Dec. 20, 2006

One week removed from being tabbed the nation's No. 1 wrestling team by USA Today/Intermatwrestle.com/NWCA, the Tigers are gearing up for their home opener this Thursday, Dec. 21, at 7 p.m. (CT) in the Hearnes Center. Taking on No. 24 Pittsburgh, this marks the Tigers fourth ranked opponent of the season and first of six home duals. The dual can be seen live by paid subscribers of All-Access, available online at www.mutigers.com. The dual can also be heard live on TakedownRadio with Steve Fosler calling the action and former Missouri All-American Greg Warren providing color. Takedown Radio will begin broadcasting one hour prior to the 7 p.m. start and is available online at www.takedownradio.com.

Nine of Missouri's wrestlers remain ranked among the top-25 in the nation in their respective weight class with two of Pittsburgh's grapplers ranked as well. Fans can expect to see one of the most anticipated matchups of the season as No. 1 ranked Tiger Ben Askren pairs with No. 2 Keith Gavin at 174 pounds Thursday night. The bout will be Askren's __ this season against a top-five opponent and first against the No. 2 wrestler in the nation since he bested Northwestern's Jake Herbert, 14-2, at the NCAA Championship finals in March.

Maxwell Askren enters Thursday's dual for the third straight week ranked No. 1 at 197 pounds. Both Askren brothers hold perfect records this season with Ben at 17-0 and Maxwell at 12-0. So far this season, Maxwell has bested three of the nation's top-five wrestlers and earned November Big 12 Wrestler of the Month Honors for his work on the mat.

Prior to the start of the dual, Missouri Head Coach Brian Smith, now in his ninth season with the Tiger wrestling program, will be recognized for his 100th career Missouri victory. Smith, now 101-53-1 at Missouri earned his 100th win Dec. 9 against Central Michigan with the Tigers coming up with a 31-9 victory.

Tickets for the Thursday night dual are $5 for adults and $3 for students and children.

Scouting the Panthers... Coming off of a 38-6 win over Duquesne, the Pittsburgh Panters are 4-1 on the season and 1-0 in the EWL. Led by Head Coach Rande Stottlemyer, now in his 27th season with the Panthers, Pittsburgh is ranked 24th in the nation with three wrestlers ranked among the top-25 of their respective weight class. 174 pounder Keith Gavin holds Pitt's highest ranking at No. 2. Gavin, a redshirt junior, finished third at the 25th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational earlier this season. As a team, Pittsburgh finished 11th of 47 teams in competition. Also ranked are No. 8 Drew Headlee at 133 pounds and No. 9 Matt Kocher at 157 pounds. Headlee earned All-America honors in 2005 after finishing eighth at the NCAA Championships.

Pittsburgh's only loss of the season came to Lehigh, 29-10, Dec. 9. The Panthers wins came over Rider, Bloomsburg and Appalachian State.

It's Been Awhile... The last time a Missouri team was ranked No. 1 in the nation came during the 1989-90 men's basketball season under the direction of then-Head Coach Norm Stewart. Missouri's basketball team went on to earn the Big Eight Title and finished ranked No. 11 in the nation with a 26-6 record.

Going Along With That... After eight years and three duals with the Tigers, Missouri Head Coach Brian Smith owns a .650 winning percentage. Of the five Missouri coaches that have been at Missouri for a least nine seasons, Smith's overall winning percentage is second only to 12-year coach Bob Kopnisky (.694). Smith's percentage puts him ahead of Missouri's first wrestling coach Charles Fischer (.354), Hap Whitney (.601) and Wes Roper (.448).

All-Time Record... Missouri leads Pittsburgh 2-0 in the all-time series with the Panthers. The first meeting between the two schools came during the 1982-83 season. Missouri held off Pittsburgh, 18-17, under the direction of then-Head Coach Bob Kopnisky. The last time the two school's met was last season at Pittsburgh. The Tigers managed a 29-9 victory with eight of Missouri's wrestlers recording wins.

Tigerstyle tailgate... Beginning at 5 p.m. (CT) in the Black and Gold Room located on the third floor of the Hearnes Center, the Tigers will be hosting a TigerStyle Tailgate. Anyone and everyone is invited to attend. Please bring food and drink to share and don't forget your TigerStyle spirit!

Please park on the West (football side) side of the stadium. You can see the room to the left of the building, and there is a ramp that leads up to the balcony.

Live from Columbia... Fans that can't make it out to the Thursday night dual against No. 24 Pittsburgh have several ways to still tune in and catch all of the action. 1). A subscription to Missouri's All-Access will allow you to watch and listen to the Tigers as they take on the Panther's in the Hearnes Center. Subscriptions are only $6.95 a month!

2). Want to listen to the Tigers? Tune into Takedown Radio at www.TakedownRadio.com and listen as Scott Fosler and Greg Warren call all the action on the mats. Broadcasting begins at 6 p.m. (CT), one our prior to the start of the 7 p.m. (CT) dual.

3). Live results will be posted online at www.mutigers.com. Fans who want to see what moves the Tigers are making can keep up with a play-by-play available on the wrestling site of Missouri's athletics website.

Something to think about... Missouri's last team National Title came in 1965 when the men's track and field team earned the indoor title in Detroit, Mich. Just so you know...this year's wrestling nationals will be held in Detroit, Mich.

For Only the 11th time in history... Missouri's squad became just the 11th in collegiate wrestling history to earn the No. 1 ranking. Other former No. 1's include, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Arizona State and Illinois.

How sweet it is.. The Tigers took first place at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational for the first time in team history. Ben Askren and Max Askren both took home titles, and eight Tiger wrestlers finished in the top 8. The team netted 157 points to lead the way in front of No. 8 Michigan (109) and No. 15 Penn (100.5).

Wrestling Rewind... Research by wrestling historian Jay Hammond and Ron Good of Amateur Wrestling News, revealed that the last set of brothers that were not twins that were ranked No. 1 were Dave and Mark Schultz of the University of Oklahoma at 167 and 177 pounds. It happened in 1982. That same year, the Tiger wrestling team finished 12th at the NCAA Championships, Missouri's third highest finish in the 62-year history of the program.

Shakin' up the polls... Ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation by USA Today/Intermatwreslte.com/NWCA, Missouri received 10 of the 12 possible coaches votes as released Tuesday. Minnesota, the former No. 1 and current No. 2, received two votes. Four of the five Big 12 schools with wrestling programs are ranked among the top-seven in the nation, with Oklahoma State at fourth, Oklahoma in sixth and Iowa State ranked seventh.

So We Meet Again... Two Missouri wrestlers will meet with familiar opponents Thursday night in the Hearnes Center.

Missouri's Ben Askren and Pittsburgh's Keith Gavin have met once before on the mat at 174 pounds. Askren pinned the No. 2 ranked wrestler, in 2:16 in the semi-finals of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Dec. 3.

Tyler McCormick, Missouri's 133 pounder, will take on Pittsburgh's eighth-ranked Drew Headlee for the second time of the season. McCormick held Headlee to only two points (8-2) Dec. 3 at the Vegas Invitational.

10 Straight... Missouri's defending national champion is setting a new streak. Currently, senior co-captain and three-time All-American Ben Askren has recorded 10 straight wins by fall. Both of Askren's tournament titles, the Missouri Open and Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational involved rolling through the championship bracket with falls, three at the Missouri Open and five in Vegas.