Sports Blog — January 28, 2010
Missouri wrestling opens conference season Friday night
The Missouri wrestling team begins conference play Friday night against Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb. The Tigers are on a four-match winning streak after routing all three of their opponents in the Northeast last weekend.
Missouri beat Hofstra 34-7 in Hempstead, N.Y., last Friday, and followed up that win with a 34-7 victory over George Mason and a 31-9 victory over Drexel in Philadelphia on Saturday.
Freshman Brad Wisdom, who had been out of the line-up after being very successful at 125 pounds for Missouri, wrestled at 133 pounds for the first time this season. Wisdom went 2-1 last weekend, as did freshman Eric Wilson, who took over at 125 pounds. The bottom of the line-up has been a weak point for the Tigers, who could really use some production going into conference play.
At the top of the line-up, No. 17 redshirt freshman Brent Haynes and No. 10 sophomore Dorian Henderson both went 3-0 last weekend. Henderson won all of his matches at 174 pounds, and Haynes won all of his at 197 pounds. Haynes has continued to be a pleasant surprise for the Tigers after beginning the season unranked.
Missouri stars No. 5 heavyweight senior Mark Ellis and No. 5 184-pounder senior Max Askren were rested over the weekend, with Ellis wrestling once and Askren not at all. Both wrestlers will be very important as the Tigers head into conference play.
The matchup with Nebraska will be the Tigers last before a momentous home weekend against top ten teams. No. 9 Oklahoma will visit on Feb. 6 and No. 4 Oklahoma State will visit the following day.
Missouri women's basketball faces tough Big 12 schedule
The Missouri women’s basketball team played one of its best games Jan. 23 by upsetting 10th-ranked Baylor and claiming its first conference victory.
But the team’s momentum was halted Tuesday night when it lost to No. 15 Oklahoma State, 75-60.
Coach Cindy Stein said during postgame remarks after the Baylor game that she hoped the team could use its game against Baylor to turn around fortunes in conference games. It appears that the Tigers will need more than just one huge win in order to win in the Big 12.
The Tigers are 1-5 in the Big 12 and have an important game against rival Kansas on Saturday at home. Although Kansas is not a ranked team, the Tigers will need to view every match from now until the end of the season as a challenge in order to climb up the Big 12 standings.
The Tigers still face No. 22 Iowa State twice, No. 6 Nebraska, No. 8 Texas A&M, and No. 19 Texas before the season ends.
The Tigers are in last place in the Big 12. If they want to improve, they need to remember what they did in their victory against Baylor. Although the Tigers will not face any teams that feature a player such as Bears freshman center Brittany Griner throughout the rest of the season, their opponents are still extremely talented and pose a remarkable challenge for the Tigers.
It is possible for the Tigers to move up in the standings because they can play with the best — if they want to.
Gymnastics rakes up Big 12 awards
No. 11 Missouri’s hot streak continues after besting Iowa State in the conference opener Jan. 22. Senior Sarah Shire’s career-high score on floor exercise (9.950) propelled the Tigers to 5-0.
For her impressive performance, the Big 12 voted Shire the Gymnast of the Week. It was the second time in as many weeks Shire was the recipient of the honor.
With this last award, Missouri continues to sweep the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week titles in the early going of the season. MU sophomore Mary Burke was the first Tiger this year to be recognized as Gymnast of the Week.
The road does not get any easier for the Tigers as they travel to Lincoln, Neb., to take on the undefeated ninth-ranked Cornhuskers this coming Saturday and avenge last season’s Big 12 Championship loss dealt at the hands of Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers (4-0) are coming off a home victory against No. 17 Michigan.
Junior Maria Scaffidi is the Cornhuskers’ most potent gymnast thus far in the season. Scaffidi is the ninth-ranked gymnast on floor exercise and is the 21st-best in the all-around.
Another Nebraska asset is junior Erin Davis who is tied as the fourth -best gymnast on vault in the country.
Missouri will fight history when squaring off against the Cornhuskers. Nebraska is 65-6 all-time against Missouri.