Mizzou Central

No. 19 Missouri Wrestling Drops First Home Dual to No. 12 Cornell

Missouri continues to struggle through its injury-plagued season.

Izabelle Cool

Bixby's Gage Walker (left) gets behind Edmond North's Garrison Sartain (right) during the 6A State Championship Team Wrestling Dual between Edmond North and Bixby at the Stride Bank Center in Enid, Okla., on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024.
Bixby's Gage Walker (left) gets behind Edmond North's Garrison Sartain (right) during the 6A State Championship Team Wrestling Dual between Edmond North and Bixby at the Stride Bank Center in Enid, Okla., on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. / NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Missouri (2-6) faced Cornell (2-1) at the Beauty and the Beast event on Friday, in collaboration with the Missouri gymnastics team. The Tigers lost 26-12 against Cornell, marking their sixth loss of the season.

The Tigers have struggled with an injury-plagued season missing key wrestlers like Keegan O'Toole, Rocky Elam, and others who have been in the rotation as Missouri continues to find its rhythm without the key starters from the last four seasons. The Tigers were close in many matches but struggled to close out wins against Cornell.

No. 30 Gage Walker started off the dual for Missouri at 125 pounds against Marcello Milani (Cornell). The matchup started slow, but Walker secured a late third-period pin to put the Tigers on the board for the night.

At 133 pounds, Kade Moore wrestled Tyler Ferrara (Cornell) and got a few shots in, but it was not enough to score points. Ferrara got a takedown with 40 seconds left in the third period and won the match 3-2 as Moore struggled to get the late points he needed to win.

No. 14 Josh Edmond also dropped his match against No. 32 Josh Saunders (Cornell) despite a strong early double leg takedown early in the first period. Edmond kept Saunders on the mat, but as the third period approached, he struggled to find a strategy that did not rely on attacking Saunders's legs. Saunders won 12-4.

At 149 pounds, Zeke Seltzer got Missouri back on track as he held Mark Botello (Cornell) to only scoring an escape point throughout their match. Seltzer took the lead in the third period with a three-point takedown and a one-point escape. He sealed the win with the riding time point at the end of regulation.

Before the break, No. 23 James Conway (157) wrestled No. 2 Meyer Shapiro. Shapiro quickly secured a takedown and maintained his momentum with additional takedowns as he attempted to get a cradle to win the match against Conway. Shapiro won 18-2 securing the technical fall win over Conway.

Joel Mylin stepped in for Cam Steed at 165 pounds against No. 5 Julian Ramirez (Cornell). Mylin put up a fight to keep up with Ramirez and stayed in control for much of the second period. Ramirez won the match 9-2.

The Tigers announced before the dual that No. 1 Keegan O'Toole would not be wrestling during January as he works on healing from an injury early in the season. For the Cornell dual, freshman Jake Stoffel took O'Toole's place at 174 pounds against No. 13 Simon Ruiz (Cornell). While Stoffel lost the match 17-3, he kept Ruiz to a major decision instead of a technical fall, keeping Cornell from getting team bonus points.

No. 8 Chris Foca from Cornell defeated No. 9 Colton Hawks by a major decision, with a score of 9-1. Hawks kept the match moving and attempted many attacks, looking to get Foca on his back. Foca managed to execute a two-point reversal, which contributed to his momentum following to get two takedowns, ultimately securing both his victory and the win for Cornell in the dual meet.

Jesse Cassatt dropped his match 2-0 to Cornell's Aiden Hanning. To finish the match, Jarrett Stoner was in for Missouri at the heavyweight slot against Aiden Compton. Stoner worked his way through the match to secure the riding time point and got a takedown right before the end of the third period. Stoner won 5-0.

Up Next

The Tigers will host No. 15 Stanford at home on January 12 at 2 p.m. CST. The dual will be streamed on ESPN+.

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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