Missouri wrestling hits the road this weekend
The No. 18 Missouri wrestling team heads into an important weekend of dual meets with a 3-4 record. Missouri will face Hofstra in Hempstead, N.Y. on Friday and George Mason and Drexel in Philadelphia on Saturday. The weekend should be manageable as all three teams have losing records.
In their last match, the Tigers came away with a 24-14 victory over Chattanooga on Jan. 16. Six Missouri wrestlers won their matches including defending national champion heavyweight senior Mark Ellis, who is ranked No. 7 in the country. Ellis won by fall for the seventh time this season and is now two short of his career high.
No. 10 sophomore Dorian Henderson was the only wrestler to defeat a ranked opponent against Chattanooga. Henderson beat No. 20 freshman Jake Young 6-4 at the 174-pound weight-class.
True freshman Eric Wilson made his debut in the Tigers lineup at the 125-pound weight-class against Chattanooga, and came up with a 5-1 loss. Wilson was the third different Tiger to wrestle in this weight class this season, replacing freshman Brad Wisdom in the line-up. Wisdom was undefeated and had brought a lot of consistency to a previously weak part of the Tigers lineup. Whether or not Wisdom returns to the lineup could be crucial as the Tigers head into this weekend and conference play.
The match against Drexel will be Missouri's last before Big 12 conference matches begin on Jan. 29 at Nebraska. The following weekend, Missouri will face Oklahoma and Oklahoma State at home.