A year after beating Missouri at the Convocation Center, the NIU wrestling team will travel to Columbia to take on the fifth-ranked Tigers at 4 p.m today.

Coming off a loss to fourth-ranked Iowa State in its last meet, Missouri (10-2) is the fifth top-20 team the Huskies (9-4) have faced this year.

“It’s good to wrestle another one of the top teams in the country,” NIU coach Dave Grant said. “We get to go against some good people and that helps your intensity. We have some really good team matchups.”

One of those matchups is in the 149-pound weight class where NIU’s 13th-ranked Josh Wooton takes on third-ranked Jeremy Spates. Grant really likes the matchup because he said Wooton has a great chance to move up the ranking ladder.

NIU’s second-ranked, 184-pound Ben Heizer squares off against 17th-ranked Matt Pell.

Sam Hiatt, NIU’s 13th-ranked 133-pounder, faces 14th-ranked Paul Collum.

Grant said Missouri’s style is to stay on the outside, grab ankles and not grapple too much. He said his team’s style of setting the tempo is an advantage for the Huskies.

Despite going 0-4 against the other top-20 teams, Grant isn’t about to change his team philosophy.

“It doesn’t matter who we wrestle,” Grant said. “All we have to do is wrestle hard and keep level-headed and compete. We have the same strategy, no matter who we face.