Mizzou crashes ranks of nation's best teams

~ The Tigers have been ranked as high as No. 1 this season.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Iowa State used to own Missouri, given the Cyclones' lopsided 42-3 record in the series.

Which makes the Tigers' 27-12 loss on Sunday, although expectations remain sky high, that much tougher to take. Because nobody ties them in knots anymore.

Missouri has been ranked at or near the top all season, spending time at No. 1, before losing a dual to Minnesota last month. The school has accomplished a huge class jump in a sport that has typically been a closed club of selected Big 12 and Big Ten schools.

The Tigers have never won the Big 12 Conference tournament, and their best finish in the national tournament in coach Brian Smith's first eight seasons was 11th in 2004-05. Now they're among the elite, one of only 11 programs to hold the top spot.

Missouri was No. 2 heading into the weekend against the third-ranked Cyclones before delivering a dud. Smith chalked it up to nothing more than a bad day and a learning experience for a program that's hit more than its share of high notes, including a pair of dual victories over four-time defending national champion Oklahoma State.

Missouri figures to take a large contingent to the NCAA championships March 15 to 17 in Detroit.

"You know what, March 17 is the ranking that matters," Smith said. "That's the thing: you can bounce up by how you perform in March and that's hopefully what we'll do. I know we're going to wrestle well at the national tournament."

The Iowa State match hinged on the first loss of the year for 197-pound freshman Max Askren, top-ranked at his weight class, who got pinned in the second period by 10th-rated Kurt Backes. There was a pair of narrow losses, plus two top starters were sidelined by injuries.

The highlight was a quick pin by Ben Askren, Max's older brother and the defending national champion at 174 pounds. Askren needed only 1:08 to record his 22nd first-period pin and go to 32-0 overall, while tying the school record he set last year with his 25th pin overall.

He, too, retains high expectations.

"It's just a small bump in the road," Askren said. "If we win the Big 12s in three weeks, we'll make history there."

Smith has been steadily building to this point. Six of his wrestlers are ranked in the top 10 in the country at their weight class.

The program's strength is its Wisconsin connection. Ben Askren, from Hartland, Wis., is 143-8 in four seasons and his success encouraged others. Also from the dairy state are 149-pound Josh Wagner (23-8), 165-pound Matt Pell (15-4) and Max Askren (26-1) -- all ranked in the top 10.

"I came first, I liked it, and everyone else came that were good friends of mine," Ben Askren said. "I bought into building the program.

"I think I've been a big part of helping to build the program, and I'm proud of what we've done."

Max Askren's exploits had led to comparisons with Iowa State coach Cael Sanderson, who was 159-0 in four years with the Cyclones from 1998 to 2002. Askren was the last unbeaten freshman in the nation to lose.

The loss to Iowa state left th e Tigers one win short of the first 4-0 conference record in the 62-year history of the program.

"As long as we wind up finishing our true goal to be the national champion, it won't be that much of a setback," said sophomore Raymond Jordan, fifth-ranked at 184 pounds. "I'll take a loss here any day for a national championship in March."