Wrestling Team Takes on No. 2 Nebraska

Saturday Night Dual Set for 7 p.m.

Feb. 1, 2008

Back-To-Back Big Red Opponents
The 11th-ranked Missouri wrestling team will face its second "Big Red" opponent of the season when they take on No. 2 Nebraska, Saturday, Feb. 2, at the Coliseum in Lincoln. Beginning at 7 p.m. (CT), this marks Missouri's second Big 12 opponent of the campaign and second to last road trip of the regular season. Last Sunday, the Tigers hosted the Big Red of Cornell and collected their second home win of the season, 21-13.

The Saturday night dual with Nebraska will be available to fans in Lincoln on NET. Larry Punteney and Tolly Thompson will call the action. Live stats and video will also be available online.

Eight members of Missouri's 10-man lineup will enter the 56th meeting with the Cornhuskers ranked among the nation's top-20 in their respective weight class. Fans should expect to see seven matches in which top-ranked grapplers go head-to-head. Three weight classes feature wrestlers ranked within five or less standings of one another, with the No. 9 Maxwell Askren and No. 10 Craig Brester battling for bragging rights at 197 pounds.

Seven members of Missouri's 2007 squad and four members of Nebraska's 2007 lineup return for the 2008 meeting. Familiar opponents include John Olanowski and Paul Donahoe at 125 pounds, Michael Chandler and Chris Oliver at 157 pounds and Askren and Brester at 197. Chandler and Oliver have the most meetings with each other at four and the two stand tied with two wins a piece, Chandler taking the most recent victory, 11-2, March 16 at the 2007 NCAA Championships in Detroit, Mich.

Five Tiger wrestlers are looking to improve to 2-0 in Big 12 competition this Saturday night. Senior Josh Wagner (149), Chandler, sophomore Nicholas Marable (165), junior Raymond Jordan (184) and Askren all took wins against Oklahoma State on Jan. 19.

Looking Ahead
Missouri will host No. 19 Oklahoma and Oregon State in its final two home duals of the 2007-08 campaign. Beginning with the Sooners on Friday, Feb. 8, the Missouri-Oklahoma dual will begin at 7:30 p.m. (CT) as part of the second-annual Beauty and the Beast event in conjunction with the Missouri women's gymnastics team. Senior day will be held Sunday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m. (CT) and Missouri will honor its six seniors prior to the start of the dual with Oregon State.

Make Note
Missouri senior Tyler McCormick is expected to return to the Mat in the Tiger's battle with Nebraska, Feb. 8. If he wrestles, it will be McCormick's first match since suffering a 5-0 loss to Northwestern's Eric Metzler Jan. 12 at the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)/Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The two-time All-American at 133 pounds, is looking to pick up his first Big 12 win of the season and 11th of his career.

Scouting the Huskers
Ranked as high as second in the nation, the Nebraska Cornhuskers enter Saturday's dual with a 10-2 overall record and 1-0 mark in Big 12 competition. Nebraska's last dual came Jan. 20 when the Cornhuskers bested then-No. 2 Oklahoma State, 22-13.

Nebraska returns six NCAA qualifiers for the 2007-08 campaign and one All-American in 2007 NCAA Champion Paul Donahoe at 125 pounds. Donahoe is currently 14-2 on the season and 8-2 in duals.

Earlier in the campaign, the Huskers earned a trip to the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA)/Cliff Keen National Duals Championship finals after breezing past No. 9 Northwestern (25-9), No. 1 Penn State (19-13) and No. 6 Minnesota (24-13). In the end, Nebraska fell victim to the No. 2 Iowa, 24-6 to finish the tournament in second place.

Nebraska's only other dual loss on the season came to Minnesota, Dec. 6, 25-13. At the time, Minnesota was ranked No. 2 in the nation.

History with the Huskers
The history of the Missouri Nebraska dual dates back to the 1925-26 season in which the Cornhuskers blanked Charles Fisher's Tiger team, 28-0. Since then, Nebraska has held onto its lead and currently stands at 36-13-3. Missouri has more ties with the Huskers than any other wrestling program!

