Mizzou Central

The Tigers Gear Up to Reclaim Big 12 Wrestling Title

The Tigers begin their season on Nov. 2 against Northern Colorado after a 2023-24 season riddled with injuries and illnesses.

Izabelle Cool

Brett Rojo/Big 12 Conference

The University of Missouri wrestling team announced its 2024-25 schedule on September 20th. The Tigers face familiar and new opponents this season, commencing with the Black and Gold Scrimmage to showcase the team's talent. 

Last season, the Tigers were plagued with injury and illness and had a slower start compared to previous years against conference opponents. 

For the past 12 years, the Tigers have been a dominant force in college wrestling. They have returned to the Hearnes Center at the end of every season since 2011 with a conference championship after winning nine straight MAC and three Big 12 Championships. However, last season, they placed fourth at the Big 12 Wrestling Championships, marking the first season they did not take home a conference title.

In the 2024 Big 12 Wrestling Championship, Senior Keegan O'Toole defeated Iowa State's David Carr in a highly anticipated rematch to secure the 165-pound conference title. Following O'Toole, senior Rocky Elam fell to Tanner Sloan (South Dakota State) to take second place at 197 pounds.

The Tigers earned nine automatic bids to the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships after the Big 12 Wrestling Championships.

Missouri finished the 2023-24 season ranked No. 10 in the NWCA Coaches Poll with a 10-4 record after finishing 11th place with 49.5 points at the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championship, tied with North Carolina State.

At the 2024 NCAA Championship, O'Toole took home third place at 165 pounds, redshirt senior Zach Elam placed fourth at 285 pounds—his best NCAA finish, and R. Elam finished sixth place at 197 pounds.

O'Toole joined Ben Askren (2004-07) as the only wrestler in program history to finish in the top three in four consecutive NCAA championship appearances. R. Elam also joined O'Toole in becoming the fourth and fifth wrestlers, respectively, in program history, to have four top-six finishes in the NCAA championships.  

Despite those struggles last season, Missouri looks forward to a new beginning and season with opportunities for growth and competition between new and old competitors.

Notable Season Match-Ups

*Team rankings are NCAA rankings after the last dual on February 25, 2024.

Home Duals

No. 8 Cornell - January 3, 2025

On January 28, 2024, the No. 2 Tigers lost to No. 14 Cornell University 20-16. The dual was Missouri's first loss of the 2023-24 season. The Tigers lost in multiple major upsets, including unranked Vito Arujau (CU) over No. 24 Kade Moore by a decision, 10-9, No. 9 Meyer Shapiro (CU) over No. 5 Brock Mauller by a major decision, 14-4 and No. 7 Jacob Cardenas (CU) over No. 3 R. Elam 4-0.

Missouri has led the series against Cornell 9-4 with a record of 9-4 since the first dual on February 23, 2002, in which Missouri won 27-12.  

No. 20 Stanford - January 12, 2025

The upcoming dual with Stanford will be the fifth meeting between the two programs. The Tigers defeated the No. 18 Cardinal with a score of 39-0 last season and currently lead the series 4-0. In the meet-up on January 10, 2024, No. 10 Noah Surtin had a major upset over No. 4 Nico Provo (Stanford) by a major decision, 11-3. Following Surtin, Zeke Selter bested No. 29 Jason Miranda (Stanford) by a decision 9-6, and No. 13 Logan Gioffre upset No. 9 Jaden Abas (Stanford) by a decision 8-1. 

No. 16 Arizona State - January 22, 2025

The then No. 3 Tigers defeated No. 21 Arizona State in the fall of 2023 39-6, the largest over the Sun Devils in program history. The most notable win of that afternoon was then No. 7 redshirt senior Brock Mauller (157) defeated Michael Kilic (ASU)  by technical fall 21-5, boosting the Tigers school to 15-6.

The Tigers are currently 3-5-1 all-time against ASU and look to extend their two-match win streak this season.  

Iowa State - No. 5 - February 22, 2025 

The wrestling rivalry between the Cyclones and Tigers dates back to 1927 when ISU defeated Missouri 29-0. The match marked the beginning of a series of 58 encounters between the two teams, according to the Iowa State Wrestling History website.

The Tigers had a six-dual win streak until 2022 when the Cyclones bested the Tigers with a narrow one-point victory. The last meetup between the Cyclones and Tigers ended in a resounding 41-3 victory for the Cyclones. However, it's worth noting that the Tigers were without many starters due to illness and injury that plagued the Missouri team throughout the 2024 winter season. 

Away Duals

No. 15 Northern Iowa - November 26, 2024

Last season, the No. 7 Tigers fell to the No. 16 Panthers 31-6. At the time, Head Coach Brian Smith decided to have a limited lineup for the dual as the team began to focus on getting healthy for the Big 12 Championship. The Tigers have the opportunity to turn a new leaf this season against UNI after learning how to overcome those illnesses. Before the loss, the Tigers led UNI in their last ten matchups 7-3. The dual saw No. 22 Josh Edmond (141) upset No. 7 Cael Happel in his third-ranked win of the season. 

Oklahoma - February 1, 2025

On December 2, 2024, the No. 3-ranked Missouri team soundly defeated No. 18 Oklahoma 30-12. The loss was Oklahoma’s first conference loss of the season. The dual was one of many throughout the season showcasing the younger wrestlers, including Logan Gioffre’s (149) upset over No. 22 Willie McDougald (OU) in a sudden victory of 4-1. The win was Gioffre’s first win over a ranked opponent. Oklahoma currently leads the rivalry with a record of 42-16-0. 

No. 4 Oklahoma State - February 2, 2025

Missouri looks to defeat Oklahoma in its 55th match-up with the Cowboys. Oklahoma State defeated Missouri 24-10 in the team's last match-up on February 4, 2024. The loss was Missouri’s first Big 12 loss of the 2024-25 season. Both O’Toole and Z.Elam finished the season undefeated following the OSU dual.

The season will end at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship on March 8-9, 2025, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and then the Tigers will receive bids for the NCAA Wrestling Championship in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 20-22, 2025.

Expected 2024-25 Starting Line Up

  • 125 - No. 18 Noah Surtin
  • 133 - No. 32 Kade Moore
  • 141 - No. 12 Josh Edmond
  • 149 - No. 27 Logan Gioffre
  • 157 - No. 32 James Conway/Jeremy Jakowitsch
  • 165 - No. 23 Cam Steed
  • 174 - No. 1 Keegan O'Toole
  • 184 - No. 15 Colton Hawks
  • 197 - No. 4 R. Elam
  • 285 - No. 24 Seth Nitzel

2023-24 Postseason Accolades:

The Tigers will open the season with their annual Black and Gold dual at the Hearnes Center on Friday, Oct. 25 at 6 p.m. C.T. The dual will give fans a preview of what to expect from the team this season with new and old faces.

Published
Izabelle Cool
IZABELLE COOL

Izabelle is a senior at the University of Missouri studying Sports Broadcast Journalism and Sociology. She's from Kansas City, Mo., and has covered wrestling for MizzouCentral since 2023. Previously, she covered wrestling, soccer, and tennis for the student newspaper The Maneater.

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