Aug. 31, 2005
Columbia, Mo. - The Missouri wrestling program announced its schedule for the 2005-2006 season today. Opening the campaign in Kansas City, Mo., the Tigers take on Stanford November 11.
"We've held our opener in St. Louis before, and we're excited about starting off the season on the other side of the state this year," Head Coach Brian Smith said. "We'd like to get to a situation where we travel to either side of the state every year, and this is the first year in a long time that we've headed to Kansas City."
The Tigers return to two of the most prestigious tournaments in the nation after a year's hiatus. Missouri competes in the Southern Scuffle at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro Dec. 29-30, facing off against a list of teams that includes Lehigh, Minnesota, and Cornell. Two weeks later Missouri returns to the National Duals, a place where they finished second two years ago, Jan. 14-15 at the University of Northern Iowa.
Five events will be held at home in the Hearnes Center during the upcoming season, including the ever-growing Missouri Open. Nearly 600 wrestlers will make their way to Columbia for the 7th-annual tournament this year. The all-day event is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 20.
The Tigers also face one of the toughest home schedules in the nation, taking on traditional powers and Big 12 rivals Oklahoma State and Oklahoma Jan. 22 and Feb 5 at 7 pm. In addition, Ohio State visits from the dominant Big Ten Conference Dec. 11.
Along with OSU and OU, Missouri rounds out its Big 12 schedule by making the trek to Nebraska Jan. 29 and Iowa State Feb. 12. The match at Iowa State is part of a stretch in which the Tigers finish off their season by hitting the road three times before postseason competition, and precedes the Big 12 Tournament, which is also held in Ames, Iowa March 4th. The season wraps up at the NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla. Mar. 16-18, 2006.
To purchase tickets for any Missouri events held in the Hearnes Center, please contact the ticket office located in Mizzou Arena or call 1-800-CAT-PAWS. -MU-