Last season, Missouri came out on top with a 31-11 home victory. At the time, Missouri was ranked No. 2 in the nation, while Nebraska entered the dual ranked 20th. Seven Missouri wrestlers earned wins in their bouts.

The last time Missouri won in Nebraska was during the 2001-02 campaign when the Tigers topped the Cornhuskers, 24-16.

Wrestling the Second-Ranked Team
Missouri's meeting with Nebraska marks the third No. 2 ranked program that the Tigers will have faced this season. Earlier in the campaign, Missouri suffered a 27-9 loss to Iowa (Jan. 12) at the National Wrestling Association (NWCA)/Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Most recently, Missouri managed a tied with then-No. 2 Oklahoma State, 16-16, Jan. 19 at home. Five Tigers took wins in the afternoon dual with the Cowboys.

Chandler and Oliver, Familiar Opponents
Missouri's Michael Chandler and Nebraska's Chris Oliver have a history that dates back to the 2005-06 campaign. The two grapplers have met on four occasions and currently stand tied at two wins a piece. Chandler was the first to take a win in the 157 pound battle, recording a 9-4 win by decision after three overtime periods, Jan. 29 at Nebraska. Last season, Oliver held off Chandler, 4-3 at home in the Hearnes and 3-2 at the Big 12 Championships before suffering a 11-2 loss by major decision by the Tiger starter at the 2007 NCAA Championships in Detroit, Mich.

The Not So Easy Takedown
Sophomore Nicholas Marable has gone six weeks without being taken down. The Tiger grappler was last taken down, Dec. 19 by No. 1 ranked Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh. Wrestling up one weight class, 174 pounds, Marable was taken down twice by Gavin. This season, Marable has only given up two takedowns in dual competition, one to Gavin and another to Tennessee Chattanooga's Nick Davis Dec. 16.

Where is everyone?
The remainder of Missouri's wrestling team will be competing in the Missouri Valley Open, Saturday, Feb. 2 beginning at 9 a.m. Held in Marshall, Mo., several of Missouri's redshirt freshman are expected to attend the all-day event.

Missouri's Trifecta
The upper weights of Missouri's 10-man lineup pack a powerful punch. Together, the trio of Raymond Jordan, Maxwell Askren and Mark Ellis have combined for 50 wins this season. In dual competition, the three have recorded back-to-back-to-back wins on four occasions, outscoring their opponents, 96-34 with Ellis credited with three falls. Most recently the three Tigers combined for 14 of Missouri's 23 takedowns in the Jan. 27 dual against No. 16 Cornell.

Brian Smith's Big 12 Wins
Tiger Head Coach Brian Smith, now in his 10th year with the program has guided his team to 13 Big 12 victories. Missouri's first Big 12 win came against Nebraska, during the 2001-02 campaign. Of Missouri's 13 league wins, three have been over the Cornhuskers, the most recent recorded last year at home, 31-11.

80 Times Two
Two Missouri wrestlers, junior Raymond Jordan and senior Josh Wagner, were credited with their 80th career wins in back-to-back weeks. Jordan collected his 80th win in a Tiger singlet on Jan. 19 by holding off Jack Jensen of Oklahoma State, 8-2. Wagner followed with his 80th win on Jan. 27 against Cornell's D.J. Meagher, 14-3.

Beauty and the Beast
Once again, we're letting fans decide who they feel are the beauties and the beasts in the second-annual event held Friday, Feb. 8 in the Hearnes Center. The No. 12 Missouri women's gymnastics team hosts Centenary College beginning at 6:30 p.m. (CT), while the No. 11 Missouri wrestling team takes on No. 19 Oklahoma beginning at 7:30 p.m. Admission for the event is two canned food items to be donated to the Central Missouri Food Bank, or $5 for adults and $3 for students. Monetary donations will be accepted prior to the start of the dual for the Central Missouri Food Bank.

At last year's outing, the Missouri wrestling team shutdown Northern Iowa, 36-13 in front of a record-setting 6,197 fans.

The annual event is fun for the whole family, so come on out and support your Tigers!

 

 

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