Redshirt freshman Matt Pell is expected to wrestle Iowa State's Kurt Backes at 184 pounds,Redshirt freshman Matt Pell is expected to wrestle Iowa State's Kurt Backes at 184 pounds,
Wrestling

Back into Big 12 Action

Feb. 13, 2004

Taking to the road with a 13-2 season record, the third-ranked Missouri wrestling team will travel to Ames, Iowa for its fourth Big 12 matchup of the season tonight at 7 p.m. in the Hilton Coliseum.

With back-to-back shutouts behind them, the Tigers look to improve on their Big 12 season record (1-2) with a win over the sixth-ranked Iowa State Cyclones.

Although the two teams have not competed against one another this season, they have seen each other in action, wrestling simultaneously at the Sun Devil Duals in Arizona on Jan. 4 and at the National Duals on Jan. 17, Missouri walked away from the Sun Devil Duals with an untarnished 3-0 record, while Iowa State went 1-1, with a loss by two points to Arizona State. In their final scheduled dual of the day against West Virginia, both teams decided not to wrestle. Competing at the National Duals, Missouri finished in second place with a 3-1 record, while Iowa State failed to advance after dropping to Pennsylvania (26-15) and Northern Iowa (22-21).

In a history that has seen Missouri and Iowa State wrestle against each other since the 1926-27 season, the Cyclones have proven a dominating team, The Tigers enter the dual at 1-39 in the all-time series record against the Cyclones. The last Missouri victory came during the 2002-03 season in the form of a 24-11 win at home in the Hearnes Center.

Missouri sends eight ranked wrestlers to Ames in No. 12 J.P. Reese, No. 3 Jeremy Spates, No. 5 Kenny Burleson, No,. 10 Tyron Woodley, No. 6 Ben Askren, No. 8 Matt Pell, No. 8 Jeff Foust and No. 9 Mike Whitehead.

"We've had a solid two weeks of extensive training and preparation," head coach Brian Smith said. "I think everyone is ready to get back and start wrestling in the conference duals."

The dual at Iowa State will be Missouri's final road trip of the regular season. The Tigers will close out the 2003-04 regular season with home duals on Feb. 18 against Northern Illinois and Feb. 22 against Big 12 competitor Oklahoma. Iowa State will host the eighth annual Big 12 Championships on Saturday, March 6.