March 18, 2009

Complete Notes in PDF Format
NCAA Wrestling: Tournament Central

Eight Missouri wrestlers will travel the two hours east to St. Louis and compete in the 79th annual NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships held in the Scottrade Center, March 19-21. Tying the program high for NCAA qualifiers, previously set in 2007 when the Tigers finished the tournament with its best-ever showing of third, the eight member squad consists of three returning All-Americans, four Big 12 Champions, six grapplers ranked among the top 10 of their weight class, three seniors, three juniors, one sophomore and a redshirt freshman. As a team, Missouri is ranked as high as fifth in the nation. At the tournament, Missouri Head Coach Brian Smith expects his Tigers to finish among the top three programs. Missouri has finished among the top 15 teams in the nation for the past five seasons.

Missouri is one of 13 schools to qualify eight or more wrestlers out of the newly instated championship qualification process, with Tiger 184-pounder Dorian Henderson named one of 52 grapplers awarded an at-large bid to the biggest event of the season. Missouri's seven other NCAA competitors all qualified by way of their finishes at the Big 12 Championships. Iowa State was the only school to qualify all 10 members of its squad, while six programs will take nine grapplers and six, including Missouri, will take eight. A total off 33 wrestlers will compete in each of the 10 weight classes this year. This differs from years past where each bracket contained a different number of competitors.

The 2009 Championships mark the seventh straight year in which Missouri has qualified five or more grapplers for the National Tournament and fourth consecutive year in which the Tigers have seven or more competitors at the annual event.

Six of Missouri's eight qualifiers are expected to receive a top eight seed in their respective weight class. Junior Mark Ellis, ranked second in the country at heavyweight, will likely earn the highest seed of his teammates. Seeds for the annual event will be released the night of Friday, March 16. The most top-eight seeds Missouri has ever received is four in 2004 and again in 2007.

The three-day National event will be broadcast live on the ESPN network in HD. Friday's action, which gets underway at 10 a.m. (CT), will air on ESPNU and ESPN360. The fourth round, beginning at 6 p.m. (CT) will also air live on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360. Medal round matches beginning at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, March 21, will be broadcast live on ESPNU while the championship finals are set to hit the airwaves on ESPN and ESPN360 at 5:30 p.m. (CT). A complete schedule of events can be found on page two.

2009 marks the fifth time in 10 years that the National Championships have been held in St. Louis. The University of Missouri serves as co-host of the event alongside the St. Louis Sports Commission. The Division I Wrestling Championships will return to the Scottrade Center in 2012.

Scouting the NCAA field
Missouri wrestlers are competing in eight of the 10 weight classes this year, let's break them down.
133 Pounds: Todd Schavrien. Missouri will make its presence felt in the 133 pound weight class for the fourth straight year. Picking up where two-time All-American Tyler McCormick left off is sophomore Todd Schavrien. Schavrien faces a field that consists of five of last year's top eight finishers at 133 pounds, but while the champion and runner-up have vacated the bracket, last year's third (Franklin Gomez), fourth (James Kennedy), sixth (Mike Grey), seventh (Nick Fanthorpe) and eighth (Joe Baker) place finishers return. Add in Jake Strayer of Penn State, who took seventh in 2007, and the field is stacked. Schavrien has met with six of this year's qualifiers, splitting wins with No. 19 Conor Beebe and recording an 8-6 win over Oklahoma State's 13th-ranked Chris Notte.

141 Pounds: Marcus Hoehn. No. 1 ranked Kellen Russell of Michigan leads a field of talented wrestlers at 141 pounds. 2008 National Champion and two-time All-American J. Jaggers of Ohio State stands 14th in the country with a 23-7 record. Coming off of a third place showing at the Big Ten Championships, Jaggers is one of three returning All-Americans in a bracket that features Missouri's Big 12 Champion, Marcus Hoehn. Hoehn enters the three-day tournament ranked eighth by InterMat and has paired with eight of this year's 33 qualifiers including last year's fifth place finisher Nick Gallick. Hoehn is 2-1 against the Cyclone grappler, most recently topping Gallick in the Big 12 Championship finals, 2-1.

