Tigers meet Cornhuskers

When the Missouri wrestling team takes the Hearnes Center floor this afternoon for its Big 12 Conference-opening dual with Nebraska, it will do so as the No. 2 team in the country.

A very good ranking, but it just doesn’t have the same ring to it as No. 1. The Tigers are hungry to be called the best team in the country again soon.

“It brings us back down to earth, as far as us knowing that right now we’re not the best team in the nation, and our goal is to be the best team in the nation,” said Michael Chandler, Missouri’s starter at 157 pounds. “That’s just going to push us harder, make us work harder, push each other harder, and hold each other accountable for working as hard as we can and all having the same goal to win a national title in March.”

Missouri fell out of the No. 1 spot after a 20-16 loss to Minnesota Jan. 14 in the championship

match of the NWCA Cliff Keen Duals, the nation’s top regular-season tournament. The Golden Gophers took over No. 1 in the USA Today/Intermat/NWCA rankings released Tuesday.

But, Missouri wrestlers and coaches say they are confident they are just as good as the Gophers. The teams split the 10 matches in the dual, and the Tigers won the Southern Scuffle earlier in the season, a tournament where Minnesota finished second.

“We beat Minnesota, then Minnesota beat us, so it’s really close right now, in my mind,” said Tiger 165-pounder Matt Pell. “It’s about what us and Minnesota do before nationals to make the difference. I don’t see it as they’re No. 1 and we’reNo. 2, I see us as even right now. It’s time to get on that horse, and work hard to make the gains that are necessary to be No. 1 at the end of the year, when it really matters.”

After having two weeks off, the Tigers (7-1) take on No. 20 Nebraska (7-4) at 2 p.m., anxious to put the Minnesota match behind them.

The Huskers should be able to challenge Missouri at a few weight classes. Nebraska will have the higher-ranked wrestler at 125 pounds and 141 pounds, and Max Askren, the top-ranked wrestler at 197 pounds, will have a battle with No. 8 Craig Brester. Overall though, the Tigers will be heavy favorites against a Nebraska team picked to finish fifth in the Big 12. However, Pell says his team isn’t taking the dual lightly.

“We’re not overlooking Nebraska at all,” he said. “They have a tough team, and a good program with good coaches. We’re going to have to go out there and do what we’ve done all year, wrestle hard for seven minutes at every weight class, and we’ll come out on top.”

Although the No. 1 ranking may be gone, the Tigers’ swagger is not. Chandler had perhaps the toughest loss to take of any Tiger in the Minnesota dual, squandering a late lead in a 6-5 loss to C.P. Schlatter, but he was not hanging his head as he prepared for practice on Friday.

“Now, he’s (Schlatter) ranked No. 2 in the nation,” Chandler said. “I’m really motivated by all the guys I’ve lost to by really close margins.

I know that the 157-pound weight class is up for grabs. I feel like I have as good a chance as anybody. I have all the confidence in the world that I can win a Big 12 title, and carry that into nationals with a chip on my shoulder, and prove that hard work pays off.”

And, when it comes to the short-term, the Tigers are also not shy about expressing their confidence.

“All and all, (today) should be a good match for us,” Chandler said. “We’re coming home, and kicking Nebraska’s butt.”