Wrestling Ties Program Record With Five NCAA All-Americans

TULSA, Okla. – With five Tigers still alive, the University of Missouri wrestling team sits in fifth place with 55.0 points after the second day of the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.

Mizzou yielded five All-Americans for the fifth time in program history and first time since 2017, as Brock Mauller (149), Keegan O’Toole (165), Peyton Mocco (174), Rocky Elam (197) and Zach Elam (285) all secured their spot on the podium through the third and fourth sessions, marking the 11th consecutive season in which Mizzou has earned multiple All-American berths.

O’Toole won his semifinal match over Michigan’s Cameron Amine to earn his second-consecutive NCAA final appearance, where he will meet No. 1 seed David Carr of Iowa State, while R. Elam dropped his first NCAA semifinal against Tanner Sloan in a rematch of the 2023 Big 12 final.

SESSION III
O’Toole and R. Elam solidified their spot in the NCAA semifinals and locked up their All-American status with quarterfinal wins as Mizzou closed out the third session in sixth place with 34 team points.

O’Toole cemented his third All-American placement in style with a tech fall over No. 10 seed Carson Kharchla of Ohio State. The reigning national champion landed six takedowns and secured riding time to defeat the Buckeye 19-4 in a rematch from the 2022 NCAA quarterfinals.

In his 197-pound quarterfinal, Elam secured his third All-American berth and his first championship semifinal appearance by dominating No. 11 seed Jaxon Smith of Maryland. The sophomore scored the first five points of the match and prevented a late comeback from the Terrapin to stay in contention for his first national title.

As for the other four quarterfinalists, their fate would be determined in the blood round of Session IV, as the All-American hopes of Mauller and Mocco, along with redshirt senior Allan Hart (141) and redshirt junior Zach Elam (285) all shifted to the consolation bracket.

Hart could not knock off the top seed of the 141-pound bracket, Real Woods of Iowa, taking a major decision loss against the two-time All-American, while Mauller could not avenge his regular-season defeat against No. 3 seed Kyle Parco of Arizona State, losing in a heartbreaking decision.

Later in the quarterfinals, Mocco fell just a point short of upsetting No. 2 seed Mikey Labriola of Nebraska in his 174-pound quarterfinal match, while Z. Elam entered the third period tied against No. 2 seed Wyatt Hendrickson of Air Force, but could not upend the Falcon in a high-scoring match.

In the consolation bracket, senior Jarrett Jacques (157) and sophomore Colton Hawks (184) split their two matches in the session and fell short of the podium. Jacques won a decision against Indiana’s Derek Gilcher in the second round, but his tournament stay ended against No. 8 seed Ed Scott of North Carolina State. Hawks led the whole way in his second-round bout against Buffalo’s Giuseppe Hoose, but a decision loss against Clarion’s Will Feldkamp ended his first trip to NCAAs in the third round of the consolation bracket.

Redshirt sophomore Noah Surtin (125) saw his chances to wrestle his way on the podium dashed in a close decision loss to Jarrett Trombley of North Carolina State in the second round of wrestlebacks.

SESSION IV
After O’Toole and R. Elam locked up an All-American spot in the third session, Mauller joined them on the podium to become a three-time All-American, while Mocco and Z. Elam clinched All-American honors for the first time in his career.

O’Toole faced off against No. 11 seed Cameron Amine of Michigan in a rematch of his 2022 NCAA semifinal bout and controlled the tempo to shut out the Wolverine in a 6-0 decision to advance to his second-consecutive NCAA final.

R. Elam couldn’t follow suit in his semifinal match, coming up short against South Dakota State’s Tanner Sloan in a rematch of the Big 12 Championships final.

In the blood round, Mauller got the better of Jackson Arrington from North Carolina State to clinch his third All-American placement in as many NCAA Championships. The redshirt junior scored a takedown with 11 seconds left and kept a grip on Arrington’s ankle, preventing an escape to claim the decision.

Mocco earned his All-American finish with a decision against Cade DeVos of South Dakota State. To take the podium for the first time in his career, Mocco rode his opponent for over a minute in the second period, then scored a last-minute takedown to complete the blood-round triumph.

