Dec. 12, 2003
After taking third place at the 22nd annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, the Tigers returned home Sunday and will spend the week preparing for their upcoming dual against Indiana this Saturday, Dec. 13, at 1 p.m., in the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse. Only the second dual of the Tiger's season, head coach Brian Smith is mindful that history is against Missouri.
"Historically, Indiana has handed us some dissapointing losses" Smith said. "In four of our last five meetings they have won the duals, and this year they are coming with one of their strongest teams. It should be an extremely competitive match and might even come down to the wire as to who walks away the champion."
The Tigers (1-0) will meet the Hoosiers (2-0) with hopes of adding another notch to the all-time wins list. Currently, Missouri trails Indiana 5-11, with the most recent loss coming last year, Dec. 21, in Bloomington (20-18). At the time, Missouri was ranked ninth in the nation, Indiana was unranked.
While the matchup between the two schools may be the first of the season, two of Missouri's and Indiana's wrestlers have already faced off once this year. The Hoosiers made a trip to Columbia on Nov. 23, for the Missouri Open.
Senior Jeremy Spates and freshman Matt McIntire will meet for the second time of the season. Currently ranked seventh in the nation, Spates pulled out a 4-3 decision over McIntire at the Missouri Open, landing the 149-pound championship title.
Weighing in at 141-pounds, senior J.P. Reese (No. 11) will have his chance to challenge No. 5 senior Coyte Cooper of Indiana. The two were slated to wrestle in the championship bout at the Missouri Open, but Reese took a medical forfeit while Cooper took the automatic win. In their last meeting on Dec. 21, Cooper had a 9-2 decision and held a No. 9 ranking to Reese's No. 11.
Other Tigers expected to wrestle in Saturday's competition include Austin DeVoe (HM, 125), No. 6 Paul Collum (133), No. 6 Kenny Burleson (157), No. 12 Tyron Woodley (165), No. 7 Ben Askren (174), No. 10 Matt Pell (184), No. 17 Jeff Foust (197) and Clint Freeman filling in at heavyweight.