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The Tigers walked into day two of the Big 12 Wrestling Championship Tournament with a first place lead, six in the finals, and four others still fighting for a medal. Lets work through each wrestler and how they fared finishing out the conference championship this season. (BRACKETS)
125lbs: Noah Surtin - Seed: 3 - 2nd Place
- Round 1: Win by FALL over Carlos Negrete Jr. (NDSU)
- Quarterfinals: Win by MAJOR DEC (13-2) over (6) Tanner Jordan (SDSU)
- Semifinals: Win by DEC (5-3) over (7) Joey Prata (OU)
- Finals: (3) Noah Surtin (MIZ) vs. (4) Stevo Poulin (UNC)
En route to a second place finish, Noah Surtin collected 18 team points including two bonus wins, one by fall and one by major decision. He finished the championship with a 16-4 overall record this season. Surtin has punched his ticket to the NCAA Championship for the third time in his collegiate career. Overall, Surtin looked like a man on a mission over the course of the tournament. It wasn’t necessarily the outcome he was hoping for, but he will bounce back. It will be exciting to see where his momentum takes him in two weeks.
133lbs: Connor Brown - Seed: 5 - 6th Place
- Round 1: Win by DEC (9-2) over Davin Rhoads (WVU)
- Quarterfinals: Win by DEC (6-4, SV-1) over (4) Cody Phippen (AF)
- Semifinals: Loss by MAJOR DEC (11-3) to (1) Daton Fix (OKST)
- Consolation Semifinals: Loss by INJ DEF to Wyatt Henson (OU)
- 5th Place Match: Loss by INJ DEF to (7) McGwire Midkiff (NDSU)
Connor Brown successfully walked into the Big 12 Championship and walked out with his second trip to the NCAA Championships, but not without some adversity as he was injured on day two. Brown was in one of the four weight classes with just six allocation spots and positioned him self good enough to default out. Prior to falling out due to an injury, Brown looked ready to go to perform well. With a 2-2 tournament record, he secured a 6th place finish with an opportunity to finish his career at Mizzou on the big stage.
141lbs: Allan Hart - Seed: 6 - 2nd Place
- Round 1: Win by TECH FALL (16-0) over Christian Nunez (Cal-Bap)
- Quarterfinals: WIn by DEC (10-4) over (3) Cael Happel (UNI)
- Semifinals: Win by FALL over (2) Mosha Schwartz (OU)
- Finals: Loss by DEC (8-4) to (1) Andrew Alirez (UNC)
Getting his redemption bout against Andrew Alirez after an early season loss, Allan Hart found himself falling just shy in the second go-around. He accumulated a total of 18.5 team points and was responsible for two bonus wins, headlined by a win by fall in the semifinals contest. Hart had a very successful and impressive tournament knocking off multiple top-end wrestlers in his class.
149lbs: Brock Mauller - Seed: 1 - 2nd Place
- Round 1: Win by DEC (8-2) over Chase Zollman (WYO)
- Quarterfinals: Win by DEC (3-1) over (8) Sam Hillegas (WVU)
- Semifinals: Win by DEC (7-1) over (5) Victor Voinovich (OKST)
- Finals: Loss by DEC (10-4) to (2) Paniro Johnson (ISU)
Taking on Paniro Johnson for the second time this season, Mizzou’s Brock Mauller found himself on the losing end this go-around. Taking home a second place finish and another trip to the NCAA Championships, Mauller had a steady but dominant tournament. He rounded out his weekend securing 15.0 total team points.
157lbs: Jarrett Jacques - Seed: 3 - 7th Place
- Round 1: Win by DEC (4-1) over Jack Ganos (AF)
- Quarterfinals: Loss by DEC (3-2, TB-2) to (6) Jacob Wright (WYO)
- Consolation Round 2: Win by DEC (5-1) over (5) Derek Holschlag (UNI)
- Consolation Quarterfinal: Loss by DEC (5-3) to (7) Jason Kraisser (ISU)
- 7th Place Match: Win by DEC (3-2) over Vinny Zerban (UNC)
After having an impressive season, Jarrett Jacques had a bit of an “off” tournament for the Tigers. Luckily for him his weight class was allotted seven allocation spots and taking home a seventh place medal keeps his postseason goals alive. Fans are looking forward to seeing a bounce back when he returns back to Tulsa!
