Feb. 6, 2002

The Missouri Tiger wrestling team will look to pick up another win over a top ten team as they face No. 7 Iowa State Thursday in Ames, Iowa. The Tigers defeated then-No. 9 Illinois in their season opener and then knocked off then-No. 9 Nebraska on Dec. 15. Missouri enters the dual with ISU with a 12-1 record and a No. 9 ranking.

Thursday, MU faces off with an experienced Iowa State team that is led by seniors Cael Sanderson and Joe Heskett.

Sanderson is a three-time NCAA Champion and has a very impressive career record of 148-0. Sanderson has moved from the 184-pound class to the 197-pound division this season. He will face off against MU's most dominating wrestler this year, sophomore Scott Barker. Barker is 16-1 on the year and took the Most Outstanding Wrestler award at this year's Reno Tournament of Champions in December.

Heskett is a three-time All-American in the 165-pound class and enters Thursday's dual with a 28-1 record on the season.

The Cyclones are 13-5 on the year and 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference. They finished third in the conference last season.

Five Tigers are ranked in the top 20 of their weight classes, while ISU has nine wrestlers in the national rankings.

Last season Iowa State downed the Tigers by a score of 28-13 in Columbia, Mo. to improve its all-time record in the series to 39-1.

Missouri Outlook
The Tigers enter the dual against No. 7 Iowa State with a 12-1 record and ranked No. 9 in the nation.

Mizzou won its first 11 duals of the season for the first time since the 1967-68 season. The Tiger's first, and only, loss of the year came on Jan. 25, as No. 5 Oklahoma State defeated MU 26-7.

Missouri has wrestlers ranked in five of the 10 weight classes. Senior John Kopnisky leads the Tigers with 18 wins on the year. Sophomore Jeremy Spates is second on the team with 17.

Sophomore Scott Barker has been dominating this season, compiling a 16-1 record, including nine pins. He won the 197-pound division at the Reno Tournament and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler. He is currently ranked No. 7 in the 197-pound class

Redshirt freshman Tyron Woodley has become a strong force at 165 pounds for MU and has climbed into the top 15 of the polls.

Junior Kevin Herron (HWT), sophomore Kenny Burleson (157) and sophomore J.P. Reese (141) have also had success this season, spending time in the national rankings.

Mizzou will return home on Sunday for a non-conference dual with Michigan State at 7 p.m. in the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse.

Scouting Iowa State
Iowa State is the No. 7 ranked team in the nation with a record of 13-5. Last season the Cyclones finished third in the Big 12 Conference and sixth at the NCAA Championships, marking the sixth straight season ISU has finished in the top six at the national tournament.

Senior Cael Sanderson leads the Cyclone lineup. He has an amazing career record of 148-0. He has won the NCAA Championship and been named the NCAA Championships Most Outstanding Wrestler each of his three years at ISU. Sanderson wrestled at 184 pound in his three previous years, but has moved to the 197-pound class this season and is ranked No. 1.

Joe Heskett joins Sanderson as senior co-captains and brings a career record of 132-9 into Thursday's match. He has a third and two second place finishes in the NCAA's as a Cyclone and is 28-1 this year and ranked No. 1 at 165 pounds.

Iowa State returns three other NCAA qualifiers from last year's squad including Zach Roberson, who wrestles at 133 pounds for the Cyclones. He is 13-7 on the season. At 149 pounds, Billy Maldonado has a record of 25-7 this year, and at heavyweight Mark Knauer brings a 12-8 record into the dual with Missouri.

