March 4, 2005

Head Coach Brian Smith and his 12th-ranked Missouri wrestling team (15-6) will make their way to Omaha, Neb., for the ninth annual Big 12 Wrestling Championships, Saturday, March 5, in the Qwest Center. Doors will open at 10 a.m. (CT), with first-round matches beginning at 11 a.m, and semifinals slated for Noon. Consolations will begin at 4 p.m., with championship matches projected to start at 7 p.m. Hosted by the University of Nebraska, this marks the first time in the history of the Big 12 Wrestling Championships that the event has been held at an off-campus site.

Wrestling last season at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa, Missouri finished fourth with three individuals earning first place victories. It was the highest number of individual conference titles that Missouri had ever received in the nine years since the creation of the Big 12 Conference and five MU wrestlers advanced to the 2004 NCAA Championships.

This season, all five Big 12 wrestling programs are ranked among the top-15 teams in the nation. Oklahoma State stands unanimously in first, while Iowa State is ranked as high as third, Nebraska at No. 6 and Oklahoma at No. 7. Between the 10 weight classes, 36 Big 12 grapplers are ranked among the top-20 in the nation at their respective weight class, 23 of those individuals stand among the top-10.

Missouri enters in the Qwest Center with six ranked individuals including No. 16 Cody Greene (149), No. 15 Brad Cieleski (157), No. 4 Tyron Woodley (165), No. 2 Ben Askren (174), No. 12 Matt Pell (184) and No. 19 Jeff Foust (197).

Three of Missouri's starters are returning Big 12 Champions. Woodley was the University's first Big 12 Wrestling Champion in 2003, earning the honor after holding off Iowa State's Nick Passolano in a 5-1 tie breaker. The senior co-captain is currently 32-5 on the season and 7-1 in Big 12 action.

Last season's conference coaches named Askren the 2004 Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Wrestler after he won his first victory of the season (9-7) over No. 1 Chris Pendleton of Oklahoma State. Askren is Missouri's youngest Big 12 title holder to date and is currently 29-1 on the season and 5-1 in league duals. Askren's only loss of his sophomore campaign came to Pendleton, Feb. 4, 4-3, in Stillwater, Okla.

Foust became Missouri's third Big 12 champion of the 2004 campaign and fifth in MU history after he handed Oklahoma State's Rusty Blackmon a 2-1 loss at 197 pounds. A junior this year, Foust is 24-7 overall and 1-3 in the league.

Ranked 12th in the nation at 184 pounds, 2004 NCAA qualifier Pell finished second at last year's Big 12 Championships. Pell paired with Oklahoma State's Jake Rosholt at center circle, but suffered an 11-6 loss.

Three of the above mentioned Big 12 conference foes, Passolano, Pendleton and Rosholt are back this season, but Passolano and Rosholt will wrestle in different weight classes, 174 and 197, respectively.