Z. Elam took his All-American honors in dominating fashion, pouncing on the attack early to score 10 points in just over a minute in his blood-round match against SIUE’s Colton McKiernan and closed out a dominating 11-5 decision. He followed that up with a shutout victory over Wisconsin’s Trent Hillger in the consolation fifth round, locking up a top-six position in the process.

Mauller and Mocco both lost in the fifth round of the consolation bracket, meaning they all will scrap for seventh place in the fifth session tomorrow.

In the consolation fourth round, Hart couldn’t end his career on the podium, dropping a decision against South Dakota State’s Clay Carlson.

NOTES

Mizzou boasts five All-Americans for the first time since 2017. The Tigers are one of just five teams to feature five-or-more podium finishers along with Penn State, Iowa, Ohio State and Virginia Tech.
By clinching their third All-American finishes, Mauller, O’Toole and R. Elam became the ninth, 10th and 11th grapplers in program history to earn three All-American finishes.
Mizzou was one of eight programs to field multiple semifinalists, as O’Toole and R. Elam became the first set of Tiger teammates to reach the semifinals in the same NCAA Championships weekend since Jaydin Eierman (141) and Daniel Lewis (174) accomplished the feat in 2019.
R. Elam’s victory over Maryland’s Jaxon Smith in the quarterfinal marked the first time in which he advanced to the NCAA semifinal round.
Mocco and Z. Elam’s wins in the blood round got the redshirt juniors to the All-American podium for the first time as they became the 49th and 50th Tiger to earn All-American honors. It also marks their best-ever finish at NCAAs.
Z. Elam’s All-American placement marks him as the third Tiger heavyweight to finish on the podium at NCAAs and the first since Dom Bradley in 2013.
With his tech fall in the quarterfinal, O’Toole picked up his 12th bonus-point victory of the season and his second of the 2023 NCAA Championships.
In his quarterfinal match against Air Force’s Wyatt Hendrickson, Z. Elam accumulated eight points against the No. 2 seed in the tournament, the most an opponent has scored against Hendrickson this season.

UP NEXT
The 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships will conclude in Tulsa at the BOK Center tomorrow, March 18. Session V will begin at 10 a.m. CT and will feature the medal round matches. Session VI will begin at 6 p.m. CT and feature the national finals. The fifth session will air on ESPNU, while the sixth session will broadcast on ESPN.

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Visit MUTigers.com for the latest information on all things Mizzou Wrestling. You can also find the Tigers on social media by liking us on Facebook (Mizzou Wrestling) and following us on Twitter and Instagram (@MizzouWrestling).

MISSOURI RESULTS (Through Sessions III and IV)
125 – Noah Surtin (#14 Seed), 1-2 – ELIMINATED
• First Round: #19 Braxton Brown (UMD) over #14 Noah Surtin by Dec. 8-6
• Consolation First Round: #14 Noah Surtin over #32 Tanner Jordan (SDST) by Fall (4:26)
• Consolation Second Round: #20 Jarrett Trombley (NCST) over #14 Noah Surtin by Dec. 2-1

133 – Connor Brown (#26 Seed), 0-2 – ELIMINATED
• First Round: #7 Michael Colaiocco (PENN) over #26 Connor Brown by Fall (0:38)
• Consolation First Round: #23 Brody Teske (IOWA) over #26 Connor Brown by Dec. 11-5

141 – Allan Hart (#8 Seed), 2-2 – ELIMINATED
• First Round: #8 Allan Hart over #25 Carmen Ferrante (PENN) by Dec. 7-4
• Second Round: #8 Allan Hart over #9 Mosha Schwartz (OU) by TB-2 (RT) 2-2
• Quarterfinal: #1 Real Woods (IOWA) over #8 Allan Hart by MD 9-0
• Consolation Fourth Round: #11 Clay Carlson (SDST) over #8 Allan Hart by Dec. 7-6

