In a historical evening, the William Woods Wrestling program was set to host their first home dual on campus in program history. Their opponent is fellow in-state and NAIA opponent Missouri Baptist University. The Missouri Baptist Women’s team boasted 4 ranked wrestlers in their starting lineup (145 lbs, 160 lbs, 180 lbs, and 207 lbs) entering the dual while William Woods had the one (at 124 lbs). On the Men’s side Missouri Baptist currently has 5 ranked wrestlers (2 wrestlers at 133 lbs, 141 lbs., 174 lbs, and 197 lbs) and William Woods has zero.
The student section was packed in both the lower and upper sections of Anderson Arena and brought energy throughout the evening for the Owls. While the team results didn’t go the Owls’ way, there was still plenty to cheer for throughout the evening with scrambles and close calls on some hard-earned points on the edge or at the end of periods.
The Women got things started on the night and it was a back and forth dual through the first seven weights contested with Missouri Baptist winning four while William Woods taking three of the bouts. However, the last three weights the experience of Missouri Baptist’s wrestlers showed through and earned three consecutive pins to close out the competition and put the dual out of reach.
The men’s dual started at 141 lbs based on random draw at the onset. During the early portion of the dual it appeared to be evenly matched with both teams taking 2 matches each. However, Mobap had the narrow 10-9 lead due to them scoring two tech-fall victories while William Woods scored a last second takedown at 157 lbs to earn a decision and Nichols (at 165 lbs) pinned his opponent in the second period.
