Missouri, Askren brothers ranked No. 1 in InterMat Division I poll

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Jason Bryant (InterMat)
12/12/2006


MANHEIM, Pa. - For the second straight week, there's a new No. 1 team in Division I college wrestling.

Coach Brian Smith's Missouri Tigers took nine of the 12 first-place votes to take hold of the top spot in the USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches poll released on Tuesday.

It is the first time Missouri has been ranked No. 1 in school history and the Tigers are only the 11th team in collegiate wrestling history to be ranked No. 1 according to wrestling historian Jay Hammond and Ron Good of Amateur Wrestling News.

The Tigers also notched a notable feat as senior Ben Askren (174) and freshman Max Askren (197) became the first set of non-twin brothers to be ranked at the top of their weight classes simultaneously by a national wrestling publication since Mark Schultz and the late Dave Schultz of the University of Oklahoma were both ranked No. 1 at 167 and 177 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News on February 27, 1982. Both won NCAA titles that year.

Missouri moved to 3-0 with wins over Central Michigan and Michigan State over the weekend. 

Max Askren moved from second to first after No. 1 Phil Davis of Penn State was upset by Hofstra's Chris Weidman on Sunday. The younger Askren is 12-0 on the season.  

Minnesota vaulted to second after dispensing the previously top-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys on Wednesday and Iowa State on Friday. The Gophers received three first-place votes. Hofstra, which beat Minnesota 18-17 on November 26 moved up from fifth to third after hammering eighth-ranked Penn State 24-10 on Sunday. It's the highest ranking in school history for Hofstra, a private university in Hempstead, N.Y. on Long Island.

One point separated traditional powers Oklahoma State (fourth) and Iowa (fifth) in the voting. 

Oklahoma, Iowa State, Penn State and Northwestern came in sixth through ninth while Central Michigan moved into the Top 10 after beating rival Michigan in Ann Arbor on Friday. Lehigh re-entered the rankings at 22 after the Mountain Hawks beat Pittsburgh 29-10 on Saturday.

USA Today/InterMat/NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll

Rank     Team (First)       Record Pts       Pvs

1          Missouri (9)       3-0        476       2
2          Minnesota (3)    6-1        460       3
3          Hofstra 7-0        449       5
4          Oklahoma State 3-1        445       1
5          Iowa     5-0        444       4
6          Oklahoma         4-1        412       6
7          Iowa State         2-2        410       7
8          Penn State        4-1        388       8
9          Northwestern     8-0        382       10
10         Central Michigan            4-2        372       11
11         Michigan           1-1        363       9
12         Edinboro          8-1        337       12
13         Cornell  0-1        332       13
14         Ohio State        1-1        325       14
14         Penn     2-2        314       15
16         Illinois   2-0        299       16
17         Indiana  5-0        286       17
18         Nebraska          4-0        274       18
19         Wisconsin         10-0      246       23
20         Cal Poly            0-1        213       21
21         Michigan State  0-3        200       19
22         Lehigh  4-4        191       NR
23         Pittsburgh         2-1        177       20
24         West Virginia     0-0        173       24t
25         Northern Iowa    0-2        150       24t

Also receiving votes: Harvard, UT-Chattanooga, American, Navy, UC-Davis, Columbia, Arizona State

InterMat/NWCA/NWMA Division I Individual Wrestling Rankings

125 pounds

1. Sam Hazewinkel, Sr. Oklahoma
2. Troy Nickerson, So. Cornell
3. Mark McKnight, Jr. Penn State
4. Franklin Gomez, Fr. Michigan State
5. Chad Mendes, Jr. Cal Poly
6. Obe Blanc, Jr. Lock Haven
7. Tanner Gardner, Jr. Stanford
8. Dave Tomasette, Jr. Hofstra
9. Jayson Ness, Fr. Minnesota
10. Mike Sees, Jr. Bloomsburg
11. Paul Donahoe, So. Nebraska
12. Angel Escobedo, Fr. Indiana
13. Luke Smith, Jr. Central Michigan
14. Gabe Flores, So. Illinois
15. Matt Eveleth, Sr. Penn
16. Eric Hoffman, Jr. North Dakota State
17. Javier Maldonado, Jr. UT-Chattanooga
18. Tyler Shinn, Fr. Oklahoma State
19. Kyle Anson, Fr. Northern Iowa
20. Steve Mytych, So. Drexel

