Wrestling receives high preseason rankings
At the NCAA Wrestling Championships last season, junior Nick Marable was in a close semi-final match with eventual and defending national champion Mark Perry of Iowa. Perry shot in at Marable at the end of the match, and right at the buzzer, the referee gave Perry the two points necessary for the win. Marable went on to finish third in the nation, but was not quite satisfied.
Since then, Marable has been training hard to be standing on top of the podium in St. Louis this March. The NWCA Wrestling polls are recognizing that hard work, and believe that Marable will accomplish his goal this season, ranking him No. 1 in the nation at 165 lbs. The last Tiger to be ranked No. 1 in the preseason polls was two-time national champion and 2008 Olympian Ben Askren.
After an eleventh place finish at the NCAA tournament last season, the Missouri Tigers will begin this season ranked No.5 in the nation. This marks the third consecutive year that Missouri has begun the season ranked in the top 10.
Six Missouri wrestlers are ranked in the top 15 in their respective weight classes. Senior Raymond Jordan, who finished fifth in the nation last season, will begin this season ranked fourth at 184 lbs. Coming off of a seventh place finish, junior Max Askren is ranked fifth in the nation at 197 lbs. Three-time NCAA qualifier, senior Michael Chandler, will begin his final season as a Tiger ranked seventh at 157 lbs. Junior heavyweight and 2008 NCAA qualifier Mark Ellis will begin the season ranked fifth in the nation. After only wrestling 12 matches last season, sophomore Tony Pescaglia is ranked No. 12 at 125 lbs.
If Missouri lives up to the preseason hype, it will be an exciting wrestling season for Tiger fans.