Six Tigers Awarded Top-Six Seeds
3/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 16, 2009
Columbia, Mo. – Brackets for the 2009 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, held March 19-21 in the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, were released Monday evening. Six Missouri wrestlers were seeded among the top six of their respective weight class with heavyweight junior Mark Ellis (Peculiar, Mo.) earning the highest seed at No. 2. This marks the most top eight seeds Missouri has ever had entering the National Championships, the previous high, four, was set in 2004 and again in 2007.
All-Americans Raymond Jordan (New Bern, N.C.) and Nicholas Marable (Collierville, Tenn.) earned the No. 5 seed at 174 and 165 pounds, respectively. Jordan's first opponent of the tournament is Shane Riccio of Bucknell. Earlier in the season, Jordan collected a 13-3 win by major decision over the Bison grappler. Senior Big 12 Champion Marcus Hoehn (Farmington, Mo.) was also awarded the No. 5 seed in the 141-pound bracket and will make his first appearance at the National Tournament in a battle with Richard Rappo of Penn.
Two Tiger grapplers, Maxwell Askren (Hartland, Wis.) and Michael Chandler (High Ridge, Mo.) were awarded the No. 6 seed at 197 and 157 pounds, respectively.
Eight Missouri wrestlers will make their way through the championship bracket beginning Thursday, March 19. Competing at 133 pounds, sophomore Todd Schavrien will first meet with No. 1 seeded Franklin Gomez of Michigan State.
Missouri's 184 pounder, redshirt freshman Dorian Henderson (Columbus, Ga.), will make his NCAA debut against Vince DiDona of Central Michigan. Henderson walked away with a 4-2 win over DiDona in a match determined in sudden victory, Feb. 13, in Columbia, Mo.
Battling at heavyweight, second ranked Mark Ellis is set to take on Pittsburgh's Zach Sheaffer in his opening round match. The two last met Dec. 30 at the Midlands. Ellis collected a 2-1 win en route to the tournament title.
Stay tuned to www.mutigers.com for all of the latest information regarding the 2009 NCAA Championships.
First Round Matchups
Todd Schavrien vs. No. 1 Franklin Gomez (Michigan State)
No. 5 Marcus Hoehn vs. Richard Rappo (Penn)
No. 6 Michael Chandler vs. Kurt Kinser (Indiana)
No. 5 Nicholas Marable vs. Nick Amauchastegui (Stanford)
No. 5 Raymond Jordan vs. Shane Riccio (Bucknell)
Dorian Henderson vs. Vincenzeo DiDona (Central Michigan)
No. 6 Maxwell Askren vs. #7 Brandon Halsey (Cal State Bakersfield)
No. 2 Mark Ellis vs. Zach Sheaffer (Pittsburgh)
Players Mentioned