133 pounds

1. Nick Simmons, Sr. Michigan State
2. Matt Keller, Sr. UT-Chattanooga
3. Matt Valenti, Sr. Penn
4. Coleman Scott, Jr. Oklahoma State
5. Darrell Vasquez, Sr. Cal Poly
6. Mario Galanakis, Sr. Iowa
7. Jake Strayer, So. Penn State
8. Drew Headlee, Jr. Pittsburgh
9. Mark Budd, Sr. Buffalo
10. Tyler McCormick, Jr. Missouri
11. Mike Rowe, Fr. Nebraska
12. Joe Baker, So. Navy
13. Eric Albright, So. Virginia
14. Ricky Deubel, So. Edinboro
15. T.J. Enright, Jr. Ohio State
16. Cameron Doggett, Fr. Purdue
17. Terryl Williams, Sr. Appalachian State
18. Matt DeLorenzo, Sr. Columbia
19. Lou Ruggirello, Fr. Hofstra
20. Seth Ciasulli, Fr. Lehigh

141 pounds

1. Ryan Lang, Jr. Northwestern
2. Derek Moore, Sr. UC-Davis
3. Nathan Morgan, Jr. Oklahoma State
4. Andy Simmons, Sr. Michigan State
5. Manuel Rivera, Jr. Minnesota
6. Dominick Moyer, Sr. Nebraska
7. Brandon Rader, So. West Virginia
8. Cassio Pero, Sr. Illinois
9. C.J. Ettelson, Jr. Northern Iowa
10. Alex Tsirtsis, Jr. Iowa
11. Mitch Mueller, Fr. Iowa State
12. Max Meltzer, Jr. Harvard
13. Vincent Ramirez, So. North Carolina
14. Charlie Pinto, Sr. Maryland
15. Pat Payne, Jr. Arizona State
16. Dave Roberts, Sr. Cal Poly
17. Michael Keefe, Sr. UT-Chattanooga
18. Kyle Ruschell, Fr. Wisconsin
19. Charles Griffin, Jr. Hofstra
20. Chris Bencivenga, Jr. UNC Greensboro

149 pounds

1. Dustin Schlatter, So. Minnesota
2. Matt Storniolo, Sr. Oklahoma
3. Gregor Gillespie, So. Edinboro
4. Josh Churella, Jr. Michigan
5. Matt Coughlin, Fr. Indiana
6. Jordan Leen, So. Cornell
7. J.P. O'Connor, Fr. Harvard
8. Tyler Turner, Sr. Wisconsin
9. David Jauregui, So. West Virginia
10. Trevor Chinn, So. Lehigh
11. Morgan Atkinson, Jr. Cal State-Fullerton
12. Cyler Sanderson, Fr. Iowa State
13. Aaron Martin, Sr. UT-Chattanooga
14. Scott Ervin, Jr. Appalachian State
15. Jermain Thompson, Sr. Eastern Michigan
16. John Cox, Sr. Navy
17. Jon Bonilla-Bowman, Fr. Virginia Tech
18. Sam Alvarenga, Sr. VMI
19. Lance Palmer, Fr. Ohio State
20. Troy Tirapelle, So. Illinois

157 pounds

1. Trent Paulson, Sr. Iowa State
2. Brian Stith, Sr. Arizona State
3. Brandon Becker, Jr. Indiana
4. Craig Henning, Jr. Wisconsin
5. Mike Poeta, So. Illinois
6. Andrew Flanagan, So. Harvard
7. Matt Hill, Sr. Edinboro
8. James Strouse, Sr. Hofstra
9. Matt Kocher, Jr. Pittsburgh
10. C.P. Schlatter, Jr. Minnesota
11. Chris Oliver, So. Nebraska
12. Ryan Morningstar, Fr. Iowa
13. Michael Chandler, Jr. Missouri
14. Ryan Hluschak, Jr. Drexel
15. Seth Martin, Sr. Lock Haven
16. Matt Dragon, So. Penn
17. Josh Zupancic, Jr. Stanford
18. Will Rowe, So. Oklahoma
19. Travis Piccard, Sr. The Citadel
20. Tyler Sherfey, Jr. Boise State

165 pounds

1. Johny Hendricks, Sr. Oklahoma State
2. Mark Perry, Jr. Iowa
3. Mike Patrovich, Sr. Hofstra
4. Travis Paulson, Sr. Iowa State
5. Eric Tannenbaum, Jr. Michigan
6. Nick Baima, Sr. Northern Iowa
7. Matt Pell, Sr. Missouri
8. Deonte Penn, Sr. Edinboro
9. Pat Pitsch, Jr. Arizona State
10. Johnny Galloway, Jr. Northern Illinois
11. Steve Anceravage, Jr. Cornell
12. Max Dean, Jr. Indiana
13. Keegan Mueller, Jr. North Carolina
14. Shane Siebert, Sr. Oklahoma
15. Trevor Stewart, So. Central Michigan
16. Andy Rendos, Fr. Bucknell
17. Jason Kiessling, Sr. Maryland
18. Chris Vondruska, Sr. Ohio State
19. Zach Shanaman, Jr. Penn
20. Marc Harwood, Sr. Nebraska