157 Pounds: Michael Chandler. Missouri's Michael Chandler is making his fourth appearance at the NCAA Championships and is in search of his first All-America accolade. 2008 runner-up Michael Poeta of Illinois will likely take the top seed in the 157 pound bracket, a bracket which features five returning All-Americans including two-time top eight finishers, Cyler Sanderson of Iowa State, Poeta of Illinois, Jordan Leen of Cornell and Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro. Gillespie finished first at 149 pounds in 2007. Chandler, ranked fifth, has challenged nine of the competitors and owns a combined 10-4 record (2008 only) against the field.

165 Pounds: Nicholas Marable. The 165 pound bracket is wide open for a new national champion after the graduation of Iowa's Mark Perry. Missouri's Nicholas Marable, who finished the 2008 tournament in third place, enters the Championships ranked sixth. A tough opponent that's hard to take down, Marable could potentially meet with Mack Lewnes of Cornell at some point throughout the tournament. Lewnes, ranked No. 1 in the nation, met earlier this season with Marable at the NWCA All-Star Duals. Last season, the two tangled in the NCAA bronze medal match, with Marable earning the 3-2 win by decision. Lewnes is a perfect 31-0 on the season, one of 12 wrestlers to enter the tournament with a spotless record. Freshman Andrew Howe of Wisconsin stands second with a 26-4 mark. Throughout the season, Marable has met with 12 of the 33 grapplers in the 165 pound weight class and has recorded eight wins, all coming by two or fewer points.

174 Pounds: Raymond Jordan. Making his first appearance at the National Tournament at 174 pounds is Tiger senior Raymond Jordan. The 174 pound weight class features returning 2008 runner-up Steve Luke of Michigan. At 27-0 on the season, Luke ranks No. 1 in the nation and hails from the Big Ten Conference, a league that boasts seven grapplers competing for 174 pound bragging rights. All five competitors from the Big 12 Conference qualified for post-season action, among them, third ranked Brandon Browne of Nebraska. Browne and Jordan are 1-1 on the season, with Browne taking the most recent win in the championship finals of the Big 12 Tournament, March 7. In addition to Browne, Jordan has battled against eight other competitors in the bracket including four of the top 10 wrestlers in the nation.

184 Pounds: Dorian Henderson. One of six wrestlers from across the nation to receive an at-large bid for entry into the 184 pound bracket of the NCAA Championships, redshirt freshman Dorian Henderson is Missouri's youngest qualifier of the year. Henderson is one of seven redshirt freshmen/freshmen to compete in this bracket of the tournament and rounds out the top-20 at 184 pounds. Redshirt junior Mike Pucillo of Ohio State looks to showcase his experience at the National Tournament as one of four returning National Champions from last year's tournament. Pucillo held off Iowa State's No. 1 seeded Jake Varner in the second tiebreaker to claim his first National title. Varner has moved up one weight class and will make a run through the 197 pound bracket beginning Thursday. 2007 National Champion Jake Herbert is also back for his final year of eligibility. Herbert took gold after finishing second to Missouri's Ben Askren one year prior, 2006, in the 174 pound weight class. Henderson has matched up with six of this year's qualifiers including Herbert and Pucillo.

197 Pounds: Maxwell Askren. Six two-time All-Americans are among the 33 competitors vying for the top spot on the national podium. Missouri's Maxwell Askren finished seventh in last year's showing, and enters the 2009 Championships ranked fifth by InterMat. Big 12 opponent Jake Varner of Iowa State is hoping the third time is a charm. After back-to-back runner up showings in the 184 pound weight class in 2007 and 2008, Varner moved up to 197 pounds for his junior year and has managed a 26-2 record. Varner's most recent loss came to current No. 1 ranked Craig Brester of Nebraska, a redshirt junior who captured the 197 pound Big 12 title and was crowned Most Outstanding Wrestler of the league championships. Prior to Brester's Big 12 win, it was Missouri's Askren who held the title for two year (2007 and 2008). Four of the top five grapplers in this weight class are from the competitive Big 12 Conference.

