Missouri Wrestling Team Ranked No. 1 in the Country

...Ben and Maxwell Askren Ranked No. 1 in their Weight Class...

Columbia, Mo. - The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) together with USA Today and Intermat.com announced this afternoon that the Missouri wrestling team has been voted No. 1 in the nation with two Tiger grapplers, senior Ben Askren and younger brother, redshirt freshman Maxwell Askren, ranked No. 1 at 174 and 197 pounds, respectively. This marks the highest ranking ever for a Missouri wrestling team and first time since the 1989-90 men's basketball season that a Tiger team has been ranked at the top of a national poll.

The Tigers received nine of the 12 first place votes in the weekly coaches poll and moved ahead of No. 2 Minnesota (three votes) and No. 3 Hofstra. This marks the second straight week that a new team has been awarded the No. 1 ranking and Missouri becomes only the 11th team in wrestling history to earn the top honor.

"It's a nice thing for all of Missouri's past and current wrestlers," Head Coach Brian Smith said. "It's because of their time and commitment put into the program that we've been able to succeed. At the same time, we have to keep reminding ourselves that it's only Dec. 12, the season is still young. But, this team works hard and will put in every effort possible to retain the No. 1 ranking."

Six of Missouri's wrestlers are currently ranked among the top-20 of their weight class with the Askren brothers of Hartland, Wis, taking top billing at 174 and 197 pounds. This marks the first time since Feb. 27, 1982, that a set of brothers that were not twins were ranked No. 1 in their weight class. According to research done by wrestling historian Jay Hammond and Ron Good of Amateur Wrestling News, the last set of brothers that were not twins that were ranked No. 1 were Dave and Mark Schultz of the University of Oklahoma at 167 and 177 pounds.

"The hard work that both of those guys put in is really paying off," Smith said. "They're both doing things right. Max, has proven himself over the past month and that's not always easy for a freshman to do in such a stacked weight class."

Missouri, now 3-0 on the season after holding off No. 10 Ohio State, No. 11 Central Michigan and No. 14 Michigan State, will take on No. 20 Pittsburgh in its next competition, Thursday, Dec. 21, at 7 p.m. (CT) in the Hearnes Center.

Post a Comment

Enter Your Name

or Login Here

Please enter this code to post comment. Login to skip Captcha.