No. 3 ISU to Wrestle Rider and No. 2 Missouri

AMES, Iowa -- No. 3 Iowa State (9-3/3-0) will host Rider (9-6) in the final home dual Friday at 7 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones will travel to Columbia, Mo., to take on No. 2 Missouri (10-1/3-0) in a Big 12 Conference showdown at 2 p.m. in the Hearnes Center Sunday.

Series Notes - Iowa State vs. Rider

This will be the first meeting between Iowa State and Rider.

Scouting the Broncs

Rider has won three consecutive dual matches, with the latest over Clarion, 37-9. With the win the Broncs improved to 9-6 on the season.

Two Rider grapplers are nationally ranked, Doug Umbehauer at 174 pounds and 197-pounder T.J. Morrison. Umbehauer is ranked eighth with a season mark of 21-8. As a freshman, Umbehauer qualified for the NCAA tournament.

Morrison is a two-time NCAA qualifier and boasts a 23-6 record in his junior season. Ranked 14th, Morrison and will square off against ISU's Kurt Backes who is ranked ninth and holds a season record of 19-4.

Series Notes - Iowa State vs. Missouri

Iowa State will be looking to pick up its second straight road dual meet victory at Missouri in the Hearnes Center. When the Cyclones traveled to Columbia in 2005, ISU defeated the Tigers 18-15.

Missouri beat ISU twice last season. The Tigers topped Iowa State 21-18 in consolation action of the National Duals Tournament. Mizzou knocked off the Cyclones, 16-15 in Ames last season. Iowa State has won 42 of the 46 meetings between the two schools.

Scouting the Tigers

The second-ranked Missouri wrestling team boasts a 10-1 dual mark and a 3-0 Big 12 Conference record. Missouri's lone loss was to top-ranked Minnesota for the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals title January 14 by a 20-16 margin. Missouri head coach Brian Smith's squad won its first seven duals of the season and took team titles at the Las Vegas Invitational and the Southern Scuffle. The Tigers are coming off wins at Oklahoma (24-14) and at Oklahoma State (17-16), the first time in school history that Missouri has beaten both teams on their Oklahoma road trip.

Missouri currently has nine of its 10 wrestlers ranked throughout the following polls: Intermat/NWCA, Amateur Wrestling News and W.I.N. Magazine. Tyler McCormick (133), Josh Wagner (149), Matt Pell (165), Ben Askren (174), Raymond Jordan (184) and Max Askren (197) are ranked in the top-ten of their respective weight classes.

Missouri ?s duo of the unbeaten and top-ranked Askren brothers, Ben and Max, lead the Tiger wrestling program. Ben, a senior, became Missouri's first NCAA champion and first three-time All-American in 2006. He is currently the top-ranked 174-pound wrestler across the board and holds a 30-0 record. Ben was the winner of the Hodge Trophy last season, which honors the nation's best collegiate wrestler.

Max Askren, just a freshman, sports a 24-0 record. Max scored a key major decision in Missouri's win over defending national champion Oklahoma State last weekend. Max will meet ISU All-American Kurt Backes on the mat at 197 pounds for the first time Sunday.

Missouri's Matt Pell is in his second season as the 165-pound starter after spending his first two collegiate campaigns at 184 pounds. In what will be the the fourth career meeting between rivals, Pell will face Iowa State's Travis Paulson. Pell has registered two victories, a 6-2 dual decision and a 4-1 win against Paulson during the 2005 Big 12 Championships. Paulson beat Pell, 4-2, in the 2006 NCAA Championship, denying Pell All-America status. Pell enters the the week with a record of 15-3, while Paulson holds a mark of 19-4.

Last Meeting Between Iowa State and Missouri: Feb. 12, 2006

HWT - Richard Schopf (ISU) dec. Sean Connole (UM), 4-2

125 - Austin DeVoe (UM) dec. Ben Hanisch (ISU), 1-0

133 - Tyler McCormick (UM) dec. Jesse Sundell (ISU), 7-3

141 - Nate Gallick (ISU) dec. Chris McCormick (UM), 8-2

149 - Jason Knipp (ISU) dec. Marcus Hoehn (UM), 5-1

157 - Trent Paulson (ISU) dec. Michael Chandler (UM), 10-3

165 - Matt Pell (UM) dec. Travis Paulson (ISU), 6-2

174 - Ben Askren (UM) maj. dec. David Bertolino (ISU), 16-5

184 - Kurt Backes (ISU) dec. Raymond Jordan (UM), 2-0

197 - Jeff Foust (UM) dec. Joe Curran (ISU), 8-7

No. 3 ISU to Wrestle Rider and No. 2 Missouri

Players Mentioned

Kurt Backes

David Bertolino

Joe Curran

Ben Hanisch

Travis Paulson

Trent Paulson

Richard Schopf

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Iowa State University Athletics

No. 3 ISU to Wrestle Rider and No. 2 Missouri

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Players Mentioned

Kurt Backes

David Bertolino

Joe Curran

Ben Hanisch

Travis Paulson

Trent Paulson

Richard Schopf

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