of his career at SIUE.

"It felt really good. I had a really good draw and took advantage of it," Ross said. "I have a lot of confidence right now ... [but] we have a few duals this weekend that I'm focusing for and preparing for."

Ross said he is still a young player, but looks forward to working on his game.

"I wrestled a pretty solid kid in the finals, and I made a few mistakes that he took advantage of..." Ross said. "...I still have a lot of room to keep learning and growing. So, I'll take those mistakes I made and work on them this week in practice."

Smith had a four-game winning streak of his own, finishing third at the open at 197 pounds. Smith lost his second match in the championship bracket, knocking him down to the wrestleback, where he won four straight to finish in third with a 5-1 tournament record.

Third place ties Smith's highest finish at SIUE. He also placed third at the University of Central Missouri Denker Open this season.

Smith said all he wants to do is focus on what is coming next.

"I take each match one at a time," Smith said. "So the last one only affects me as much as to tell me [that] I'm making progress."

Murphy, at 133 pounds, won two matches in the championship and wrestleback brackets each. His four wins were enough to carry him to the fifth place game, where he lost to Trison Graham from the University of Central Oklahoma, giving him the sixth place finish.

Murphy had to forfeit two of his matches due to shoulder complications, but said he had hopes of finishing better than sixth place.

Murphy said he was impressed with his teammate Ross' performance in the tournament, however, and that he wrestled well.

"[It's] showing that his hard work is starting to pay off," Murphy said.

The Cougars have one event left on Sunday at the Greyhound Duals in Indianapolis, Ind., before they head to the National College Wrestling Association North Central Conference Tournament.

SIUE will face three opponents at the Greyhound Duals, starting with Findlay University, then Campbellsville University and finishing up with Indianapolis University.

The NCWA Conference Tournament is on Feb. 27 in Allendale, Mich., followed by the season-ending National Tournament from March 11-13 in Hampton, Virg.