Jan. 14, 2003

COLUMBIA, Mo. -

The 17th-ranked Missouri Tiger wrestling team (9-3, 0-1 Big 12) will take on fifth-ranked and eighth seeded Arizona State in the first round of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Duals on Saturday, January 18 on the campus of Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio. The dual will start at 9:00 a.m. EST on Saturday in the St. John Arena. The winner of the match will take on the winner of the match between top-ranked and top seed Oklahoma State and 14th-ranked Northern Iowa.

This will be the second time that the Tigers have faced the Sundevils in a dual meet. The last meeting was won by Arizona State, 34-9 on January 21, 1989. The Sundevils (5-3, 1-0 Pac-10) are coming off a big dual win against fourth-ranked Oklahoma, 21-21 with the Sundevils holding the edge on bout victories, 6-4. They also defeated Northern Iowa at the Reno Tournament of Champions, to give them two wins over ranked opponents. Their three losses are against #2 Iowa, #3 Minnesota and #8 Nebraska. They finished fourth at the Las Vegas Invitational and third at the Reno Tournament of Champions.

The Sundevils have seven individuals ranked amongst the top-15 in the country in their respected weight classes. Led by Eric Larkin, who is the top-ranked 149-pounder in the country.

Earlier this season many Tigers faced Sundevil wrestlers in individual bouts at the Las Vegas Invite. Jeremy Spates lost to Larkin in the quarterfinals of the 141-pound match, 13-9. Tyron Woodley defeated then 19th-ranked Nick Frost, 9-4 in the 165-pound wrestleback round. Matt Turner lost a 7-4 decision to then 14th-ranked Curtis Owen in the round of 32 of the 174-pound matches. Jeff Foust defeated Ron Renzi, 7-3 in the wrestleback round of the 184-pound weight class.

Teams competing in the duals are two-time defending champions of both the NCAA Championships and the National Duals; Minnesota, Iowa, Oklahoma State, #4 Cornell, #6 Ohio State, #7 Oklahoma, #10 West Virginia, #11 Michigan, #12 Central Michigan, Northern Iowa, #18 Michigan State, #20 Iowa State, #21 Boise State and Ohio University.

First round action is slated for 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. (EST). Missouri, win or lose, will wrestle again at 1:00 p.m. Saturday. To advance to the matches on Sunday, the Tigers must win at least two duals in the double-elimination tournament.

There will be a live webcast of all the dual matches on The Amateur Wrestling Show's (TAWS) website at http://members.citynet.net/sites/taws . Results will be posted on www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com, the Ohio State website, after each session. There will also be a link to each of these sites on the Missouri Wrestling home page.

POSSIBLE LINE-UPS

125- Mark Bader (12-11, 6-5) vs. Jeremy Mendoza (11-10, 2-2)
133- Chris McCormick (10-8, 4-2) vs. #9 Mike Simpson (13-16, 1-6)
141- #11 J.P. Reese (20-6, 6-2) vs. #4 Dana Holland (21-5, 5-2)
149- #12 Jeremy Spates (14-3, 6-2) vs, #1 Eric Larkin (16-0, 7-0)
157- #13 Kenny Burleson (23-4, 10-1) vs. #12 Rocky Smart (2-0, 2-0)
165- #9 Tyron Woodley (20-5, 8-3) vs. #8 Nick Frost (19-8, 6-2)
174- Matt Turner (11-10, 4-5) vs. #5 Curtis Owen (9-5, 1-3)
184- #4 Scott Barker (4-1, 4-1) vs. Ron Renzi (8-9, 2-4)
197- #14 Dante Stone (17-8, 7-4) vs. Ryan Bader (15-10, 3-5)
HWT- #15 Kevin Herron (20-5, 11-1) vs. #4 Kellan Fluckiger (21-5, 7-1)

*Records are overall followed by dual record