SHAWNA KINGSTON | NW MISSOURIAN

Follow @NWMSports
for full coverage of the
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Western game Saturday.

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SPORTS

Complete coverage of Bearcats and Spoofhounds athletics

Thursday |February 19, 2015

BRIA CREEDEN | NW MISSOURIAN

2014 State wrestling qualifiers

Grade

Name

Weight-class

Record

113

Jacob Partridge

113

15-31

126

Nathaniel alexander

126

38-6

132

Cayden Dunbar

132

35-15

152

Trever Zimmerman

152

29-19

160

Matthew Twaddle

160

22-11

285

Brendan Weybrew

285

36-6
KELLY SHIPP | NW MISSOURIAN

The Maryville wrestling team practices Feb. 17 before sending six wrestlers to Columbia, Missouri, for the MSHSAA Wrestling Championships, which starts today.

Hounds send six to Mizzou Arena

TYLER MARTIN

Chief Sports Reporter | @Tyler_Martin78

One Spoofhounds wrestler continues to beat the odds as he heads into

the state tournament this weekend.
For the second year in a row, Nathaniel Alexander will head into the
MSHSAA Wrestling Championships
after suffering a separated shoulder
just weeks before. Alexander took
first place in the 126-pound weight
class in the Class 1 District 4 tournament Saturday.
Luckily, Alexander did not have to
wrestle on the first day of the tournament due to a first round bye. This allowed him to get an extra day to heal
up, but that does not mean the shoulder injury did not affect his wrestling.
I was very hesitant on my feet
and was really protective of my
shoulder, Alexander said. In my finals match I think it really did show,
especially when I gave up a reversal
with 10 seconds left. It hindered me
but not enough to stop the outcome.

Since Alexander took first place

in the district tournament, he will not
have to wrestle another district winner until the semifinals.
Not only has Alexander been
battling an injured shoulder, he also
came down with the flu Sunday night,
which caused him to miss practice
Monday. The extra bed rest from the
flu may have helped his shoulder to
heal a little faster.
He said that he could already feel
a difference in his shoulder Monday
and that he thinks it is healing faster
each day.
Although Alexander had more
time to recuperate from his shoulder
injury last year, his confidence is still
sky high heading into this seasons
state tournament.
This year I definitely feel that I
can wrestle with the best of them in
my weight class and I think I have a
good shot at going all the way, Alexander said. I have been put in prime
position, and there is nothing left but
to do it. I just have to go out there and

wrestle my heart out.

Alexander may have won the
district tournament with a separated
shoulder, but he still understands that
there are many things he needs to improve this week before heading to the
state tournament.
I have gotten myself into trouble, because I wrestle to go out there
and do crazy, exciting moves, Alexander said. When I wrestle safer,
more strategic and smarter it helps
so much, and that is what I really
have to focus on.
Head coach Connor Kellerstrass
was very impressed with how Alexander wrestled in the district tournament, but hopes the shoulder does not
weigh on his mind going into state.
Hopefully, throughout the state
tournament he will learn to be more
confident with his shoulder, Kellerstrass said. It is the last tournament
of his career so if he leaves it all out
there on the mat, hopefully he can get
a state title.
Alexander will not be the only

Maryville wrestler heading to Columbia, Missouri. The Hounds qualified

six wrestlers for the state tournament
which is an improvement from last
year when they qualified just four, and
is the most since 2008.
I thought everyone did a great
job, and we are taking six down to Columbia, Kellerstrass said. Even the
young guys that did not make it found
ways to get wins, and we got fifth as a
team. It was exciting, so we will just
build upon that for next year.
Senior Brendan Weybrew took
second place in the district tournament
in the 285 pound weight class for his
second straight state tournament
appearance where he will look to
improve on from last years second
place finish.
Sophomores Cayden Dunbar
and Matthew Twaddle will also make
their second straight appearance in
the state tournament this weekend.
Dunbar and Twaddle both placed
fourth in districts, Dunbar in the 132
pound weight class and Twaddle in

Tennis opens with

young, talented roster

Durant, media
equally at fault

Brandon zenner
Editor In Chief| @BrandonZenner

CHRIS ROUSH
News Editor

Yall dont know s.

Those four simple words, well
- depending on how you look at it have turned the sports world upside
down. Oklahoma City Thunders
Kevin Durant uttered this statement
last weekend and the entire media
world has exploded. Why? Because
the media has been called out yet
again by another professional athlete.
For the past several years, there
has been a growing disconnect between the media and professional
athletes. This is not anything new, but
it is being covered more by the media
than it has ever been before.
I have read books by Boston Globe
reporter Bob Ryan and NBC broadcaster Al Michaels. In each book, they
talk about being able to travel with the
teams and their ability to make a personal connection with the players.
However, there is not a connection like that anymore for a few reasons. I am not going to defend the
professional athletes right to not
talk, but I agree that the needling
and prodding is a bit ridiculous.
SARAH BANDY | NW MISSOURIAN

SEE DURANT | A9

the 152 pound weight class.

