Jan. 23, 2009
Columbia, Mo. - Missouri Wrestling Head Coach Brian Smith returns to his old stomping grounds when the 12th-ranked Tigers square off with No. 2 Cornell, Sunday, Jan. 25, at Noon (CT) in Ithaca, N.Y. The dual, featuring two of the top-ranked programs in the nation, will be televised live on Time Warner Cable as well as FOX College Sports and Direct TV. Fans are encouraged to check their local listings for availability.
The Tigers, currently 14-2 on the season, are one win shy of tying the third highest win total in program history. With a tough test ahead of them, the Missouri wrestling team travels five ranked grapplers to the Friedman Wrestling Center on Cornell's campus. Cornell's 10-man lineup features seven ranked wrestlers including this week's No. 1 at 165 pounds, Mack Lewnes. Missouri's 165 pounder, Nicholas Marable, is ranked seventh in the nation and will face off with Lewnes for the second time of the year and fourth time of his career. Marable owns a 3-0 advantage over his Big Red opponent, most recently collecting a narrow 3-2 win over Lewnes at the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) All-Star Competition. In fact, all three of Marable's wins over Lewnes have come with a final score of 3-2.
Other top-ranked wrestlers meeting at center circle include Missouri's ninth-ranked senior captain Michael Chandler and Cornell's Jordan Leen at 157 pounds. Leen is a two-time All-American and claimed the 157 pound national title last season. Chandler and Leen have met only once in the past five years, with Leen earning the 4-2 victory last season at the dual held in the Hearnes Center of Columbia.
Missouri All-American Raymond Jordan, who finished fifth at the 2008 NCAA Championships at 184 pounds, is ranked as high as sixth in the country at 174 pounds according to the latest InterMat poll. Jordan, now 24-2 on the season and 112-26 on his career, will meet with Steve Anceravage who stands just ahead of Jordan in the poll at fifth with a 17-2 record.
The matchup between Missouri and Cornell is one that dates back to the 1934-35 season. Missouri owns the slight 2-1 advantage over Cornell winning last year's dual in Columbia, 21-13. The only contest Missouri lost was its first one against the Big Red, 15.5-14.5.
As mentioned, the trip to Ithaca, N.Y. takes Smith back to a school in which he served as assistant wrestling coach for five seasons. While there, the Big Red finished as high as 10th at the NCAA Championships (1993) and Smith coached Cornell's first national Champion since 1960, David Hirsch. Smith began his career at Cornell before being hired as Head Coach at Syracuse in 1997 and Missouri in 1998.