James Hackney
13 Mizzou – 9th Place
In one of the crazier tournaments in recent history, Mizzou was still able to finish in the top ten with two All-Americans. This was their seventh year in a row with a top ten finish. As a team they had the three fastest falls of the tournament with Zach (0:32), Kent (0:42), and Keegan (0:52). Keegan O’Toole was their first national champ since J’Den Cox in 2017, and Rocky became a two-time All-American. While they only had one upset loss, I still expected one or two more on the podium for the Tigers. They put four in the bloodround, but only came away with one win. Tough draws played a significant part, but the young Tiger Style team still showed a lot of tough wrestling to place where they did.
125lbs: #18 Noah Surtin – Bloodround
- Round 1: LBD to #15 Brody Teske (5-3)
- 1st Wrestleback: WBD over #31 Antonio Lorenzo (2-1)
- 2nd Wrestleback: WBF over #17 Anthony Noto (6:40)
- Round of 16: WBD over #23 Dylan Shawver (8-4)
- Bloodround: LBF to #11 Brandon Kaylor (5:31)
Surtin dropped his opening match to Teske as he gave up two takedowns to none and struggled to get any offense going. On the backside Surtin gutted out a win over Lorenzo with an escape and riding time point. He kept it going with a fall over Anthony Noto, after building a 6-3 lead with two takedowns. Surtin locked up a cradle to pin this year’s MAC champ. Against Shawver Surtin quickly built up a 6-0 lead with a takedown to a turn in the first period and a reversal in the second. He gave up two takedowns in the third but it didn’t matter. In the bloodround match Surtin struggled with Kaylor’s speed, but came close to scoring a big move on a mixer. Kaylor hit a suckback in the third period and stuck Surtin despite some strong bridge attempts. Still technically a freshman, Surtin will have three more years at making the podium for the Tigers.
141lbs: #9 Allan Hart – DNP
- Round 1: WBD over #24 Stevan Micic (7-3)
- Round 2: LBD to #8 Grant Willits (TB-1 3-1)
- 1st Wrestleback: LBD to #7 Clay Carlson (3-1)
