High hopes for wrestling team

MU wrestling aims to prove its worth without Ben Askren.

By Ryan Huber

Published Nov. 9, 2007

Ben Askren was the face of Missouri wrestling for nearly four years, and although his presence will still be felt as he fills an assistant coach position this year, his absence on the competition mat leaves many wondering where the spotlight will shine this year.

Askren's flair and mop of hair deservedly warranted a giant spotlight of attention, but this year's spotlight will have to be even larger as the Tigers have a chance to prove how solid they are as a team, coach Brian Smith said.

"This is probably the most talented team through every weight that we have had," Smith said. "Now, of course, talent can only take you so far. They work hard, but we are going to find out how they compete."

The Tigers will jump into the fire quickly as they face two top 30 opponents this weekend on the road. No. 27 Rider will play host to MU on Friday evening in Lawrenceville, N.J., before the Tigers head to Hempstead, N.Y., to face off against No. 13 Hofstra on Saturday.

"Once you get out by yourself and it's not the practice room, you are going to find out how you really wrestle, especially against Hofstra," Smith said. "There are going to be about 4,000 or 5,000 people there. They beat Minnesota in an early season dual last year, so this is a good challenge for us early."

Minnesota won the national championship last year.

Year after year, Smith has continued to schedule the toughest opponents, which is something he said he firmly believes works.

"I want the team to have the tougher competition because in the Big 12, there is no easy competition, and when you get to the NCAAs it's all tough," he said.

Missouri is returning six NCAA Tournament participants from last year, and Smith said these six form the nucleus of the team this year. Among the six is senior captain Tyler McCormick, a two-time All American.

McCormick said he finally feels as though he is in the driver's seat.

"I kind of look at it as I'm taking over the reins now for Ben Askren," he said. "It's definitely an exciting time for me as a senior to show my leadership skills and show how good this team can be as well as how good I can be on an individual basis."

The pain of coming so close to a national championship last season has only motivated the team more, McCormick said.

"We realize how close we were to winning the national title last year, and I think it just drives this team to realize that we can do this," he said. "We were that close last year, and we have six guys returning this year that have already been to the national tournament and know that experience. We are just going to build on that this year."

Senior Raymond Jordan also makes his bid for a national championship this season.

"I am definitely ready to step it up this year," he said. "The only thing that matters is that I am on the top of the podium in March."

Smith said expectations are high this year.

"Raymond Jordan we expect to win the national title," he said. "Tyler McCormick we expect to win the national title. Max (Askren) we expect to win the national title. There are a lot of other kids that are going to be high All-Americans, and if they have great days they are in there for the national title, too."