Zach Elam's Pin Gives Mizzou Wrestling 21-19 Win at South Dakota State

The senior pulled off a 33-second pin after SDSU reeled off three consecutive victories to take the lead heading into the dramatic final bout.

Back-to-back wins by Brock Mauller and Keegan O'Toole out of the break gave Mizzou wrestling a signifiant edge by winning four of the first six matches at South Dakota State on Sunday, but it took Zach Elam's win at 285 pounds for the Tigers to pull out a 21-19 victory. 

Mizzou had fallen behind 19-17 as the Jackrabbits won three straight matches heading into the heavyweight win by Elam, who needed just 33 second to dispatch Luke Rasmussen with the meet-winning pin. 

It was the redshirt senior's 20th win on the season, including eight falls. He leads the Tigers in both categories.

The teams split the wins in the dual meet, with each winning five matches, but the bonus points earned by Noah Surtain at 125, O'Toole at 165, and Elam were the difference. Surtin has tallied five consecutive bonus-point wins, including three major decisions, one technical fall, and one pin, and O'Toole's technical fall win was his fourth of the season.

Tanner Sloan's win against Rocky Elam at 197 gave South Dakota State (12-4, 6-2 Big 12) the lead heading into the final pairing. A rematch of the both the Big 12 individual championship (won by Rocky Elam) and an NCAA semifinal (won by Sloan) last season, Rocky Elam was in the lead and chose a neutral start to the second stanza. Just seconds after he was warned for stalling, Sloan caught Elam in a headlock and took the Tiger to the mat, where he eventually scored the fall in 4 minutes and 38 seconds.

With the win, No. 7 Missouri swept the weekend meets in the Dakotas, as the Tigers defeated North Dakota State on Friday, 32-6. Combined, Mizzou (10-2, 6-1 Big 12) outscored the home teams 53-25. 

Missouri 21, South Dakota State 19 

125: (7) Noah Surtin over (14) Tanner Jordan by MD 14-6
133: (14) Derrick Cardinal over Drew Stanfield by MD 14-5
141: (22) Josh Edmond over Caleb Gross by Dec. 3-2
149: (19) Alek Martin over Joel Mylin by Dec. 5-0
157: (11) Brock Mauller over (16) Cael Swensen by Dec. 4-1
165: (1) Keegan O'Toole over Connor Gaynor by TF 22-5 (5:21)
174: (4) Cade DeVos over (10) Peyton Mooco by Dec. 5-0
184: (12) Bennett Berge over Colton Hawks by Dec. 10-6
197: (4) Tanner Sloan over (8) Rocky Elam by Fall (4:39)
285: (4) Zach Elam over (30) Luke Rasmussen by Fall (0:33)

 Rankings according to NCAA Coaches Poll

No. 7 Missouri Wrestling Trounces North Dakota State University in Big 12 Win