Missouri wrestling prepares for new season with new look
Three graduating seniors will be replaced in the Missouri line-up.
Published Nov. 9, 2010
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Two Missouri wrestlers compete during the Black and Gold match Oct. 30 at the Hearnes Center. The squad lost three seniors this year.
The No. 11 Missouri wrestling starting line-up will feature several new faces this season after losing three seniors from last year’s squad.
Missouri will be replacing some of the best wrestlers in school history. Three-time Big 12 champion Nick Marable and NCAA champions Max Askren and Mark Ellis will have to be replaced this season, at the 165, 184 and heavyweight weight classes, respectively.
Junior No. 3 Dom Bradley will replace Mark Ellis at heavyweight. Bradley, a big recruit, has backed up Ellis for two seasons and will finally have the chance to consistently compete in dual meets. Bradley won the Missouri Open last season and also beat Ellis in the Central Missouri Open, where he finished third.
“I’m really excited to see what happens,” Bradley said. “I’m anxious.”
Missouri coach Brian Smith is a believer in Bradley and the high preseason rankings he has received.
“His one goal is to win the national title,” Smith said. “Its time for him to be the man.”
The only senior in the starting line-up this season will be No. 12 Todd Schavrien at 141 pounds. Schavrien has been to the NCAA tournament the past two seasons.
“I expect to go out there like every match is my last match, because it is my last season,” Schavrien said. “I expect to leave everything out on the mat every single match because I want to be a national champ."
Smith said Schavrien has come a long way since he transferred from Arizona State after the 2008 season.
“He made a decision that he was going to buy into the program, and has,” Smith said about Schavrien. “He’s ready to step up and become an All-American now for us.”
Missouri will also return starters at 133 and 197 pounds. Sophomore Nathan McCormick will be the starter at 133 and sophomore No. 7 Brent Haynes will start at 197, but not until late December. Haynes is ineligible for the remainder of the first semester, but Smith still expects him to have a big season.
“Its definitely a weight that he’s going to be in the thick of things to be at the top of,” Smith said.
Junior Dorian Henderson, who qualified for the NCAA tournament at 174 pounds last season, could be back in the starting line-up. Smith is deciding between Henderson and junior Patrick Wright, who started at 157 pounds last season. Wright defeated Henderson 5-3 at the Black and Gold match Oct. 30.
Smith said there is also a possibility one of the 174-pounders will start at 184 pounds. He has not yet decided on who will replace national champion Max Askren at that weight.
The starters at 149 and 165 pounds will be redshirt freshmen who were big-time recruits a couple years ago. Kyle Bradley will start at 149 pounds; he beat sophomore Nicholas Hucke by fall in the Black and Gold match. No. 16 Zach Toal will be the starter at 165 pounds, and he has already ranked in the top 25 after going 16-6 last season.
Junior Danny Gonsor will be the Tiger starter at 157 pounds. Gonsor, along with teammates Alan Waters and Nick Gregoris, took first place at the Lindenwood Open the weekend of Oct. 29. Waters could end up being the starter at 125 pounds, the last weight about which Smith has yet to decide.
Missouri opens up dual play Nov. 12 against No. 10 Illinois.
“I’m excited just to see where we’re at,” Smith said. “Illinois is definitely a good measuring stick.”