149 – Brock Mauller (#6 Seed), 3-1 – All-American
• First Round: #6 Brock Mauller over #27 Jarod Verkleeren (UVA) by Dec. 11-5
• Second Round: #6 Brock Mauller over #22 Chance Lamer (MICH) by Dec. 4-1
• Quarterfinal: #3 Kyle Parco (ASU) over #6 Brock Mauller by Dec. 4-3
• Consolation Fourth Round: #6 Brock Mauller over #16 Jackson Arrington (NCST) by Dec. 4-3
• Consolation Fifth Round: #4 Caleb Henson (VT) over #6 Brock Mauller by Dec. 6-4

157 – Jarrett Jacques (#17 Seed), 2-2 – ELIMINATED
• First Round: #17 Jarrett Jacques over #16 Anthony Artalona (PENN) by Dec. 5-4
• Second Round: #1 Austin O’ Connor (UNC) over #17 Jarrett Jacques by Dec. 4-1
• Consolation Second Round: #17 Jarrett Jacques over #18 Derek Gilcher (IND) by Dec. 3-1
• Consolation Third Round: #8 Ed Scott (NCST) over #17 Jarrett Jacques by Dec. 6-1

165 – Keegan O’Toole (#2 Seed), 4-0 – All-American
• First Round: #2 Keegan O’Toole over #31 Wyatt Sheets (OKST) by MD 13-5
• Second Round: #2 Keegan O’Toole over #15 Justin McCoy (UVA) by Dec. 5-2
• Quarterfinal: #2 Keegan O’Toole over #10 Carson Kharchla (OHST) by TF 19-4
• Semifinal: #2 Keegan O’Toole over #11 Cameron Amine (MICH) by Dec. 6-0

174 – Peyton Mocco (#7 Seed), 3-2 – All-American
• First Round: #7 Peyton Mocco over #26 Sal Perrine (OHIO) by SV-1 3-1
• Second Round: #7 Peyton Mocco over #23 Mickey O’Malley by Dec. 8-2
• Quarterfinal: #2 Mikey Labriola (NEB) over #7 Peyton Mocco by Dec. 4-3
• Consolation Fourth Round: #7 Peyton Mocco over #13 Cade DeVos (SDST) by Dec. 4-2
• Consolation Fifth Round: #11 Nelson Brands (IOWA) over #7 Peyton Mocco by Dec. 6-1

184 – Colton Hawks (#22 Seed), 2-2 – ELIMINATED
• First Round: #22 Colton Hawks over #11 Gavin Kane (UNC) by Dec. 6-2
• Second Round: #6 Kaleb Romero (OSU) over #22 Colton Hawks by Dec. 5-3
• Consolation Second Round: #22 Colton Hawks over #21 Giuseppe Hoose (BUFF) by Dec. 6-2
• Consolation Third Round: #14 Will Feldkamp (CLAR) over #22 Colton Hawks by Dec. 5-2

197 – Rocky Elam (#3 Seed), 3-0 – All-American
• First Round: #3 Rocky Elam over #30 Andrew Davison (NU) by Dec. 4-1
• Second Round: #3 Rocky Elam over #14 Jacob Warner (IOWA) by Dec. 6-2
• Quarterfinal: #3 Rocky Elam over #11 Jaxon Smith (UMD) by Dec. 6-3
• Semifinal: #7 Tanner Sloan (SDST) over #3 Rocky Elam by Dec. 7-2

285 – Zach Elam (#10 Seed), 4-1 – All-American
• First Round: #10 Zach Elam over #23 Jacob Bullock (IND) by Dec. 4-1
• Second Round: #10 Zach Elam over #7 Owen Trephan (NCST) by Dec. 4-0
• Quarterfinal: #2 Wyatt Hendrickson (AFA) over #10 Zach Elam by MD 17-8
• Consolation Fourth Round: #10 Zach Elam over #12 Colton McKiernan (SIUE) Dec. 11-5
• Consolation Fifth Round: #10 Zach Elam over #11 Trent Hillger (WISC) by Dec. 2-0

TEAM RESULTS

Penn State – 116.5 Points
Iowa – 77.0 Points
Cornell – 64.0 Points
Ohio State – 62.0 Points
Missouri – 55.0 Points
Michigan – 51.0 Points
Nebraska – 51.0 Points
Iowa State – 44.0 Points
NC State – 41.5 Points
Virginia Tech – 40.5 Points

This article is provided by University of Missouri Athletics