Wrestling Announces 2013-14 Slate
9/26/2013 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Sept. 26, 2013
2013-14 Wrestling Schedule
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri wrestling team has finalized its 2013-14 schedule, announced today by head coach Brian Smith. The Tigers will host four MAC opponents - Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Ohio and Old Dominion - this season.
Last season, Missouri's inaugural season in the MAC, the Tigers tallied a 16-3 record and won the MAC championship in record fashion. Four Missouri grapplers won individual championships leading up to an overall team score of 136, the highest ever accumulated in the MACs. It was the first time since 2001 that Central Michigan did not win the conference title.
Missouri welcomes four starters back from last year's record-breaking squad. Senior Alan Waters (33-2) was an NCAA semi-finalist and All-American at 125 pounds. Junior Drake Houdashelt (31-12), another 2013 NCAA All-American, returns at 149. Senior Kyle Bradley (27-15) was the runner-up in the MAC at 157 and qualified for the NCAA tournament. Senior Zach Toal (25-18) looks to build on a solid junior season that ended in a fourth place finish at the MAC championships. Also returning is junior Devin Mellon (21-4) who served as the primary backup to All-American heavyweight Dom Bradley last season. Mellon qualified for the 2012 NCAA tournament as a redshirt freshman while filling in for Bradley, who had taken an Olympic redshirt. The program also welcomes in the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation.
"Expectations never change," said Head Coach Brian Smith. "We have a lot of returning talent in the room already, and we brought in one of the top recruiting classes in the nation this year. Now our focus as coaches is to recognize who gives us the best chance to compete at a high level. We will have a lot of opportunities to evaluate the talent we have in the room this year with a couple of open tournaments early on as we try to replace the spots left open from last year's seniors."
Missouri opens their 2013-14 season on the road starting on Friday, November 1, against North Dakota State, a team they defeated last year 37-7. They will then travel to South Dakota to participate in the South Dakota State Open on Sunday, November 3.
Following the Joe Parisi Open at Lindenwood University on November 23, Missouri will host their first home meet of the season, taking on Ohio University on Friday, December 6. The Tigers are 3-0 all-time against the Bobcats. The squad will then compete in the Northern Iowa Open on Saturday, December 14.
Missouri opens 2014 at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Jan. 1-2, hosted by the University of Chattanooga. A week later, Missouri will face off with SIUE, this time in Edwardsville, Ill., to kickoff a four-meet road trip. The Tigers open their conference road slate at Central Michigan on January 19. The Chippewas narrowly defeated Missouri last season 17-16, before falling to the Tigers in the MAC Championships later in the year. The squad will follow that up with a January 24 match at Northern Iowa and a January 25 dual at Northern Illinois. From there, the Tigers travel to Norman, Okla., to face their former Big-12 rival, Oklahoma on Thursday, January 30. Missouri beat the Sooners in Columbia last season 26-8.
The following night, Missouri closes out the month of January at the historic Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla., to take on the 2013 NCAA Runner-up Oklahoma State Cowboys.
The biggest home stand of the 2013-14 season begins on Friday, February 7 against conference foe Buffalo. The following night Missouri takes on Eastern Michigan. The Tigers' final home meet of the season will feature a rematch of last season's 35-(-1) Tiger shellacking over Old Dominion. Missouri is a combined 8-0-1 all-time against the three wrestling programs.
The regular season comes to a close on the road against Kent State on Saturday, February 22. Missouri will again travel to Kent State to defend their MAC Conference title on March 8-9.
Finally, Missouri looks to send a bevy of wrestlers back to the NCAA Championships from March 20-22, 2014 in Oklahoma City. Missouri placed three grapplers in the national semifinals last year in Des Moines, Iowa, and under the direction of Smith and his staff, look to build on their success from a year ago in what should be an exciting 2013-14 season.
Smith enters his 16th season as Missouri's head coach. He is the program's all-time leader in wins with a record of 189-88-3. Under his tenure, Missouri has churned out 26 All-Americans, a Big 12 conference championship in 2012, and 12 consecutive winning seasons. Smith has also coached three NCAA champions - Max Askren, Mark Ellis, and two-time champion Ben Askren.
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- MIZ -
Players Mentioned
