KTGR ESPN 100.5 FM & 1580 AM
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 10-ranked University of Missouri wrestling team closes out its regular season with a showdown against No. 3 Iowa State Wednesday, Feb. 15. The match is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. inside the Hearnes Center and can be streamed on FloWrestling.
— PREVIOUSLY ON TIGER STYLE — Missouri split its duals on its Oklahoma road trip, dominating Oklahoma, 33-3, Feb. 3, and falling to No. 11 Oklahoma State, 17-16, Feb. 5. The Tigers’ win over the Sooners featured four bonus-point victories.
Squaring off against Oklahoma, Noah Surtin kicked things off in style with an 8-0 major decision at 125 pounds. Connor Brown kept momentum rolling with a 7-4 decision at 133. Starting with Brock Mauller‘s sudden victory decision (4-2) at 149 pounds, the Tigers closed out the show with seven consecutive victories. The second half of the card was highlighted by Keegan O’Toole picking up Mizzou’s lone fall of the dual (4:05) at 165 pounds.
In Stillwater two days later, Mauller took a decision at 149 before O’Toole snatched his sixth ranked win of the year with a 14-4 major over No. 22 Wyatt Sheets at 165 pounds. Mocco extended his win streak to five matches at 174 to increase Missouri’s lead, upsetting No. 5 Dustin Plott. After dropping two matches, Zach Elam and Surtin reclaimed the Tiger advantage, but Connor Brown couldn’t upset No. 2 Daton Fix at 133 pounds in the night’s final match, as Missouri and Oklahoma State finished deadlocked, 16-16. OSU took the dual, 17-16, as the Cowboys won based on criteria.
— SENIOR SEND OFF — Missouri will honor four graduating seniors with a Senior Night ceremony at Wednesday’s dual. Mitchell Bohlken, Connor Brown, Allan Hart and Jarrett Jacques will all be celebrated 30 minutes prior to the dual’s start.
— REIGNING, DEFENDING, UNDISPUTED — Defending national champion sophomore Keegan O’Toole extended his win streak to 41 consecutive bouts dating back to the 2021 NCAA Championships. O’Toole earned two bonus point victories on the team’s trip to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, extending his bonus point victory streak to four. The sophomore first picked up a pin against Oklahoma’s Gerrit Hijenhius in 4:05, then majored No. 22 Wyatt Sheets of Oklahoma State, 14-4.
O’Toole is the top-ranked 165-pounder by all major publications and is ranked fifth by FloWrestling on the pound-for-pound list.
— TOP-TWO TUSSLE — Wednesday’s match features a clash between Mizzou’s Keegan O’Toole and Iowa State’s David Carr, the top-two grapplers at 165. This is the first showdown between the two since Carr jumped up from 157 pounds, where he was the 2021 NCAA Champion.
Though Carr has accrued a 105-3 record during his time at Iowa State, the Tigers own one of those wins, as Peyton Mocco won a 9-8 decision at 157 pounds in the 2019 Cyclone Open over Carr.
— BATTLING WITH THE BEST — Wednesday’s match against No. 3 Iowa State will be Mizzou’s sixth dual against a ranked opponent. The Tigers are 2-3 in ranked battles, with a 28-11 victory over No. 15 North Dakota State on Dec. 20 and a 24-12 triumph over No. 13 Northern Iowa on Jan. 8.
In its three ranked losses, Mizzou fell short against No. 5 Arizona State, No. 9 Virginia Tech and No. 11 Oklahoma State, by a combined five points.
— MAGIC MOCCO — Redshirt junior Peyton Mocco is on a hot streak entering the season’s final stretch. Mocco earned bonus point victories in five-consecutive duals. On the Tigers’ latest road trip, Mocco earned two of his best wins of the season, earning a major decision (12-3) over Oklahoma’s Tate Picklo, Feb. 3, who entered as the No. 20-ranked grappler at 174. Two days later at No. 11 Oklahoma State, Mocco exacted revenge on Dustin Plott, the No. 5 grappler in the class, with a decision (4-3) to earn the upset win, Feb. 5. The latter represents the highest-ranked win in his career.
The redshirt junior is ranked sixth by FloWrestling at 174 pounds with a 16-3 overall record to lead the Tigers in wins. His current ranking stands as the highest poll placement of his career. The West Allis, Wis. native has a .842 win percentage in 2022-23, having won 10 of his last 11 matches.
— ZACH ATTACK — On an 11-match win streak, redshirt junior Zach Elam has stepped it up at 285 pounds. Elam has topped five consecutive ranked wrestlers, and seven total over the 11 bout streak. Additionally, the redshirt junior has totaled seven bonus point victories throughout the 2022-23 season and holds a 15-1 overall record.
— COACHES POLL POSTED — The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) put out its second set of individual rankings, through Feb. 5. For the rankings, coaches may only consider wrestlers who are designated a starter and have at least eight Division I matches in their respective weight class with one within the last 30 days.
At 125 pounds, sophomore Noah Surtin is 13th while redshirt senior Connor Brown is 25th at 133. Classmate Allan Hart lands at 12th at 141, while redshirt junior Brock Mauller remains at sixth at 149 pounds. Senior Jarrett Jacques is 11th at 157 and sophomore Keegan O’Toole takes the No. 1 spot at 165. Redshirt junior Peyton Mocco claims seventh at 174, while sophomore Colton Hawks is 26th at 184. Redshirt junior Zach Elam is the final ranked wrestler for Mizzou, coming in at seventh at 285 pounds.
— ALL-TIME vs. IOWA STATE — The showdown between No. 10 Mizzou and No. 3 Iowa State will be the 56th dual between the two programs. Missouri is 10-45 all-time against the Big 12 foes, but has won six of the last seven in the series dating back to 2011.
— LAST TIME vs. THE CYCLONES — In the 2021-22 season finale, the No. 9-ranked University of Missouri wrestling team fell just short of an upset against No. 10 Iowa State, 16-17, in the Hearnes Center, Feb. 16, 2022.
In the closely contested dual, the Tigers fell behind early, but rallied in the back half of the card starting with a major decision from Keegan O’Toole at 165. Peyton Mocco picked up a decision victory at 174, before Jeremiah Kent earned a stunning victory over Marcus Coleman, ranked No. 7 at 184, for the highest-ranked win of his career. Even though Zach Elam secured a decision victory in the closer, Mizzou was unable to overtake the Cyclones.
— MILESTONE WATCH — Senior Jarrett Jacques is currently the team’s winningest active wrestler. At 96 career wins, Jacques has the chance to become the 29th Tiger to enter the exclusive 100-Win Club. Redshirt junior Brock Mauller is right on Jacques’ heels with 94 wins of his own.
— UP NEXT — The Tigers will head to Tulsa, Okla. to compete in the Big 12 Championships. The two-day event is scheduled for Saturday, March 4 and Sunday, March 5. Mizzou has won two-consecutive Big 12 team titles dating back to 2012, winning last year’s event with 131.5 team points.
