They’re Back! Mizzou Wrestling Wins Big 12’s Once Again

Mizzou came into day two with a significant lead and never looked back. They went 7-2 in the morning session to lock up the team title before the finals even began. Mizzou qualified seven wrestlers for NCAAs automatically and will have a strong case for At-Large bids to get two more.

Noah Surtin and Connor Brown started the day off strong with wins in the 7th place matches. Surtin won a tight 5-3 overtime decision over 6 seed Kysen Terukina from ISU. Surtin will need an At-Large bid but is one of the stronger cases to get one. Connor Brown scored a pin in his 7th place match against 3 seed Gabe Tagg of SDSU, his second win over the Jackrabbit, giving Mizzou much needed bonus points.

Josh Edmond came into the consolation semifinals and built a quick lead with four first period takedowns but ultimately lost 15-13 to ISU’s Jarrett Degen to drop to the 5th place match. There he found more success as he scored a 17-8 major decision over Air Force’s Dylan Martinez to finish 5th. Edmond will also need an At-Large but has a good chance at one. Jarrett Jacques dropped his own consolation semifinals match in a 3-1 overtime match to Justin Thomas of OU. He rebounded in another overtime 3-1 match, beating Derek Holschlag of UNI.

The Elam brothers both managed a 3rd place finish after wins in the consolation semis. Rocky had a medical forfeit in his first match but won a dominant 6-1 decision over Jake Woodley in the 3rd place match. Zach avenged a regular season loss to AJ Nevills of SDSU in an exciting 8-6 match, and then went on to win a controlled 6-1 decision over ISU’s Sam Schuyler. Overall, Mizzou went undefeated in the medal matches before the finals, which was good to see after some of the guys dropped some rough matches on day one.

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Mizzou put four wrestlers in the finals but was only able to walk away with one champ. Allan Hart had a chance to avenge a loss to Northern Colorado’s Andrew Alirez but struggled to find a late takedown and lost 6-4. Peyton Mocco made the finals as a 6 seed but lost to the 1 seed Dustin Plott of OSU. A late first period takedown for Mocco ended up being waived off, and he dropped the match 4-3 after giving up a takedown with short time left. Jeremiah Kent also made the finals as a 6 seed and faced off against 1 seed Parker Keckeisen of UNI but couldn’t find his offense and lost a 13-3 major.

Keegan O’Toole impressed in his finals match, winning a 13-7 decision in one of the more exciting matches of the tournament. He beat 2 seed Peyton Hall of WVU for the second time this season. O’Toole is now a two-time conference champion and likely a top two seed going into the national tournament.

Mizzou won the team title with 131.5 points, which ranked 6th all-time in conference history and had an impressive 18.5 lead to OU’s 113 points. Brown, Hart, Mocco, Kent, and Rocky were all able to wrestle above their seeds in impressive runs. Seven wrestlers are already qualified, and we’ll find out soon if Surtin and Edmond will get At-Large bids. With placewinners at every weight and four finalists, Mizzou was able to lock up their 11th conference title in a row and reclaim their Big 12 title. Head coach Brian Smith won Big 12 Coach of the year for the second time of his career.