No. 10 Missouri wrestling in third place at the 2024 Big 12 Wrestling Championships after Session I
TULSA — Session I of the 2024 Big 12 Wrestling Championship proved to be a fight for Missouri, as it dropped several matches in the quarterfinals after all its wrestlers advanced past the preliminary round. Six Tigers are moving on to the semifinals, and four will appear in the wrestlebacks this evening.
The Tigers are third in team scores, trailing Iowa State and Oklahoma State. The two teams are Missouri's top contenders for snapping its winning streak this year. Although trailing, the Tigers had four wrestlers in BYE matches to begin the preliminary round, meaning they had fewer opportunities to score points in Session I.
Preliminary Round:
Missouri wrestling began the morning with a bye for redshirt junior No. 1 Noah Surtin (125). No. 6 redshirt sophomore Josh Edmond (141), No. 1 junior Keegan O'Toole (165), and No. 3 junior Rocky Elam (197) also had bye matches in the preliminaries.
Missouri's first match for preliminaries was No. 6 redshirt freshman Kade Moore (133) against Air Force freshman Bubba Wright. There was a lot of hand fighting rather than body shots, leading to a scoreless first period. Moore came out with a reversal to start the second period and went into the third period with multiple takedowns, allowing him to defeat Wright (AF) 11-3.
No. 8 redshirt junior Logan Gioffre ( 149) stepped on the mat against Northern Colorado redshirt sophomore Benji Alanis. Gioffre and Alanis started the match with a lot of hand action, standing and looking for places to attack. The matchup proved to be even as they were scoreless heading into the second. Gioffre put the first points on the board with an escape. Late in the third, Gioffre was able to escape from the bottom, scramble and get a takedown to secure the 4-1 win over Alanis.
No. 5 redshirt senior Brock Mauller (157) defeated West Virginia senior Caleb Dowling 2-1 with riding time. No. 4 redshirt senior Peyton Mocco (174) defeated California Baptist graduate Peter Acciardi by fall 17-5 after an electric match filled with takedowns, reversals and tilts.
No. 4 redshirt sophomore Colton Hawks (184) was chosen to travel to the championship over redshirt freshman Clayton Whiting. He proved himself a good contender as he wrestled against North Dakota State freshman Adam Cherne. Hawks got a takedown and rode out the first period. After the second and third periods, Hawks held Cherne to 3 points to his 16.
To finish the preliminary round, No. 3 redshirt senior Zach Elam (285) competed against NDSU junior Devon Dawson. Z. Elam won in a 1-0 decision after getting the escape early in the third period.
Semifinal Round:
No. 1 Surtin (125) faced unranked redshirt sophomore Elijah Griffin (CBU). Griffin got an escape in the second period to hold on strong on the bottom and take over Surtin. Griffin got Surtin on his back but was not awarded points, leading the CBU bench to throw the challenge brick. The challenge was declined, leading to Surtin and Griffin getting reversals and tying the match 4-4 heading into Sudden Victory 1. Surtin got the three-point takedown to win 7-4.
Missouri dropped its next four matches:
- No. 3 UNC sophomore Dominick Serrano (133) defeated No. 6 Moore, 6-3, to hand Missouri its first loss of the day.
- No. 3 UNI junior Cael Happel (141) over No. 6 Edmond 10-3.
- No. 1 ISU sophomore Casey Swiderski (149) over No. 8 Gioffre 4-2.
- No. 4 ISU freshman Cody Chittum (157) over No. 5 Mauller to win 7-3.
No. 1 O'Toole got Missouri back on track in his first match of the day against No. 8 Wyoming redshirt junior Cooper Voorhees. O'Toole got a takedown right away to take the lead early in the first period. He continued to work Voorhees and got the fall with :46 seconds left in the first period.
No. 4 Mocco showed his strength against No. 5 UNI redshirt sophomore Jared Simma in the quarterfinals, winning 10-4 despite the referees requesting a couple of replays.
No. 4 Hawks wrestled No. 5 ISU senior Will Feldkamp in the quarterfinals. With late-match takedowns, Hawks defeated him 12-2. Both Elam brothers followed Hawks with wins at 197 and 285 pounds, respectively. No. 3 Rocky Elam defeated No. 6 WY freshman Joey Novak 5-1, and No. 3 Zach Elam defeated UVU redshirt senior Chase Trussell 5-0.
Notable:
- No. 1 Noah Surtin, No. 1 Keegan O'Toole, No. 4 Peyton Mocco, and No. 3 Rocky Elam all clinched their spots in the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championship.
Standings:
- Iowa State - 71
- Oklahoma State - 67.5
- Missouri - 58
- Northern Iowa - 45
- South Dakota State - 43
- West Virginia - 38
- Oklahoma - 29
- Wyoming - 23
- Air Force - 22.5
- North Dakota State - 17
Session II, which includes Semifinal and Consolation Quarterfinal Matches, will begin at 5:00 p.m. CT and can be watched on ESPN+.
