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COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 9-ranked University of Missouri wrestling team begins postseason competition with the 2023 Big 12 Wrestling Championships in Tulsa, Okla., March 4-5. Sessions I-III will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, and the finals will air on ESPNU.
— PREVIOUSLY ON TIGER STYLE — Missouri took care of business in its final dual of the 2022-23 calendar, upsetting No. 3 Iowa State, 23-12, on Senior Day, Feb. 15. It was the Tigers’ highest-ranked win in dual competition since Dec. 12, 2015, when Mizzou defeated No. 3 Ohio State.
Redshirt junior Peyton Mocco (174) continued his tear through the Big 12 with a 7-5 decision. Sophomore Colton Hawks fought valiantly against No. 4 Marcus Coleman at 184, dropping a narrow decision, before sophomore Rocky Elam shut out No. 8 Yonger Bastida, winning a 4-0 decision.
The Tigers notched two bonus-point victories, as redshirt sophomore Noah Surtin (125) scored a fall with a nifty cradle at 2:54 for his 11th bonus-point victory of the season. Redshirt junior Brock Mauller (149) recorded a heart-stopping fall in sudden victory in his top-10 bout against No. 9 Paniro Johnson to a raucous ovation from the home crowd.
A pair of seniors had a strong Hearnes Center farewell, as redshirt senior Allan Hart earned a 7-1 decision in his match at 141 and senior Jarrett Jacques (157) earned a 2-0 shutout decision to secure the dual for the Tigers.
— HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEAM — Missouri put itself in tremendous position to make some noise in Tulsa with all 10 starters qualifying for a seeded position in their respective brackets. The Tigers are the only team to seed their entire lineup at this year’s Big 12 Championships.
— SEEDING THE TIGERS — Two Tigers received the top seed in their weight class, as redshirt juniors Brock Mauller (149 pounds) and Peyton Mocco (174 pounds) each secured a No. 1 seed.
Sophomores Keegan O’Toole (165 pounds) and Rocky Elam (197 pounds) both earned No. 2 seeds with their one-loss regular seasons. Mizzou grabbed three No. 3 seeds, with redshirt sophomore Noah Surtin (125 pounds), senior Jarrett Jacques (157 pounds) and redshirt junior Zach Elam (285 pounds) receiving the seed.
Rounding out the Tigers’ lineup are sophomore Colton Hawks (184 pounds), who enters as the No. 4 seed, redshirt senior Connor Brown (133 pounds), who will take the No. 5 seed, and redshirt senior Allan Hart (141 pounds) taking the No. 6 seed.
— GRAPPLING ON THE GRAND STAGE — Under the bright lights of conference championship weekend, Mizzou has shone brightest over the last decade. The team has won 11-consecutive team conference titles dating back to 2012.
To start the run of dominance, the Tigers took home their first-ever Big 12 team title in 2012, the program’s final year in the conference.
After jumping to its new conference, Mizzou became the boss in the MAC Championships. The Tigers took home the team championship all nine seasons it was a member of the conference. During its time in the league, the Tigers reset the conference championships record for team points on seven different occasions.
With a move back to the Big 12 last season, Mizzou picked up where it left off in 2012, winning the 2022 title to bookend its time in the MAC by scoring 131.5 team points.
— MODEL OF CONSISTENCY — In his 25 years in Columbia, head coach Brian Smith has turned the Mizzou wrestling program into a national powerhouse with a strong run of Tigers qualifying for the NCAA Wrestling Championships in bunches.
In the last 12 seasons, at least eight Tigers have earned a berth in the NCAA Wrestling Championships. In four of those seasons, all 10 starters have claimed spots to wrestle for a national championship, the latest of which was in the 2020-21 season.
— TOP OF THE CLASS — The Tigers return their lone individual conference champion from last year, sophomore Keegan O’Toole, who took home the 165-pound crown at the 2022 Big 12 Championships.
As a part of O’Toole’s undefeated national championship campaign, he ran the table as last year’s No. 1 seed, winning all three of his matches decisively. After dispatching No. 8 seed Joe Grello of Oklahoma via decision (6-1) in the quarterfinals, O’Toole claimed a major decision victory over No. 5 seed Luke Weber of North Dakota State, 12-3. In the 165-pound final, O’Toole earned his second-career conference championship with a 13-7 decision over No. 2 seed Peyton Hall of West Virginia.