165lbs: Keegan O’Toole - Seed: 2 - 2nd Place
- Round 1: Win by FALL over Frank Almager (Cal-Bap)
- Quarterfinals: Win by MAJOR DEC (12-2) over (7) Tanner Cook (SDSU)
- Semifinals: Win by DEC (8-3) over (3) Michael Caliendo (NDSU)
- Finals: Loss by FALL to (1) David Carr (ISU)
Round two of this exciting and very hopeful trilogy (NCAA Champ Finals?) is now in the books and once again David Carr takes the victory. There was more than one thing going south in this one, but we will stay away from the details. The final result doesn’t show how great the match really was. O’Toole now moves into the NCAA’s with two losses to a single competitor, David Carr.
174lbs: Peyton Mocco - Seed: 1 - 2nd Place
- Round 1: Win by MAJOR DEC (14-4) over Julien Broderson (ISU)
- Quarterfinals: Win by FALL over (8) Scott Joll (WVU)
- Semifinals: Win by DEC (6-5) over (5) Tate Picklo (OU)
- Finals: Loss by DEC (5-3) to (2) Dustin Plott (OKST)
Peyton Mocco was awarded the one seed and fell just shy of proving the seed correctly. Taking on Dustin Plott for the third time this season (4th career), Peyton Mocco fell behind another match, moving the series record to 3-1 in favor of Plott. Mocco provided 18 team points over the course of his Championship, collecting two bonus wins including one by fall in the quarterfinals bout.
184lbs: Colton Hawks - Seed: 4 - 4th Place
- Round 1: Win by FALL over Peter Acciardi (Cal-Bap)
- Quarterfinals: Win by DEC (3-1) over (5) Deanthony Parker, Jr. (NDSU)
- Semifinals: Loss by DEC (7-5) to (1) Parker Keckheisen (UNI)
- Consolation Semifinals: Win by DEC (4-3) over Noah Blake (AF)
- 3rd Place Match: Loss by DEC (8-3) to (3) Travis Wittlake (OKST)
One of the most impressive tournaments on the weekend belongs to Colton Hawks. After setting an early statement in the first round, Hawks pushed his way into the semifinals bout where he gave one of the top wrestlers in the nation at 184 a scare. With one victory between him and his first NCAA Championship trip, Hawks answered the bell sending himself into the third place contest where he finished with a 4th place medal, giving the Tigers a total of 13.5 team points. Hawks’ climb is only getting started!
197lbs: Rocky Elam - Seed: 2 - BIG XII CHAMP
- Round 1: Open/Bye
- Quarterfinals: Win by FALL over Xavier Vasquez (UNC)
- Semifinals: Win by DEC (6-0) over (3) Yonger Bastida (ISU)
- Finals: Win by DEC (2-1) over (1) Tanner Sloan (SDSU)
With just two prior bouts against Sloan, the series sets at 1-1 as we moved into the finals bout. Rocky, finding yet another gear in the Big 12’s, continued to show why his lone loss this season was fluke. Taking down the top seed in his bracket, Rocky Elam found himself advancing to the NCAA's once again and proving why he is the top dog at 197lbs.
285lbs: Zach Elam - Seed: 3 - 3rd Place
- Round 1: Open/Bye
- Quarterfinals: Win by DEC (10-3) over (6) Josh Heindselman (OU)
- Semifinals: Loss by DEC (3-2) to (2) Sam Schuyler (ISU)
- Consolation Semifinals: Win by DEC (2-1, TB-2) over (8) Konner Doucet (OKST)
- 3rd Place Match: Win by DEC (10-4) over (7) Tyrell Gordon (UNI)
Having locked up a spot at the NCAA’s already, Zach Elam was looking to finish out his tournament strong, setting him up for a good draw at the next stage. Collecting 12.5 team points, Zach finished his conference tournament off with a 3rd place finish and tape to build on moving forward.
Final Team Standings
- Missouri: 148.0
- OK State: 134.0
- Iowa St.: 131.0
- Oklahoma: 97.5
- N. Dakota State: 89.0
- S. Dakota State: 86.5
- N. Iowa: 73.0
- Air Force: 64.5
- N. Colorado: 50.0
- Wyoming: 41.0
- Utah Valley: 37.5
- W. Virginia: 34.5
- Cal Baptist: 1.0
Brian Smith and his Tigers squad remain supreme in conference action for the 12th year in a row, collecting medals and qualifiers in all ten weight classes for just the second time in the past eight years. En route to a team title, Mizzou collected a total of ten bonus victories. The Tigers will be moving on to the NCAA Championships in two weeks, which for them will be familiar territory as they make the trip back to Tulsa, OK for the third time this season. The Tigers had a strong showing this weekend of what damage they could cause in the tourney. They have yet to reach their full potential and are on the cusp of something special!
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