James Hackney
#12 Mizzou (3rd – 96.0 Points)
The Tigers are sitting firmly in third after day one of Big 12’s and have two in the finals. They’ve automatically qualified six of their wrestlers to NCAA’s and have three others in place to do so as well. Kade Moore got bounced from the tournament and will need an At-Large. With Iowa State and Oklahoma State having a hefty lead it’s looking like the conference streak will end, but the team could still push almost the entire team to Kansas City in two weeks.
125lbs: #11 Noah Surtin – Qualified
- First Round: Bye
- Quarterfinals: Noah Surtin Dec. #32 Eli Griffin (CBU) (SV 7-4)
- Semifinals: #12 Jore Volk (WYO) Dec. Noah Surtin (6-5)
Next Match: Consi Semis – Jett Strickenberger (WVU)
Surtin had an electric start to the day, beating Eli Griffin in a match filled with controversy. Griffin was someone that had big potential and showed it in this match with a reversal in the second period for the lead before Surtin with a reversal to tie it. While it wasn’t called, it certainly looked like Surtin was giving up nearfall that wasn’t called. Even in overtime it looked like Griffin may come out on top but Surtin managed to come out on top. The semis match was another one that went back and forth, but Volk got a reversal plus a takedown with 8 seconds late for the win to avenge the dual loss.
With Mizzou sitting outside the team title race, I do think there’s a chance that Surtin doesn’t wrestle on Day 2. If he does however he would see the 7 seed Jett Strickenberger who’s been on a tear. In the regular season he beat Brandon Kaylor and Stevo Poulin and followed it up here with wins over Trever Anderson and again Stevo Poulin. Strickenberger is a dangerous scrambler and a tough match to make it to the third place match. There he would see the winner of Tanner Jordan vs Kysen Terukina or the 5th place match where he’d see the loser.
133lbs: #22 Kade Moore – DNP
- First Round: Kade Moore Maj. Bubba Wright (AF) (11-3)
- Quarterfinals: #14 Dom Serrano (UNC) Dec. Kade Moore (6-3)
- Consi Round One: Kase Mauger (UVU) Fall Kade Moore (2:08)
In my mind Kade Moore was an easy sleeper pick as the six seed, but a bad day turned worse in consolations. Moore had a strong start with a major in his first match but struggled on bottom against Serrano. His Mauger match saw him get the first takedown but hang on a leg for too long while looking for a second…