— MOCCO MADNESS — Redshirt junior Peyton Mocco is on a hot streak entering the season’s final stretch to put him in prime position to qualify for nationals for the fourth season in a row. With a six-match win streak, Mocco enters championship weekend as the No. 1 seed in the 174-pound bracket, the first time he’s entered conference championships weekend as the top seed.
Mocco began his torrid run with four bonus-point victories in consecutive duals, before picking up his best win of the season at No. 11 Oklahoma State, exacting revenge on Dustin Plott, the No. 5 grappler in the class. With a 4-3 decision victory on Feb. 5, Mocco earned the highest-ranked win of his career.
To close out the regular season, Mocco secured his sixth-consecutive win with a 7-5 decision over Iowa State’s Julien Broderson.
The redshirt junior is ranked sixth by FloWrestling at 174 pounds with a 17-3 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 .850 win percentage in 2022-23, having won 11 of his last 12 matches.
— #GETMAULLED — Being the top dog at 149 pounds entering conference championship weekend is nothing new for redshirt junior Brock Mauller, who earned the No. 1 seed in the conference for the fourth time in his career. However, this will be his first time as the top seed at the Big 12 Championships.
Mauller has accumulated a 13-1 record this season and has remained unbeaten since November. Six of his wins have come against ranked opponents, with his latest victory over Iowa State’s Paniro Johnson, the No. 9 wrestler in the class, being his best win of the season.
Currently ranked the No. 6 wrestler at 149 pounds, Mauller is seeking his fourth individual conference title after claiming three-consecutive championships in the MAC from 2019 to 2021. He is seeking another strong showing at NCAAs, where he finished as an All-American in 2019 and 2021, the two times he has appeared in the event.
— ROAD TO NATIONALS — For the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships, the Big 12 Conference has been allotted 65 berths across the 10 weight classes. The total is the second-most given to any conference, behind 88 qualifiers from the Big Ten Conference.
The 184-pound division is given the fewest berths of any class, as the Big 12 will send four wrestlers at that weight. The 165-pound and 285-pound brackets will qualify the most wrestlers out of the Big 12, with eight grapplers in both classes up for a spot in nationals.
The 125, 133, 174 and 197-pound classes will all send six wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, while seven wrestlers at 141, 149 and 157 will advance beyond the conference championships.
— BATTLING WITH THE BEST — In Mizzou’s six duals against ranked opponents, the Tigers finished the campaign with an even 3-3 record. A 28-11 victory over No. 15 North Dakota State on Dec. 20, a 24-12 triumph over No. 13 Northern Iowa on Jan. 8 and season-closing 23-12 win over No. 3 Iowa State comprise the Tigers’ wins over top-25 foes.
In its three ranked losses, Mizzou fought hard against No. 5 Arizona State, No. 9 Virginia Tech and No. 11 Oklahoma State, losing by a combined five points in the defeats.
— LAST TIME AT BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS — At the 2022 Big 12 Championships, the Tigers returned to the conference after a nine-year hiatus in style, taking home the Big 12 team championship with 131.5 team points in a comfortable victory. On the weekend, six Mizzou grapplers earned podium finishes while one topped the podium.
Mizzou left Tulsa with one individual conference champion, with Keegan O’Toole earning a second-consecutive conference championship. Three Tigers — Allan Hart (141), Peyton Mocco (174) and Jeremiah Kent (184) — finished as runners up. The Elam brothers, Rocky Elam (197) and Zach Elam (285), both earned podium spots with third-place finishes.
— MILESTONE WATCH — Senior Jarrett Jacques is currently the team’s winningest active wrestler. At 97 career wins, Jacques has the chance to become the 29th Tiger to enter the exclusive 100-Win Club. He can earn his 100th-career win at the Big 12 Championships if he advances to the final of the 157-pound bracket.
Redshirt junior Brock Mauller is right on Jacques’ heels with 95 wins of his own.
— UP NEXT — Mizzou will travel back to Tulsa, Okla. to conclude the 2022-23 season with the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships at the BOK Center, March 16-18.