174 pounds

1. Ben Askren, Sr. Missouri
2. Keith Gavin, Jr. Pittsburgh
3. James Yonushonis, Sr. Penn State
4. Matt Herrington, Sr. Penn
5. Eric Luedke, Sr. Iowa
6. Steve Luke, So. Michigan
7. Brandon Sinnott, Jr. Central Michigan
8. Gabe Dretsch, Jr. Minnesota
9. Brandon Mason, So. Oklahoma State
10. Matt Stolpinski, So. Navy
11. Matt Palmer, Sr. Columbia
12. Ken Cook, Sr. UC-Davis
13. Ken Robertson, Sr. Eastern Illinois
14. Josh Weitzel, Jr. Oklahoma
15. Jeremy Larson, Sr. Oregon State
16. Alton Lucas, So. Hofstra
17. Mike Letts, Fr. Maryland
18. Doug Umbehauer, So. Rider
19. Donny Reynolds, Sr. Illinois
20. Kurt Brenner, Jr. West Virginia

184 pounds

1. Jake Herbert, Jr. Northwestern
2. Roger Kish, Jr. Minnesota
3. Mike Pucillo, Fr. Ohio State
4. Jake Varner, Fr. Iowa State
5. Tyrel Todd, So. Michigan
6. Raymond Jordan, So. Missouri
7. Christian Sinnott, Jr. Central Michigan
8. Joe Rovelli, Jr. Hofstra
9. Marc Bennett, Sr. Indiana
10. Louis Caputo, So. Harvard
11. Alex Clemsen, Sr. Edinboro
12. Phil Keddy, Fr. Iowa
13. Lior Zamir, Sr. Penn
14. Joe Williams, Jr. Michigan State
15. Rocco Caponi, So. Virginia
16. Eric Chine, So. Kent State
17. Justin Barent, Sr. Columbia
18. Antonio Miranda, Sr. Navy
19. Nate Shirk, Sr. Bloomsburg
20. Steve Borja, Sr. Virginia Tech

197 pounds

1. Max Askren, Fr. Missouri
2. Jerry Rinaldi, Sr. Cornell
3. Josh Glenn, Jr. American
4. Chris Weidman, Sr. Hofstra
5. Phil Davis, Jr. Penn State
6. J.D. Bergman, Jr. Ohio State
7. Joel Flaggert, Jr. Oklahoma
8. Wynn Michalak, Jr. Central Michigan
9. Nathan Moore, Sr. Purdue
10. Dallas Herbst, Jr. Wisconsin
11. Mike Tamillow, Jr. Northwestern
12. Nick Roy, Sr. Michigan
13. Jared Villers, Jr. West Virginia
14. Kurt Backes, Sr. Iowa State
15. Matt Montiero, Sr. Cal Poly
16. Matt Cassidy, Sr. Lehigh
17. Jon Oplinger, Jr. Drexel
18. T.J. Morrison, Jr. Rider
19. Hudson Taylor, Fr. Maryland
20. Sam Wendland, Sr. Wyoming 

285 pounds

1. Cole Konrad, Sr. Minnesota
2. Bode Ogunwole, Sr. Harvard
3. Dustin Fox, Jr. Northwestern
4. Matt Fields, Jr. Iowa
5. Ty Watterson, Sr. Oregon State
6. Bubba Gritter, Jr. Central Michigan
7. Adam LoPiccolo, Jr. American
8. Ed Prendergast, Jr. Navy
9. Spencer Nadolsky, Sr. North Carolina
10. Jared Rosholt, Fr. Oklahoma State
11. Aaron Anspach, Sr. Penn State
12. Joe Fendone, So. Edinboro
13. Paul Weibel, Sr. Lehigh
14. Payam Zarrinpour, Sr. Sacred Heart
15. Andy Patrick, Jr. Boise State
16. Reece Hopkin, Jr. Northern Colorado
17. Jainor Palma, Sr. N.C. State
18. Mike Spaid, Jr. Bloomsburg
19. Wade Sauer, So. Cal State-Fullerton
20. Jermail Porter, So. Kent State