Tiger Style Invite Review

The Missouri Tiger wrestling team hosted its first annual Tiger Style Invitational at Staley High School in North Kansas City. Ten starters represented the Tigers:

• 125) Noah Surtin
• 133) Connor Brown
• 141) Korbin Shepherd
• 149) Brock Mauller
• 157) Jarrett Jacques
• 165) Keegan O`Toole
• 174) Peyton Mocco
• 184) Colton Hawks
• 197) Tommy Hagan
• 285) Zach Elam

Following these top ten, Missouri showcased multiple other reserve wrestlers:

• 125) Peyton Moore
• 133) Zeke Seltzer
• 141) Allan Hart (M. Forf)
• 149) Nate Pulliam
• 157) Logan Gioffre
• 165) James Conway
• 174) Ellis Pfleger
• 184) Sean Harman
• 184) Clayton Whiting
• 197) Jesse Cassatt
• 285) Seth Nitzel
• 285) Steven Kolcheff

At the 125-pound weight class, Noah Surtin set the tempo for the Tigers with a first-round fall against an opponent out of Maryland. He proceeded to follow up his next two matches winning by an 18-2 tech fall and an 11-2 major decision en route to a finals match. Surtin was met in the finals by Antonio Lorenzo (Cal Poly) where he was defeated in sudden victory by a score of 8-6.

True freshman Peyton Moore also kicked his collegiate career off at the invitation inside the 125lbs bracket for the Tigers. Moore opened with a quarterfinals match-up against the eventual tournament champ at 125 before moving to the backside of the bracket where he picked up his first victory (13-1 Dec over Maryland). Moore rounded out the tournament going 1-3 with an 8th place finish.

Moving into the 133-pound weight class, the starting contender for the Tigers belonged to senior Connor Brown. Brown opened his tournament with a first-round bye prior to knocking off his next competitors via fall and major decision. Reaching the finals match, he proceeded to follow up his bonus point run with a 7-3 loss to top-ranked wrestler out of Illinois, Lucas Byrd.

Another true freshman for the Tigers also got an opportunity to dip his feet in the collegiate wrestling world for the first time at 133. Zeke Seltzer, Mizzou’s highest-rated 2022 recruit, jumped right into the fire taking on the #6 ranked wrestler in his division right out the gate. While falling just short of an early season upset by a 3-1 decision, Seltzer gave a big glimpse of what is to come for his career in the black and gold. He continued to impress as he finished out the tournament with three straight victories by decision to claim a 3rd place medal.

At 141, Tiger Style was headlined by redshirt freshman Korbin Shepard. Shepard suited up for the Tiger starting lineup for the first time in his collegiate career with projected starter Allan Hart sitting out for the day. Shepard opened the day with a first-round bye followed by a nail-biting quarterfinal victory by a 3-2 decision over Little Rock sending him to the semifinals. Matching up with Kal Miller of Maryland, Shepard failed to put in points in the matching falling by a 4-0 decision sending him to the backside of the bracket. He rounded out the rest of his day by going 2-0 winning by fall and decision on his way to a 3rd place finish.

Returning back to the mats after a season hiatus, Mizzou’s Brock Mauller picked up right where he left off at the 149-pound weight class. An opening-round bye, followed by a quarterfinal major decision and a semifinal 7-2 decision, left Mauller setting in the finals with his first real test of the season. Lining up across from top fifteen-ranked wrestler Dom Demas (Cal Poly), Mauller capped off his day undefeated taking home the first-place medal.

Staying inside the 149-pound weight class, redshirt freshman Nathan Pulliam suited up for the Tigers. The former Rolla Bulldog took an opening-round loss sending him straight into the backside where he earned his first victory of the season over Jake Harrier of Illinois by a one-point decision. Pulliam rounded out the day going 2-2 and earning a 7th place medal.

On to 157 pounds for the good guys, where Jarrett Jacques made quick work for the day on the mats for Mizzou. En route to a first-place finish, Jacques accounted for one major decision and two tech falls, before finally capping it off with a 6-2 decision in the first-place match over an opponent out of Maryland.

Opposite Jacques, Mizzou’s alternate wrestler at 157, Logan Gioffre, put in a hard-earned day’s work inside the circle. Gioffre started the day with a tough 5-4 loss in the first round of the tournament before opening up a series of victories on his way to a 3rd place medal. He accumulated four straight wins including a consolation semifinal fall over former top-ranked recruit Luka Wick, out of Cal Poly.

At 165 pounds, Keegan O’Toole continues to remind everyone why he is him. If there was any doubt, O’Toole looked like himself collecting three straight victories (TF, Fall, Fall) on his way to a first-place finish on the day. Mizzou’s alternate wrestler at 165 was freshman James Conway. Seeing his first bit of action at the collegiate level, Conway spent his day going 2-2 earning a seventh-place finish.

For the 174-pound weight class, Peyton Mocco is the top man on the depth chart for the Tigers. Mocco is one of the few top wrestlers for Mizzou who opened the day with a first-round match but there was no difficulty, defeating his opponent with a second-period fall. Moving onto the quarterfinals, Mocco continued picking up victories in his next two matches by decision before reaching the finals match where he was defeated by Fighting Illini’s Edmond Ruth.

Mizzou’s alternate wrestler inside the 174-pound division was sophomore Ellis Pfleger. Pfleger opened his day against soon-to-be tournament champ (Edmond Ruth) before picking up his first victory by an 8-2 decision on the backside of the bracket. He finished the day going 2-2 earning a seventh-place medal.

184 pounds was a fun bracket for the Tigers as they showed how deep the roster runs in the Tiger Style wrestling room. Sean Harman, Colton Hawks, and Clayton Whiting finished the day as first, second, and third to round out the day inside 184. While Harman stood atop the lineup for the Tigers, Hawks battled against Whiting, and Harmon scraped against Hawks, the three Mizzou wrestlers combined for a total of one tech fall, 1 major decision, and 5 decisions.

At 195 pounds, Jesse Cassatt was the Tigers’ headliner. Cassatt had a rough outing for the day as he fell in two straight matches before reaching the seventh-place bout where he took home a victory by way of decision (8-2). Tommy Hagan, Cassatt’s alternate, also had a rough go of it as his one victory of the day came prior to the fifth-place bout where he was defeated giving him the sixth-place medal.

Finally, rounding out the day was a trio of Tigers at 285 pounds, led by starter Zach Elam. Like others prior, Elam had his way with his opponents across the board on his way to a gold medal. Elam collected back-to-back fall on his way to the finals match where his dominant day continued. He capped his day off with an 11-2 major decision over Trevor Tinker of Cal-Poly.

Alternate to Elam, Mizzou had two others stepping in, Seth Nitzel and Steven Kolcheff. Nitzel opened his day with a first-round victory where he ran into eventual finalist Tinker. Both wrestlers were sent to the back side after losses by the same wrestler (Tinker). Once reaching the backside, Kolcheff found his way fighting into a third-place bout as to Nitzel, fighting his way into a fifth-place bout. Kolcheff ended his day falling in his medal match taking home 4th and Nitzel capped his day with a victory earning a fifth-place medal.

It was a successful day on the mats for the Tiger Style wrestling squad as they controlled the tournament and defended their home state by completely dominating the tournament. They finished the day with a total of 187.5 team points which was 58 more than the second-place Cal Poly (129.5). Full results and brackets can be found HERE. The Tigers will head back to Columbia and practice up for their next contest in Tempe Arizona where they take on a star-studded Sun Devil wrestling team.