Feb. 5, 2009
Looking to rebound from a Big 12 season opening, 16-15, loss to fourth-ranked Nebraska, the No. 5 Missouri wrestling team will travel to the state of Oklahoma for a pair of duals beginning Friday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. (CT) against No. 14 Oklahoma. Dual number two will come Saturday, Feb. 7, also at 7 p.m. (CT), against No. 15 Oklahoma State in Gallagher Iba Arena. Video of Missouri's duals with OU and OSU will be available through the Tigers' website, mutigers.com, with live audio of the Oklahoma State dual courtesy of okstate.com.
Missouri owns a three dual win streak against the Sooners dating back to the Tigers' narrow, 17-16, victory at home in Columbia in 2006. The Tigers earned their first road win against the Sooners (25-20) during the 2002-03 campaign under current Missouri Head Coach Brian Smith and are looking for the programs' third win in Howard McCasland Field House.
The Tiger wrestling program holds ties with 12 of its all-time opponents, one of them, Oklahoma State, recorded last season. The two teams ended the 2008 dual at 16-16, with both squads earning wins at five weight classes. The Cowboys own a 32-3-1 advantage over Missouri in a rivalry that dates back to the 1928-29 campaign. Missouri managed its first win over OSU in 2003 and collected its first road win, 17-16, in 2007. The 2006-07 campaign marked the first time in Missouri's wrestling history that the Tigers were able to knock off both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the same year, in their home facilities.
Six members of Missouri's 10-man lineup are currently ranked among the top-20 of their respective weight class. Senior heavyweight Mark Ellis owns the highest Tiger ranking at No. 1 and is one of four Missouri grapplers to stand among the top five of their weight class. Ellis is likely to take on 16th-ranked Nathan Fernandez of Oklahoma before challenging third ranked Jared Rosholt of Oklahoma State on Saturday. Rosholt held the No. 1 ranking for 13 straight weeks before suffering a 3-1 loss in overtime to Iowa State's David Zabriskie on Jan. 25. His loss propelled Ellis to the No. 1 standing. MU heavyweight redshirt freshman Dominique Bradley may also have a chance at his sixth and seventh ranked opponents of the campaign. Smith will make the decision on which Tiger will wrestle just prior to Missouri's matches. Earlier this season, Bradley knocked off Zabriskie, 3-2, in sudden victory at The Midlands.
Ellis is the second Missouri wrestler this season to own a No. 1 ranking, teammate Nicholas Marable opened his junior campaign ranked first at 165 pounds. The last time Missouri had two wrestlers ranked No. 1 in the same season, also at the same time, came in 2006-07 when the Askren brothers, Ben and Maxwell stood first at 174 and 197 pounds, respectively.
Scouting the Sooners
Oklahoma is coming off of a home win against North Carolina State last Friday in which the Sooners won eight of 10 matches en route to a 38-6 victory. The win upped the Sooners' record to 15-1 on the year, with their lone loss coming two weeks ago in the form of a 23-15 defeat at the hands of then No. 2 Iowa State. The Sooners enter the dual with Missouri ranked 14th in the nation with seven individual wrestlers ranked in the top-20 of their respective weight classes. Three of those wrestlers are ranked in the top-10. Sophomores Joey Fio (125 pounds) and Jeff James (174 pounds) are both ranked at No. 7 at their respective weights while junior Kyle Terry comes in ranked eighth in the 149-pound weight class. Last year, Fio qualified for the NCAA Championships as a true freshman. In last season's meeting between the Tigers and Sooners, Missouri beat the OU in Columbia, 23-10. Fio and James had two of Oklahoma's three wins against the Tigers, both by major decision.
Scouting the Cowboys
Oklahoma State enters into the dual with Missouri having lost two of its last three contests after falling to No. 1 Iowa and No. 3 Iowa State before picking up a win on the road against No. 22 Northern Iowa, 31-3. The Cowboys are currently ranked 15th and bring eight wrestlers ranked in the top-20 of their weight class. Junior heavyweight Jared Rosholt entered the season ranked first in his weight class after a fourth-place finish at last year's NCAA Championships. He now sits at third, two places behind his Tiger foe for the match, top-ranked Mark Ellis. Senior Obe Blanc, a 2007 All-American who transferred from Lock Haven University, comes in ranked 15th at 125 pounds. The Cowboys' other returning All-American, senior Brandon Mason, a 2007 honoree, is ranked 10th at 165 pounds. Other Cowboys to watch are 157-pound senior Newly McSpadden, who went 2-2 at the NCAA Championships last year, and 197-pound sophomore Clayton Foster, who comes in ranked eighth in his weight class. Last year's dual between the Cowboys and Tigers in Columbia ended in a 16-16 tie with both teams winning five matches apiece.