Heavyweight: Mark Ellis. No other Missouri heavyweight has had the success of current junior Mark Ellis. At 26-3 on the season, Ellis is making his third NCAA appearance and will likely earn the No. 2 seed. The top three heavyweights in the land are from Big 12 country, including No. 1 ranked David Zabriskie, No. 2 Ellis and third-ranked Jared Rosholt of Oklahoma State. The trio have beaten up on each other throughout the course of the campaign. Ellis owns a 2-1 record against Rosholt this season, snapping a five dual losing streak to the Cowboy that dated back to the 2006-07 campaign. Staying close with Zabriskie, Ellis has lost both matches this year to the Cyclone wrestler by two or fewer points. Ellis has squared off with seven of the wrestlers to qualify for the NCAA Championships at heavyweight.

Tigers Return three All-Americans
Missouri returns three All-Americans for the 2009 Championships, Nicholas Marable (165), Raymond Jordan (174) and Maxwell Askren (197). This marks the second time in Missouri's 62-year history in which the Tigers have brought back three or more All-Americans the following year. In 2006-07, Ben Askren, Matt Pell and Tyler McCormick all came into the year with previous All-America accolades. The most All-Americans Missouri has had in one year is three, set first in 2004 and again in 2005, 2007 and 2008.

Wrestling at 141 Pounds
Missouri senior Marcus Hoehn is the first Tiger grappler in six years to qualify for the NCAA Championships at 141 pounds. The last Missouri wrestler to compete on the national stage in this particular weight class was J.P. Reese. Reese was a sophomore (2002) when he made his first tournament appearance and returned for the Championships as a junior in 2003. In Reese's two showings, he managed a 3-4 record.

Missouri Wrestlers in Saint Louis
In the five years that the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships have been held in Saint Louis, at least two members of Missouri's wrestling team have competed in four of the five National Tournaments. Only in 2000, did a Missouri native fail to qualify for the NCAA Championships from the Tiger team. Missouri sent three wrestlers in 2000, all from outside the Show-Me State borders.

In 2004, Kenny Burleson (Neosho, Mo.) and Jeff Foust (Blue Springs, Mo.) made the trip to Saint Louis, with Burleson bringing home the programs' 26th All-America honor. In 2005, returning All-American Tyron Woodley (Ferguson, Mo.) earned his second top-eight finish, while Cody Greene (St. Charles, Mo.) became the first Tiger senior in 15 years to qualify for his first and only NCAA appearance. Returning to Saint Louis in 2008, Michael Chandler (High Ridge, Mo.) and Mark Ellis (Peculiar, Mo.) both had solid showings in the Scottrade Center. In 2009, three Missouri natives will try their luck in the Gateway City, Chandler, Ellis and Marcus Hoehn (Farmington, Mo.). Combined, Missouri wrestlers competing in Saint Louis at the NCAA Championships are 13-13.

Improving on Third
Missouri Head Coach is not one to rest on his laurels. Since finishing third at the 2007 NCAA Championships, Smith and his Tigers have been working hard day-in and day-out to build a team that could make its way to the top tier of the podium. 2009 marks just the second time in program history that Missouri has qualified eight wrestlers, the last time coming in 2007...when Missouri finished third. With top-seeded grapplers and plenty of experience under their belt, it's anyone's guess as to how far this team will go.

Back-to-back All-American Honors
In Missouri's 62 years of wrestling, only five Tigers have earned back-to-back All-America honors. Twenty-eight Tigers have collected 39 honors with nine earning two or more accolades, but only Dave Young (1981-82), Shaon Fry (1993-94), Scott Barker (2002-03), Ben Askren (2004-07) and Tyler McCormick (2006-07) managed top eight finishes in consecutive years.

Returning Success
Eight National Champions are back for a run through the 2009 NCAA Championships. A breakdown of champions and returning runner-ups is listed below.
125 Pounds: Angel Escobedo (Indiana) captured the title in 2008, but Paul Donahoe of Edinboro took the title in 2007, while competing for Nebraska. Both are back for 2009.

133 Pounds:Jayson Ness of Minnesota finished second at 125 pounds last season and will try his luck in the 133 pound bracket in 2009.
141 Pounds: J. Jaggers of Ohio State took first in 2008 after entering the tournament as the No. 6 seed. This season, Jaggers ranks 14th in the nation heading into the three-day tournament.
149 Pounds: Brent Metcalf of Iowa and Bubba Jenkins of Penn State finished first and second respectively last year.
157 Pounds: Jordan Leen of Cornell and Mike Poeta of Illinois took first and second in 2008. Throw in National Champion Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro, a title he earned while competing at 149 pounds in 2007, and this will prove a tough competition.
174 Pounds: Steve Luke of Michigan finished second last year and returns to St. Louis in search of his first National title.
184 Pounds: Ohio State's Mike Puccilo and Jake Varner of Iowa State went one and two last year. Northwestern's Jake Herbert finished first in 2007 at 184 pounds and took second at 174 pounds in 2006.