Juniors Trevor Zimmerman and
Jacob Partridge will wrestle in the
state tournament for their first time
after qualifying at districts. Zimmerman took third in the 160 pound
weight class while Partridge placed
fourth in the 113 pound weight class.
Kellerstrass said that this week of
practice will be key in preparation for
each wrestler that qualified for state.
We are going to break them all
up individually with coaches and
just work on each thing from every
position, Kellerstrass said. There
is always things they can improve
on, especially not giving up points
at the end of periods. They just have
to keep themselves in the match and
they will be fine.
The MSHSAA Wrestling Championship begins today in Columbia,
Missouri, at Mizzou Arena and ends
Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Romain Boissinot prepares to return a serve during practice Oct. 9.

Boissinot is the teams No. 1 singles player after a ITA Central Region title in 2014.

www.nwmissourinews.com

@TheMissourian

Mark Rosewell is in his 33rd

year of coaching collegiate tennis.
He has been through it all; 26
MIAA championships, 32 NCAA
Tournament appearances and 975
career victories at Northwest. This
season, though, may create more
headlines for his mens side than any
previous year.
The Bearcats have a chance at a
sixth straight MIAA title on the back
of three returning All-MIAA first
team performers. Romain Boissinot
takes over the No. 1 spot after a 2014
campaign that earned him conference
freshman of the year and will play
a role in Rosewells journey to his
1,000th win.
The mens side finished 2014 with
a record of 19-4, including a MIAA
tournament championship before being bounced from the NCAA National
Championships in the quarterfinals,
which is the deepest run in program
history. After a successful fall season
that brought Northwest success on
the national stage, Rosewell says the
team is as ready as ever to get back to
real-time matches.
Were certainly ready for a
match, Rosewell said. Weve been
practicing hard since the semester
started against ourselves and were
ready to get it rolling.
Northwest is projected to win

Northwest Missourian

the MIAA and is ranked No. 1 in the

MIAA preseason poll, picking up five
of six possible first place votes and is
ranked No. 17 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Returning to the roster in singles
No. 1 is sophomore Romain Boissinot,
who played No. 2 in 2014 on his way
to becoming MIAA Freshman of the
Year along with All-MIAA first team
honors. Boissinot is ranked first in
the Central Region by the ITA after
winning the regional tournament in
September over his teammate Alvaro
Riveros, who ranked second in the
region. Boissinot placed seventh
at the USTA/ITA Small College
Nationals in early October.
Im happy to be number one. I
think its more pressure, Boissinot
said. I know in the team, the whole
six players are very close to each other. Im happy to play one, but if I play
two or three, for me, its the same. The
only importance is the team.
Behind Boissinot, the depth is as
strong as ever for Northwest. Despite
being ranked second in the entire
region, Riveros will take the No. 3
singles spot behind freshman Mauro
Tete, an Argentinian who had to sit
out the 2014 season due to NCAA
eligibility issues.

themissourian

SEE TENNIS | A9

EXTRA POINT

Thursday | February 19, 2015

nwmissourinews.com

A9

Six Maryville wrestlers qualify for state championships

KELLY SHIPP | NW MISSOURIAN

From left: Trevor Zimmerman, Jacob Partridge, Nathaniel Alexander, Brenden Weybrew, Cayden Dunbar, and Matt Twaddle all head to Columbia, Missouri Feb. 19 for Class 1 State tournament for wrestling.

TENNIS

CONTINUED FROM A12

(Last season) I was able to watch
the home matches and I was kind of
sad because I couldnt play, Tete said.
... but I was so excited because the
next season I was going to be able to
play. I was looking forward to it.
Freshman Josef Altmann will
play No. 4 singles, followed by sophomore Hicham Azzaoui at No. 5 and
Fin Glowick, a returner who earned
All-MIAA first team last season and
is No. 12 in the central region, at No. 6
singles. Riveros/Boissinot are the No.
3 doubles pairing in the central region

DURANT

CONTINUED FROM A12

Disconnect between athletes
and the media comes from a form of
jealousy and bitterness. The jealousy
is on the part of the media wanting to
be as good as the athletes are and the
bitterness comes from the criticism
that athletes receive.
The medias job is to inform fans

and are anticipated to play No. 1 doubles for Northwest, followed by central region No. 7 Altmann/Golwick.
Im very happy to play with them
(Boissinot and Riveros). They give you
support because youre not alone in
the team, Tete said. You have good
players so you know you can count on
them and they can count on you.
Rosewell currently sits at
975 career victories as a coach at
Northwest and has the chance to
reach 1,000 wins by the end of March.
It means weve had at a lot of
good players come through Northwest, thats what it means, Rosewell
said while chuckling. Players win

matches. Not coaches players. I

havent won a point for Northwest,
but im certainly proud of it. Weve
had some great players Its been a
long time coming.
Along with nearing the 1,000 win
mark, Rosewell has managed a winning percentage of just under .700, a
mark he says is tremendous for the
competition his teams face.
Weve never, ever, ever once
padded the schedule, Rosewell said.
Weve always gone out and tried to
play the toughest schedule that we
possibly can and the best teams that
we can play. Having that kind of
winning percentage against that kind

of competition Im very proud of.

