Seven Tiger Wrestlers Qualify for NCAA Championships
3/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 5, 2006
Ames, Iowa. - Seven Missouri wrestlers will compete in the 2006 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, March 16-18, in Oklahoma City, Okla. Tying Head Coach Brian Smith's previous high number of qualifiers (2003) four Tigers earned automatic bids with their first or second place finishes at the Big 12 Championships Saturday night in Ames, Iowa, with three Mizzou grapplers earning wild card bids.
Two-time 174-pound Big 12 Champion Ben Askren (Hartland, Wis.) will make his third consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships. The two-time NCAA runner up is a perfect 40-0 on the season and recently claimed Big 12 honors after besting Nebraska's Jacob Klein 17-7 in Hilton Coliseum.
Junior 165-pound grappler Matt Pell (Luxemburg, Wis.) will vie for his second All-America honor. After finishing seventh at 184-pounds last season, Pell is looking for his first honor at 165 pounds.
Junior Tyler McCormick (Leawood, Kan.) and redshirt freshman Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) earned their first automatic bids to an NCAA Championship event with their second place finishes at 133 and 184 pounds respectively.
Senior Austin DeVoe (125, Columbus, Kan.), redshirt freshman Michael Chandler (157, High Ridge, Mo.) and senior Jeff Foust (197, Blue Springs, Mo.) all received wild card bids immediately following Saturday night's Big 12 Championship event. This marks the first appearance for both DeVoe and Chandler and second for Foust.
125-Austin DeVoe 133-Tyler McCormick 157-Michael Chandler 165-Matt Pell 174-Ben Askren 184-Raymond Jordan 197-Jeff Foust
Players Mentioned
