Senior Mark Ellis is ranked No. 1 at heavyweight.Senior Mark Ellis is ranked No. 1 at heavyweight.
Wrestling

Five Tigers Open Season Ranked

Oct. 15, 2009

Columbia, Mo. - Amateur Wrestling News released its individual preseason rankings on Oct. 12 with five Tiger grapplers awarded top-20 accolades. Senior heavyweight Mark Ellis (Peculiar, Mo.) received the highest ranking of his teammates and stands at No. 1 in the nation. This marks the second preseason wrestling poll in which the 2009 National Champion stands atop the charts.

Ellis is one of three Big 12 grapplers who will begin the year as the No. 1 wrestler in their respective weight class. Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska and Jake Varner of Iowa State stand No. 1 at 157 and 197-pounds, respectively. Missouri was one of three Big 12 schools with five wrestlers ranked among the top-20 of their respective weight class, while Nebraska had four and Iowa State led the charge with eight.

Competing at 184 pounds for his senior campaign, Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.) ranks third in the nation behind Mike Pucillo of Ohio State and Phil Keddy of Iowa, respectively. Pucillo finished the 2009 NCAA Tournament in second place, while Keddy took fourth. Askren is one of two Missouri grapplers in search of their third All-America accolade in 2010. As a 197-pound competitor, Askren took seventh as a sophomore (2008) and fifth as a junior (2009) at the National Championships.

Teammate Nicholas Marable (Collierville, Tenn.) begins his senior season ranked seventh at 165 pounds. The two-time All-American is the second highest Big 12 grappler ranked at 165 pounds, only Jon Reader of Iowa State stands ahead of Marable at fifth. Marable leads the all-time series with Reader, 3-0, most recently besting the Cyclone, 3-2, in the Feb. 15 home dual against ISU.

One of five returning NCAA qualifiers to Missouri's 10-man lineup, 174 pounder Dorian Henderson (Columbus, Ga.) enters the year ranked 14th in the nation. Henderson closed out his redshirt freshman season with a 20-15 overall record ant 12-6 dual mark.

Rounding out Missouri's ranked grapplers is junior Todd Schavrien at 133 pounds. Schavrien, one of eight Missouri wrestlers to qualify for the 2009 NCAA Championships, opens the season ranked 18th in the nation.