Dec. 21, 2009

Columbia, Mo. - Six Missouri wrestlers earned pre-tournament top-eight rankings for the 47th annual Midlands Tournament, Dec. 29-30, in Evanston, Ill. Two-time All-American Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.) was awarded the highest ranking of his Tiger teammates and stands No. 1 at 184 pounds.

Missouri Head Coach Brian Smith will likely send 18 Tiger grapplers to the two-day tournament held on the campus of Northwestern University. Among the group are fourth-seeded Nicholas Marable (Collierville, Tenn.) at 165 pounds, No. 7 seed Dorian Henderson (Columbus, Ga.) at 174 pounds, sixth-seeded redshirt freshman Brent Haynes (Kansas City, Mo.) at 197 pounds and heavyweights Dominique Bradley (Blue Springs, Mo.) and Mark Ellis (Peculiar, Mo.) at No. 3 and No. 6. Missouri is one of three Division I programs that have two, or more in the case of Iowa, wrestlers seeded among the top eight of their respective weight class. Pre-tournament rankings/seeds are subject to change, with the final seeds released Monday, Dec. 28.

A total of 31 Division I wrestling programs, nine ranked among the top-25 in the nation, will compete for the prestigious Midlands Title.

Last season, the Missouri wrestling squad finished third at the annual event held in the Welsh-Ryan Arena. Ellis, then a junior, collected the Midlands Heavyweight Title, while eight Tigers finished among the top eight of their respective weight class.