Missouri Projected Lineup (Overall record, Dual record, Big 12 Record)
125- Mark Bader-Jr. (12-11, 7-6, 0-2)
133- Chris McCormick-Fr. (8-11, 4-9, 0-2)
141- J.P. Reese-So. (14-8, 8-5, 1-1)
149- Jeremy Spates-So. (17-4, 9-1, 1-1)
157- Kenny Burleson- So. (12-7, 9-1, 0-2)
165- Tyron Woodley-RSFr. (14-5, 8-3, 1-1)
174- John Kopnisky-Sr. (18-3, 10-2, 2-0)
184- Dante Stone- Jr (12-8, 6-5, 0-2)
197- Scott Barker-So. (16-1, 12-1, 2-0)
HWT- Kevin Herron-Jr. (14-9, 8-5, 1-1)
Iowa State Projected Lineup (Overall record)
125- Ty Malia- So. (11-7)
133- Zach Roberson- So. (13-7)
141- Aaron Holker- Jr. (23-5)
149- Billy Maldonado- Sr. (25-7)
157- Matt Veach- So. (16-11)
165- Joe Heskett- Sr. (28-1)
174- Nick Passolano- RSFr. (17-12)
184- Austen Palmer- Jr. (14-13)
197- Cael Sanderson- Sr. (29-0)
HWT- Mark Knauer- Sr. (12-8)

The MU vs. ISU series
Of the 40 meeting between the Tigers and the Cyclones, MU has managed only one victory as Iowa State holds a 39-1 record in the series.

The Tigers' lone win came in 1928 as they defeated the Cyclones by a 12-11 score.

The first ever meeting between the two schools was in 1927. In that match, ISU defeated Missouri 29-0.

Last season, Iowa State handed MU a 28-13 loss in Columbia, Mo.

Missouri Head Coach Brian Smith
Brian Smith is in his fourth year as Missouri's head coach. He has compiled a record of 34-31-1 while at the helm of the Tigers.

He is a native of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. where he was a two-time high school state champion. He was a four-year letterwinner at Michigan State and was a Big Ten runner-up his senior year.

Smith started his coaching career at Westran High School in Florida. His collegiate coaching career began at Cornell as an assistant. He then held the head coaching job at Syracuse in 1997 where he helped to stabilize the program and coach a wrestler to All-American honors. He took over at Missouri in 1998 and has seen the Tigers improve each year he has been the MU coach.

Iowa State Head Coach Bobby Douglas
Former National Coach of the Year Bobby Douglas is in his tenth season at the helm of the Iowa State wrestling program. He has compiled a record of 143-52-3 at ISU and has a career record of 372-138-9 in 28 years as a collegiate head coach.

Douglas was named National Coach of the Year in 2000, as the Cyclones went 20-2 and finished second at the NCAA's.

Prior to taking over in Ames, Douglas was head coach of Arizona State and led the Sun Devils to a National Championship in 1988.

As a wrestler, he compiled a record of 303-17-7 from his high school days through his World Championship competition.

He wrestled at West Liberty (W.V.) State College before transferring to Oklahoma State. The Cowboys never lost a dual meet with Douglas in the lineup and they captured two conference championships and the 1964 NCAA crown.

Rankings
Missouri is ranked No. 9 in the nation by Intermat. That is the highest ever ranking for a MU wrestling team. Mizzou has been in the top 10 for six consecutive weeks and has been at No. 9 for the past five weeks.

Five Tigers are ranked in the top 20 of their weight classes. Scott Barker is No. 7 at 197 pounds, Jeremy Spates is No. 14 in the 149-pound class, John Kopnisky is No. 10 at 174 pounds, Tyron Woodley is ranked eleventh at 165 pounds and Kenny Burleson is ranked No. 17 in the 157-pound class.

Intermat Poll- Feb. 5, 2002
1. Minnesota
2. Iowa
3. Ohio State
4. Oklahoma State
5. Michigan
6. Oklahoma
7. Iowa State
8. Pennsylvania
9. MISSOURI
10. Arizona State
11. West Virginia
12. Lehigh
13. Illinois
14. Northern Iowa
15. Purdue
16. Lock Haven
17. Central Michigan
18. Edinboro
19. Wisconsin
20. Michigan State
21. Fresno State
22. Cornell
23. Pittsburgh
24. Boise State
25. Hofstra