James Hackney
#13 Mizzou – 1st Overall
Mizzou came in looking to extend their conference winning streak and defend their last Big 12 title in 2012 and had success. They put four in the finals and had the team title locked up after the medal rounds. One of three teams to have ten placewinners, Mizzou had the 6th ever highest score at conference with 131.5, 13 points above second place. Even with such a strong performance however, they were only able to qualify seven so far. Noah Surtin and Josh Edmond were both upset and missed out on getting an auto bid, but have strong cases for At-Large bids. Connor Brown will also need one but with no wins against the qualifying field may have a harder time getting one.
125lbs: #17 Noah Surtin – 7th
- Quarters: LBD to #12 Trevor Mastrogiovanni (4-2)
- 1st Wrestleback: WBD over Jared Van Fleet (6-3)
- 2nd Wrestleback: LBD to Jace Koelzer (2-1)
- 7th Place Match: WBD over #21 Kysen Terukina (SV 5-3)
Last year Surtin came into the MAC tournament as an unknown and crashed the finals, but struggled in this match. His loss to Mastrogiovanni came from two takedowns, one each in the first two periods. In the third period Mastrogiovanni took neutral to avoid bottom, and Surtin couldn’t break through for a takedown. On the backside he beat a tough Van Fleet with two takedowns of his own, plus an escape and riding time point. Surtin had a rematch with Jace Koelzer, who he beat 9-6 at the dual this season. An early headgear grab put Surtin in a hole early on, and again he couldn’t find a takedown. Surtin was visibly frustrated and was seeming to look for big moves but couldn’t find one. He bounced back on day 2 though, as he won an overtime match against Terukina to win 7th with a first period takedown and overtime takedowns with counters. Surtin didn’t wrestle his best at this tournament, but with a good resume and a strong finish I’d expect him to be an early at-large bid earner.
