Mizzou Wrestling Dominates West Virginia

Time to catch up on the tandem of events that happened throughout the weekend for the Mizzou Wrestling Team. In a previous article, I reviewed potential match-ups for the first of our two events. On Friday, December 5, 2022, Brian Smith and his Tiger Style squad welcomed the West Virginia Mountaineers to Columbia. It was the first home even held inside the Hearnes Center for the wrestling squad this year.

Mizzou: 6 - West Virginia: 0

Opening up at the 125 weight class, the Tigers had homegrown freshman out of Nixa, Mo., Peyton Moore, standing in for Noah Surtin, who was taking the night off. Moore stepped right on the mat and then right back off after dominating his opponent in the first period and notching the night’s first victory by fall.

Mizzou: 12 - West Virginia: 0

Without slowing down at 133, Connor Brown kept the pin train rolling. Collecting a takedown and reversal on his way to adding six more to the team score, Brown capped off the second period with the second cradle fall of the night!

Mizzou: 16 - West Virginia: 0

At 141, Allan Hart got back to his roots and came out firing with an aggressive takedown to open the bout. Once scoring his opening points, Hart never looked back going on to collect three more to finish the night. He took home the third straight victory for Mizzou by way of an 11-2 major decision.

Mizzou: 20 - West Virginia: 0

Our first ranked match-up of the evening was welcomed in by Mizzou’s 149 wrestler Brock Mauller. Mauller, at #8 took on West Virginias Sam Hillegas, who currently sits at #22. A ranked opponent or not, Mauler didn’t seem to care as he opened up with a takedown inside the first ten seconds of the match and proceeded to finish the bout with four total. Tallying the fourth straight victory on the night, Mauller gave the Tiger more cushion after adding four more to the team score with a 10-2 Major Decision.

Mizzou: 23 - West Virginia: 0

The opening to one of the three left unbeaten on this Tiger squad, Jarrett Jacques put his record on the line once again against an unranked opponent. Finding a late first-period takedown on the edge, followed by a second-period reversal, Jacques took a 4-1 lead into the final two minutes of the match. Giving up a final-minute reversal, Jarrett finished the bout with a 4-3 victory extending his record to 7-0.

Mizzou: 26 - West Virginia: 0

Returning from the midway intermission, we returned to the most anticipated bout of the evening, Mizzou’s #1 Keegan O’Toole verse #7 Peyton Hall of West Virginia. After a quick flurry of scrambles and a few failed shot attempts we had our first point of the bout thirty seconds into the second period on an escape by O’Toole. Rolling into the final minutes of the match, Hall chose to stay on his feet which led to an O’Toole takedown with ten seconds left giving him the win by way of a 3-0 Decision.

Mizzou: 29 - West Virginia: 0

At 174, Peyton Mocco jumped back on the mat for the Tigers. Mocco took control of the bout and never looked back. Recording an early takedown followed by three more throughout the contest, Peyton kept the victory train rolling finishing the night with a 10-4 Decision.

Mizzou: 35 - West Virginia: 0

184: Sean Harmon did not wrestle as West Virginia had a forfeit.

Mizzou: 35 - West Virginia: 3

Colton Hawk stepped in at the 197 weight class as sophomore Rocky Elam was given the night off. An opening three minutes of hand fighting and shot attempts left our contest scoreless moving into the second period where Hawks earned the first points of the match on an escape. Opening the final period with a 1-0 lead, West Virginia’s Austin Cooley squared it up one all with a quick escape. In the winding seconds of the match, Hawks found himself on the losing end of a takedown scramble falling by a 3-1 Decision and giving the Tigers its first loss of the night.

Mizzou: 38 - West Virginia: 3

Rounding out the evening was Zach Elam at 285 for Mizzou. Elam got the pleasure of taking on the #19 wrestler (Michael Wolfgram) in his weight division. Elam stayed in control for the entirety of the match while collecting two takedowns on his way to a 6-3 victory to close out the night for Mizzou.

In the third dual of the season, the Tigers took on Big 12 competition and put themselves in the driver’s seat when it comes to seeding time at the end of the year. Notching their second dual victory of the year, you can expect this squad to continue to grow and develop throughout the remainder of the year. Back to the drawing boards and time to prep for the next big contest on the schedule as Tiger Style will be traveling to take on a tough Virginia Tech team.

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Following the West Virginia dual, A group of Tiger wrestlers traveled to Vadalabene Center in Illinois the following day to compete in the Cougar Clash. The results and some notes of the tournament are as follows:

133: Zeke Seltzer - 1st Place - Tournament Record: 3-0

• Wins by: Dec (8-6), Maj Dec (16-3), Dec (4-1)
• Defeated Jace Koelzer (Northern Colorado) in the finals match

141: Korbin Shepherd - 5th Place - Tournament Record: 1-2

• Wins by: Fall

149: Nate Pulliam - 5th Place - Tournament Record: 2-2

• Wins by: Dec (4-3), Maj Dec (16-2)

149: Joel Mylin - 2nd Place - Tournament Record: 3-1

• Wins by: Maj Dec (10-1), Dec (8-5), Dec (5-2)
• Defeated by Caleb Tyus (SIUE) by 2-1 decision in the finals match

157: Jerrdon Fisher - 2nd Place - Tournament Record: 2-1

• Wins by: Dec (3-2), Dec (8-4)
• Defeated by Anthony Gibson (Northern Illinois) by fall in the finals match

165: Brant Whitaker - 7th Place - Tournament Record: 1-2

• Wins by: Med Forf.

165: Cam Steed - 3rd Place - Tournament Record: 3-1

• Wins by: Fall, DQ, Maj Dec (16-3)
• Defeated Jake Evans (Northern Illinois) by decision (9-5) in the third-place match

174: Ellis Pfleger - 6th Place - Tournament Record: 1-3

• Wins by: Dec (15-8)

184: Clayton Whiting - 1st Place - Tournament Record: 3-0

• Wins by: Inj Def, Dec (4-0), Med Forf
• Won finals match by Medical Forfeit over teammate Sean Harmon

184: Sean Harmon - 2nd Place - Tournament Record: 3-1

• Wins by: Tech Fall (19-3), Dec (4-3), Dec (8-4)
• Medically Forfeited to teammate Clayton Whiting in finals match

197: Jesse Cassatt - 2nd Place - Tournament Record: 2-1

• Wins by: Dec (5-4), Dec (3-1)
• Defeated by Xavier Vasquez (Northern Colorado) by Med Forf in the finals match

197: Tommy Hagan - 6th Place - Tournament Record: 1-3

• Wins by: Dec (7-0)

285: Seth Nitzel - 4th Place - Tournament Record: 2-2

• Wins by: Dec (8-2), Dec (2-0)
• Defeated teammate Ryan Boersma by decision (2-0)
• Defeated by Josiah Hill (Little Rock) by decision (7-5) in the third-place match

285: Ryan Boersma - 5th Place - Tournament Record: 2-2

• Wins by: Dec (2-0), Dec (7-1)
• Defeated teammate Steven Kolcheff by decision (2-0)

285: Steven Kolcheff - 7th Place - Tournament Record: 1-2

• Wins by: Dec (4-2)