The Battle at Heavyweight
All five Big 12 heavyweight wrestlers are ranked among the top 20 in the nation and qualified for the 2009 Wrestling Championships. Missouri's Mark Ellis ranks second behind Iowa State's David Zabriskie and is the first Missouri heavyweight to every qualify for three NCAA Championships.

Senior Strength
Missouri's six man senior class has had an impressive run. Over the past four years, the Tigers have managed a 55-12-1 dual record (82 percent winning percentage), recorded the program's highest ever finish at the NCAA Wrestling Championships (third in 2007), tied the most dual wins in program history (18 in 2009), tied for best Big 12 regular season finish (3-1 in 2009), tied for best ever finish at a Big 12 Tournament (second in 2007), and assisted in qualifying the highest number of wrestlers in Missouri's 62 year history to the National Tournament (twice in 2007 and 2009). Together, the six man staff has managed 402 wins.

First Time Seniors
Marcus Hoehn is just the third wrestler in program history to make his first NCAA appearance in his final year of eligibility. Cody Greene made a run through the tournament his senior year, 2005, and finished at 27-10. In 1990, 118-pound wrestler Bobby Crawford earned All-America honors for his seventh place finish in College Park, Md. Crawford closed his career with a 39-10 record and finished third at the Big Eight Conference Championships as a senior.

Ellis vs. Zabriskie
Junior heavyweights Mark Ellis of Missouri and David Zabriskie of Iowa State have competed against each other five times since the 2006-07 campaign. Zabriskie owns the 5-0 advantage over Ellis. But, in the past three meetings, Ellis has closed the gap, dropping the last three matches by a mere two points, with the Feb. 15 dual in Columbia determined in a tie breaker. Here's a record of their previous matches.
Feb. 11, 2007: David Zabriskie decision Mark Ellis: 8-4 (dual in Columbia, Mo.)
Feb. 17, 2008: David Zabriskie decision Mark Ellis: 7-3 (dual in Ames, Iowa)
March 8, 2008: David Zabriskie decision Mark Ellis: 3-1 (Big 12's in Stillwater, Okla.)
Feb. 15, 2009: David Zabriskie decision Mark Ellis: 2-1 (TB2) (dual in Columbia, Mo.)
March 7, 2009: David Zabriskie decision Mark Ellis: 3-1 (Big 12's in Lincoln, Neb.)

Marable's Career Wins by Two or Fewer Points
Over the course of his three year career, Missouri's 165 pounder, Nicholas Marable has managed a 76-18 record. Out of the 94 matches, 44 have been determined by two or fewer points. Marable has won 32 of the 44 bouts.

The Redshirt Run
Of the 330 wrestlers competing at the NCAA Championships, Missouri's Dorian Henderson is one of 52 freshmen/redshirt freshmen. Since 2004, Missouri has qualified six redshirt freshmen for competition in the National Tournament. Henderson is the first Missouri redshirt freshman to qualify since Maxwell Askren competed as a redshirt in 2007. Of the five previous redshirt freshmen to qualify since 2004, four have earned All-America honors (Ben Askren, Matt Pell, Raymond Jordan and Maxwell Askren).

NCAA Championships Return in 2012
In September 2008, it was announced that St. Louis was one of only six cities selected for the inaugural "NCAA Championship City" Pilot Program. The program will feature multiple host opportunities of NCAA Division I, II and III men's and women's championships through 2012, including the Division I Wrestling Championships in 2012.

National Champion, Volunteer Coach
Missouri's sole National Champion in wrestling, Ben Askren, is now a volunteer assistant coach with the Tiger team. Askren was the first Missouri wrestler to ever win a National Title, doing so in 2006 and again in 2007 at 174 pounds. Askren closed out his senior year as the leader in Missouri's record books for most wins by fall, 91, and most consecutive wins, 87.