The 2015 season is no let-down in
scheduling, as Northwest faces nine
of the top 50 Division II schools and
the No. 5 NAIA school.
The Bearcats kick off the season
Feb. 20, against Lindsey Wilson
College (Ky.), in Red Oak, Iowa. The
Blue Raiders are 2-2 on the season,
with both losses coming to Division
I opponents.
Lindsey Wilson provides a solid
challenge to begin the season for
Northwest with three players among
the top 30, including two of the top
25 doubles pairs, as well as sending
one singles player and a doubles pair

to nationals in October. Despite being in a lower-level, Rosewell knows

the Blue Raiders will be an excellent
early-season match for his team.
I think theyre very good. We
played them (three) years ago and
beat them in a close match, Rosewell
said. Theyre good ... We think its
gonna be a close match. Its a great
match to open up with.
With the 2014 squad making it
further than any team in program
history, Tete says the goals this season
are quite simple.
The goal as a team is to go to nationals, Tete said. As a player, win all
the matches that I can.

about what is happening with each

team. Anytime the media writes
an article that criticizes a player,
there is automatically an animosity
toward the reporter.
Some of that is the athlete
letting everything get to him or her,
but the other aspect is reporters
know what kind of articles will get
a bigger audience.
It appears that members of to-

days media truly want to be bigger

than the actual sport they are covering. They do not care about the person
they are badgering with questions, all
they want is to meet a deadline.
I have been a part of Northwests
Student Media since my freshman
year. We have been taught how to
conduct interviews, the proper way
of writing, how to report a story but
the one thing that cant be taught in a

classroom is a reporters ethics.

Switching gears, do not get the
idea that I am defending how professional athletes are acting. There are
athletes that act like they are the king
of the world and not one negative
thing should be said about them.
Professional athletes get paid
thousands to millions of dollars, but
yet cant handle one negative article a
reaction to how he or she played. Not

each player is like this, but we will see

more and more athletes go down this
road if they see it being successful?
(i.e. Marshawn Lynch.)
The battle between media and
athletes will continue but each side
needs to do their part to understand
the others stance.
Either that or the word yeah
will become very popular in the
coming years.

Come in now to get your tan

on for Spring Break!

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MIAA STANDINGS

Overall

Central Missouri..................21-4
NORTHWEST.......................18-5
Pittsburg St.........................15-8
Lindenwood........................16-9
Nebraska-Kearney................14-8
Missouri Southern................15-9
Central Oklahoma................16-9
Fort Hays St.......................15-9
Washburn..........................13-14
Missouri Western................10-12
Southwest Baptist...............10-14
Northeastern St...................6-16
Emporia St.........................11-14
Lincoln................................4-21

MIAA

12-4
11-4
11-4
11-5
9-6
9-6
9-7
8-7
8-8
6-9
5-10
4-11
4-12
1-15

Feb. 21

www.interstatebloodbank.com

MIAA STANDINGS

Feb. 26

NORTHWEST at Southwest Baptist

NORTHWEST at Southwest Baptist

NW SOFTBALL

NW BASEBALL
Overall

Emporia St..........................4-0
Missouri Southern................2-0
Wasburn.............................3-0
Northeastern St...................4-1
Southwest Baptist................3-1
Central Missouri...................4-3
Lindenwood........................5-5
Nebraska-Kearney................5-5
Missouri Western.................3-4
Pittsburg St.........................3-5
NORTHWEST.......................2-5
Central Oklahoma................1-4
Fort Hays St.......................0-2
Lincoln...............................0-3

MIAA

0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0

Feb. 19

NORTHWEST at Northeastern (Double Header)

Feb. 20

MIAA

Missouri Western at NORTHWEST

Feb. 26

MIAA STANDINGS

Overall

Fort Hays St........................14-1 14-1

Pittsburg St.........................23-3 13-2
Emporia St..........................19-4 12-4
Missouri Southern.................16-6 10-5
Central Missouri....................16-8 10-6
Washburn............................16-8 8-8
Central Oklahoma.................15-10 8-8
Missouri Western..................11-10 6-9
Northeastern St...................10-12 6-9
Lincoln...............................11-11 6-10
Nebraska-Kearney................11-13 5-10
NORTHWEST........................8-16 4-11
Southwest Baptist.... ...........8-15 3-12
Lindenwood........................10-13 3-13

Feb. 21

Missouri Western at NORTHWEST

NORTHWEST at Northeastern (Double Header)

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MIAA STANDINGS

Overall

Emporia St..........................3-1
Pittsburg St.........................3-1
Central Oklahoma................4-2
Washburn...........................6-3
Missouri Western.................5-4
Southwest Baptist................5-4
Central Missouri...................2-2
Northeastern St...................4-4
Fort Hays St.......................1-3
NORTHWEST.......................1-3
Lindenwood........................2-8
Missouri Southern................1-7
Nebraska-Kearney................0-4
Lincoln...............................0-5

Feb. 21

Arkansas Tech vs. NORTHWEST

Rockhurst vs. NORTHWEST

Feb. 22

Arkansas Tech vs. NORTHWEST

Rockhurst vs. NORTHWEST

MIAA

0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0
0-0