March 6, 2000

Columbia, Mo. - Following Sunday's Big 12 Conference Wrestling Championships, Missouri Tigers JEFF URBAN (149) and JEREMY SPATES (141) were each awarded a wild card berth into the NCAA Championships by the Big 12 Conference`s five coaches.

Both wrestlers finished fourth at the conference meet, one place below automatic qualification for the national meet. But both Tigers have amassed 30 wins or more on the season, and both were ranked among the nation's top-20 for the majority of the regular season. Urban started the season ranked No. 12 in the Intermat preseason poll and did not fall out of the rankings all season.

As a true freshman, Spates leads MU in wins to date with a 31-11 mark, while Urban, a senior, is having a career-best season at 30-12. It will be the second trip to wrestling's "Big Dance" of Urban's career. Last season he also qualified for the national meet via a wild card and was MU's only representative.

Urban and Spates join JOHN KOPNISKY (174) as Tigers headed to the 2000 NCAA Championships March 16-18 at Kiel Center in St. Louis, Mo. Kopnisky was an automatic qualifier after finshing as the runner-up at 174 pounds. The last time three Mizzou wrestlers qualified for the national meet was 1997, when Mike Harp, Thomas Patterson, and Justin Thaw all advanced.