Mizzou NCAA Championship Wrestling: Day One Recap

Opening the NCAA Championship Tournament, the Tigers were represented in all ten weight classes. The lightweights opened the day with losses before the Tigers found their gear and finished with eight straight victories to open Session 1. The biggest bout of the day came from Colton Hawks, who stepped in as the underdog and knocked off the #11 wrestler in his weight bracket.

Opening Session 2, Mizzou looked to keep pushing forward and keep all wrestlers involved. They fell just one wrestler shy, finishing the second round with a 9-1 record. The Tigers move into day two with eight guys battling in the quarterfinals with one on the backside fighting to stay alive. Rounding out the day the Tiger sit in third place as a team with a total of 17.5 points.

Starting at 125, we will work through each wrestler and look at how they fared on the Championship’s opening day.

Day One: Thursday, March 16 (ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN+)

• Session I: (Pigtails and Opening Round Competition)
• Session II: (First Round Wrestle-Backs and Round of Sixteen)

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125lbs: Noah Surtin - Seed: #14

• Round of 32: Loss by DEC (8-6) to #19 Braxton Brown, MD
• Consolation R1: Win by FALL over #30 Antonio Lorenzo, POLY
• Consolation R2: vs. #20 Jarrett Trombley, NCST

After a tough opening round loss, Noah Surtin found himself in his first consolation bout where he nabbed his first victory of the Championship, moving him into day two with a matchup against a 13-6 Jarrett Trombley of NC State. Trombley is a 2x NCAA qualifier looking for his first trip to the medal stand.

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133lbs: Connor Brown - Seed: #26

• Round of 32: Loss by FALL to #7 Michael Colaiocco, PENN
• Consolation R1: Loss by DEC (11-5) to #23 Brody Teske, IOWA

Connor Brown’s season came to an early end at the NCAA Championships with back-to-back losses.

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141lbs: Allan Hart - Seed: #8

• Round of 32: Win by DEC (7-4) over #25 Carmen Ferrante, PENN
• Champ Round 1: Win by DEC (2-2, TB-2/RT) over #9 Mosha Schwartz, OU
• Quarterfinals: vs. #1 Real Woods, IOWA

After knocking off multiple opponents, Hart is now tasked with the top-seeded wrestler within his weight bracket. Real Woods is a returning 2022 All-American who entered the Championship with an undefeated record. Hart and Woods will be meeting for the first time since the 2022 Southern Scuffle.

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149lbs: Brock Mauller - Seed: #6

• Round of 32: Win by DEC (11-5) over #27 Jarod Verkleeren, UVA
• Champ Round 1: Win by DEC (4-1) over #22 Chance Lamer, MICH
• Quarterfinals: vs. #3 Kyle Parco, ASU

Brock Mauller finds himself in a quarterfinals match up against a common opponent in Kyle Parco from Arizona State. The series is currently set at 1-1 between the two with the most recent contest coming this season when Parco took a 3-2 victory by decision. Parco is a returning 2x NCAA All-American.

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157lbs: Jarrett Jacques - Seed: #17

• Round of 32: Win by DEC (5-4) over #16 Anthony Artalona, PENN
• Champ Round 1: Loss by DEC (4-1) to #1 Austin O`Connor, UNC
• Consolation R2: vs. #18 Derek Gilcher, IND

After opening the tournament going 1-1 giving the top seed a solid match, Jacques moves into day two looking to continue his path to the podium. He will square off against Derek Gilcher, a 24-13 wrestler wrestling in the Championship for the first time in his career.

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165lbs: Keegan O’Toole - Seed: #2

• Round of 32: Win by MAJOR DEC (13-5) over #31 Wyatt Sheets, OKST
• Champ Round 1: Win by DEC (#15 Justin McCoy, UVA
• Quarterfinals: vs. #10 Carson Kharchla, OHST

Keegan O’Toole continues his path to becoming a two time NCAA Champion and opens day two facing off Carson Kharchla of Ohio State. Kharchla is a returning All-American with four losses on the season.

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174lbs: Peyton Mocco - Seed: #7

• Round of 32: Win by DEC (3-1, SV-1) over #26 Sal Perrine, OHIO
• Champ Round 1: Win by DEC (8-2) over #23 Mickey O`Malley, DREX
• Quarterfinals: vs. #3 Mikey Labriola, NEB

Reaching the quarterfinals bout, Peyton Mocco is tasked with the #3 wrestler in his bracket. Labriola is 3x All-American and will be facing Mocco for the first time in his career.

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184lbs: Colton Hawks - Seed: #22

• Round of 32: Win by DEC (6-2) over #11 Gavin Kane, UNC
• Champ Round 1: Loss by DEC (5-3) to #6 Kaleb Romero, OHST
• Consolation R2: vs. #21 Giuseppe Hoose, BUFF

After Hawks started with an opening round upset, he was brought back down to Earth after falling in the Champion second round. He opens day two facing #21 Hoose of Buffalo.

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197lbs: Rocky Elam - Seed: #3

• Round of 32: Win by DEC (4-1) over #30 Andrew Davison, NW
• Champ Round 1: Win by DEC (6-2) over #14 Jacob Warner, IOWA
• Quarterfinals: vs. #11 Jaxon Smith, MD

Rocky continues to push forward toward a finals contest with back-to-back impressive matches. He will look to take on 21-6 second year freshman, Jaxon Smith.

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285lbs: Zach Elam - Seed: #10

• Round of 32: Win by DEC (4-1) over #23 Jacob Bullock, IND
• Champ Round 1: Win by DEC (4-0) over #7 Owen Trephan, NCST
• Quarterfinals: vs. #2 Wyatt Hendrickson, AF

Rounding out the night for the Tiger was Zach Elam. Elam capped off his day one with his second victory and a trip to the quarterfinals against 2x qualifier Wyatt Hendrickson.

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Team Scores:

1) Penn State: 26.0

2) Iowa: 21.5

3) Missouri: 17.5

T-4) Minnesota: 16.5

T-4) NC State: 16.5

T-6) Cornell: 15.5

T-6) Nebraska: 15.5

8) Michigan: 14.5

8) Ohio State: 14.5

T-10) Arizona State: 13.0

T-10) Virginia Tech: 13.0

T-10) Wisconsin: 13.0

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CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Friday, March 17 (ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN+)

• Session III: (Quarterfinals, Wrestle-Back Second & Third Rounds) - 11 a.m. CT
• Session IV: (Blood Round/Consolation Fourth Round & Semifinals) - 7 p.m. CT

Saturday, March 18 (ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN+)

• Session V: Medal Rounds (3rd, 5th, & 7th Place Matches) - 10 a.m. CT
• Session VI: National Finals - 6 p.m. CT