National Poll Ranks Tiger Wrestling Team Among Top Five
10/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Oct. 11, 2006
Columbia, Mo- The Missouri wrestling team received its third top-five national ranking today after W.I.N. Magazine placed the Tigers No. 5 in their annual preseason poll. Ranked as high as third in the nation by the Wrestlingreport.com and Revwrestling.com, W.I.N. magazine ranked seven of Missouri's wrestlers among the top-20 of their respective weight classes.
Senior Ben Askren (Hartland, Wis.) has proven the unanimous No. 1 favorite at 174 pounds. After earning the Missouri wrestling program's first-ever national title in 2006, as well as the prestigious Dan Hodge Trophy (awarded by W.I.N. magazine), Askren looks to continue the nations' longest active winning streak (45 wins) when the Tigers open their season Thursday, Nov. 16, against No. 10 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.
All-Americans Tyler McCormick (Leawood, Kan.) and Matt Pell (Luxemburg, Wis.) both hold top-five W.I.N. preseason rankings. McCormick, who finished seventh in last season's NCAA Championships, stands at No. 4 in the nation by 2006 title-holder Matt Valenti of Pennsylvania, Mack Reiter of Minnesota and Coleman Scott, a junior from Oklahoma State who finished fifth at 125 pounds at the National Tournament.
Pell, who earned his first All-America honor in 2005 at 184 pounds, was placed fifth in the preseason poll behind two Big 12 competitors, Johny Hendricks of Oklahoma State and Travis Paulson of Iowa State.
Wrestling at 149 pounds this season, junior Josh Wagner (Milton, Wis.) entered the preseason poll at No. 20, with sophomore 157 pound 2006 NCAA qualifier Michael Chandler (High Ridge, Mo.) ranked No. 14.
Sophomore Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) stands at No. 6 in the nation at 184 pounds. Jordan is one of 11 wrestlers among the top-20 that qualified for the 2006 Nationals at 184 pounds.
New to the Missouri starting lineup, redshirt freshman Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.) makes his first appearance in the top-20 poll. Askren, ranked No. 10 in the nation, recorded four tournament titles last season and finished eighth in the world at the Federation Internationnal des Luttes Associees (FILA) Freestyle Junior World Championships in Guatemala City this past summer.
