Mizzou Wrestling: Mizzou Loses a Tough One at Home

Mizzou was missing two of their top wrestlers, as both Peyton Mocco and Keegan O’Toole were out in this dual against South Dakota State University (SDSU). It sounds like they should be back in the future, but this was a tough match to be missing two big guns. The dual saw Mizzou lose six out of ten bouts, including the final five matches. This was Mizzou’s first loss to a conference opponent since 2017.

Noah Surtin avenged a loss from last season with a one-sided decision win against his opponent. Fans saw a lineup change at 133lbs as Connor Brown started for his fourth dual of the season. Unfortunately, that match ended quickly as Gabriel Tagg for SDSU was able to hit a big move and put Brown on his back early. Connor Brown and Trey Crawford are likely to go back and forth in the 133lb spot as the season continues. Allan Hart notched another significant win, beating All-American Clay Carlson for the second time this season.

Josh Edmond and Jarrett Jacques both won one-sided decisions, with each scoring three takedowns and only allowing three points each to their opponents. Third-year wrestler Mitchell Bohlken normally wrestles at 157lbs but bumped up to make his dual debut at 165lbs in place of O’Toole. His opponent, Tanner Cook, is a former qualifier, and Bohlken wrestled well, only allowing five points. Sean Harman made another start in place of Mocco and again wrestled well against a ranked opponent.

The biggest upsets occurred in the final three matches where Mizzou normally excels. Jeremiah Kent lost in overtime to Cade King, a wrestler who is 0.500 on the season. Rocky Elam lost to two-time qualifier Tanner Sloan, who he beat earlier this season 10-4. Zach Elam had a razor thin match against AJ Nevills, but ended up losing a 1-0 match. In all three matches there were similar issues. Mizzou wrestlers struggled finishing takedown attempts and looked extremely tired in the third period, which is atypical from their normal matches.

Coach Smith and the team should have plenty to evaluate after the last two duals given the multiple upset losses the team has had. Mizzou has wrestled at a very high level multiple times this season, but the long layoff period this winter looks like it may have affected them.

The Tigers will have a week to get back to form as they travel to Orem, Utah to wrestle Utah Valley and Wyoming in a conference tri-dual.

Final Score: Mizzou 12 SDSU 21

• 125: Noah Surtin (MIZZ) over Tanner Jordan (SDSU) (Dec 6-0)
• 133: Gabriel Tagg (SDSU) over Connor Brown (MIZZ) (Fall 0:26)
• 141: Allan Hart (MIZZ) over Clay Carlson (SDSU) (Dec 4-2)
• 149: Josh Edmond (MIZZ) over Daniel Kimball (SDSU) (Dec 8-3)
• 157: Jarrett Jacques (MIZZ) over Kenny O`Neil (SDSU) (Dec 7-3)
• 165: Tanner Cook (SDSU) over Mitchell Bohlken (MIZZ) (Dec 5-2)
• 174: Cade DeVos (SDSU) over Sean Harman (MIZZ) (Dec 7-4)
• 184: Cade King (SDSU) over Jeremiah Kent (MIZZ) (SV-1 6-4)
• 197: Tanner Sloan (SDSU) over Rocky Elam (MIZZ) (Dec 5-2)
• 285: AJ Nevills (SDSU) over Zach Elam (MIZZ) (Dec 1-0)

Scoring Guide:

Pin, Injury Default, DQ, Forfeit: 6 Team Points

Tech Fall: 5 Team Points

Major Decision: 4 Team Points

Regular Decision: 3 Team Points