James Hackney
Mizzou kicks off their 2023-2024 season with their second annual Tiger Style Invite at Staley High School. Joining them is Lindenwood, Little Rock, SIUE, Cal Poly, and #29 Maryland. Illinois was here last year, but the Tigers will see them later this year in STL. I have some expected starters, but things like that are always subject to change. Most teams should send multiple wrestlers, so a number of guys should be able to get some quality matches. Maryland didn’t send most of their ranked guys last season, so keep an eye out once brackets drop for if that changed this year.
125: MIZ: #18 Noah Surtin, Preston Spray
Other Ranked Wrestlers: #17 Braxton Brown (Maryland)
I’ve said for the past couple years that Noah Surtin has All-American capacity. Last year early season injury issues slowed him down, and he surprised me at NCAA’s going 1-2. He dropped his first round match to a very tough redshirt freshman, Braxton Brown. If expectations hold, these two should meet in the finals at this tournament. Brown is coming off an upset loss to Jack Maida (American), but is still a dangerous wrestler. He’s super lanky, and last year forced Surtin into some tough positions to get takedowns. 125lbs is incredibly volatile (#1 Matt Ramos just lost to a high school junior), and both of these wrestlers are podium contenders. However, if Surtin wants to show some separation, this is the match to do it.
Preston Spray also got a Maryville Open title, and should have some good opportunities to get some matches here. Spray is a solid wrestler, and hopefully we see some continued development with him after not seeing much action last year.
A name for Missouri high school wrestling fans to look out for is Jeremiah Reno, a 4x Missouri state champ from Liberty High School. He was Nebraska’s starter in 2022, but transferred to Little Rock and showed some good development. If he continues improving, he could be someone to look out for this season….
133: MIZ: #24 Zeke Seltzer, Trey Crawford, Korbin Shepherd
