Big 12 All-Stars to travel to Korea to participate in the Korean University National Championships, June 9-11A team of Big 12 All-Stars will travel to Seoul, Korea, to participate in the Korean University National Championships, June 9-11. The team will also compete in dual meets against Korean teams to assist in the training for the national event.
All five schools which sponsor Big 12 wrestling have at least one competitor represented on the all-star squad. Selection of the student-athletes representatives was based on 1999 NCAA performances with a maximum of three members per school. Upon availability, the league wrestling coaches assisted in the selection of those individual champions and All-Americans who would make the trip.
The team will be coached by Nebraska head coach Tim Neumann. Neumann completed his 14th season at Nebraska and is the winningest coach in Husker wrestling history with 189 dual victories and a .716 winning percentage. Neumann also led the Huskers to their highest NCAA Division I wrestling finish by placing third in 1993. The Huskers also won Big Eight Conference championships in 1993 and 1995. Joining Neumann on the staff will be Missouri Assistant Coach Bart Horton and Nebraska wrestling trainer Derek Clark.
Six of the 11 all-stars were Big 12 champions at the 1999 league meet in March, and nine went on to earn All-American status at the NCAA championships by placing in the top eight of their respective weights. Iowa State's Cael Sanderson heads the list of Big 12 wrestlers, winning both the league and national meet and being named the Outstanding Wrestler of the 1999 NCAA Division I Championships. Sanderson went 38-0 as a redshirt freshman last season.
Oklahoma's Michael Lightner and Rod Jones were both runner-ups at the NCAA meet while Oklahoma State's Teague Moore placed third. Other all-stars who earned All-America status were Oklahoma State's Reggie Wright (fourth), Nebraska's Bryan Snyder (fourth), Oklahoma's John Ward (fifth) and Iowa State's Zach Thompson (eighth). Joining Sanderson as league champs on the team are Ward, Thompson, Snyder, Wright, and Lightner.
Missouri's Jason Moore had an impressive 1997-98 season, leading the Tigers in pins with nine and advancing individually to the NCAA Championships. He had an 11-19 record during the 1998-99 season. Nebraska's Todd Beckerman was the Junior National Freestyle Champion last summer.
The tour is sponsored by USA Wrestling and the Big 12 Conference. Funding for the Big 12 All-Stars Tour was made in 1997 when the conference was awarded a grant from the United States Olympic Committee and the NCAA. In turn, the Big 12 will host a foreign team in May 2000 with the site and specific date to be determined.
1999 Big 12 All-Stars Overseas Freestyle Wrestling Roster
Name, School, Weight, Class, Hometown
Teague Moore, Oklahoma State, 125, Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Todd Beckerman, Nebraska, 133, So., Crofton, Md.
Michael Lightner, Oklahoma, 141, So., Marlow, Okla.
Reggie Wright, Oklahoma State, 149, So., Bellwood, Ill.
Bryan Snyder, Nebraska, 157, Fr., Easton, Pa.
Rod Jones, Oklahoma, 165, Sr., Tulsa, Okla.
Jason Moore, Missouri, 174, So., St. Charles, Mo.
Brad Vering, Nebraska, 184, So., Howells, Neb.
Cael Sanderson, Iowa State, 184, Fr., Heber, Utah
Zach Thompson, Iowa State, 197, So., Cleveland, Ohio
John Henry Ward, Oklahoma, 285, Sr., Jay, Okla.
Head Coach: Tim Neumann (Nebraska)
Assistant Coach: Bart Horton (Missouri)
Trainer: Derek Clark (Nebraska)