Missouri on the Road
This season, Missouri owns an 12-2 record on the road. Both of the Tigers' losses came Jan. 10 at the National Duals when Missouri dropped a one point loss to No. 14 Penn State and sixth-ranked Ohio State. In the past, Missouri has proven a good road team, winning at least five of its duals in unfriendly territory over the past five years.
Missouri vs. Oklahoma...Rewind
Oklahoma owns a 39-7 advantage over Missouri in the all-time series that dates back to the inaugural season of Tiger wrestling (1923-24). However, over the past 10 seasons, since Missouri Head Coach Brian Smith took over the struggling Tiger program, the teams have split their meetings, 5-5, with Missouri earning wins in the three most recent competitions (2008, 23-10; 2007, 24-14; 2006, 17-16). Missouri's oldest rival, these two teams have met at center circle on 46 occasions, the second most meetings between Missouri and any of its opponents. Missouri and Nebraska have squared off 53 times since 1925-26. Six Missouri Tigers from last year's 10-man lineup return for another shot at a win over the Sooners. Of the six returning Tiger grapplers, five earned wins in last years' dual. Fans can expect to see a rematch between Missouri heavyweight Mark Ellis and OU starter Nathan Fernandez. Ellis is 2-0 in matches with Fernandez.
Missouri vs. Oklahoma State...2003
Missouri's biggest upset in program history came Nov. 21, 2003, when the Tigers knocked off perennial power Oklahoma State, then ranked No. 1 in the nation, 21-17. The win was Missouri's first ever over the Cowboys. In the five seasons that have passed, the Tigers and Oklahoma State stand knotted at 3-3-1, with the 16-16 tie recorded last year in the Hearnes Center. Missouri's most recent win in Gallagher-Iba Arena came in 2007 when Missouri's 10-man lineup combined for a 17-16 win over OSU. Four of the same starters from the 2006-07 squad will return to the lineup when Missouri and Oklahoma State meet on Sunday. Missouri 165 pounder Nicholas Marable competed at 157 pounds in his 4-2 win over Newly McSpadden in 2007. Senior Raymond Jordan and junior Maxwell Askren outscored their opponents a combined 17-7, while heavyweight Mark Ellis suffered his first career lost to then 12th-ranked Jared Rosholt, 3-1.
The Connection
There are several connections between the Missouri and Oklahoma wrestling programs. Here's a short review.
Missouri Head Coach Brian Smith and OU Head Coach Jack Spates coached together at Cornell. Spates was head coach, Smith an assistant.
Missouri Assistant Coach Shawn Charles was an assistant coach at Oklahoma from 1996-97.
Oklahoma Head Coach Jack Spates had two sons that wrestled on Missouri's team. Justin Spates competed at 133 pounds and lettered in 2001. Jeremy Spates, current assistant coach with the Sooners, wrestled at 149 pounds for the Tigers from 2000-04, earning All-America honors as a senior.
Current Oklahoma Assistant Coach Robbie Waller, served one year as an assistant coach on the Missouri staff.
Current Oklahoma Athletics Director Joe Castiglone was the Missouri Athletics Director prior to the arrival of Mike Alden. Castiglone hired Missouri Wrestling Head Coach Brian Smith on May 5, 1998, before leaving for Oklahoma.
Smith begins his Second Decade, Becomes Winningest Coach in Program History
Brian Smith is now in his 11th year as Head Coach of the Missouri wrestling team. The winningest Missouri wrestling coach in program history, Smith has notched a 134-63-2 record (.673), putting him ahead of former Tiger great Bob Kopnisky (.633) who coached from 1974-86. In addition, Smith became the winningest coach in program history after earning his seventh win of the 2008-09 campaign, Nov. 29 at the Northeast Duals. Earning a 41-3 victory, Smith's Tigers helped him ahead of Kopnisky who now stands second for wins with 125.
During Smith's time at Missouri, he has coached 11 All-Americans to 18 top-eight finishes at the NCAA Championships. In addition, Smith and his Tigers have managed a top-15 finish at the NCAA Tournament for five consecutive years, with the program's highest ever finish recorded in 2007 at third.
Looking For Win No. 16
Sitting with a 15-3 record on the season, the Tigers now own the third highest win total in program history. The most wins for a Tiger wrestling team is 18, set first during the 1967-68 campaign (18-0-1) and again in 2001-02 (18-3). Since Brian Smith took the reins of the program in 1998, the Tigers have recorded nine seasons in which they have tallied 10 or more wins in a single year. Missouri's 2009 dual against Missouri Valley on Jan. 18 resulted in a 33-12 win, giving the Tigers their most wins in a single season since the 2005-06 campaign (13). The last time Missouri had over 15 wins in a single season came in 2001-02, Smith's fourth year as Head Coach at Missouri.