With the 2025 season officially about to kick off, it’s time to start looking at the schedule. There are 15 duals listed this season, including six at home. After last season’s brutal injury filled February, the coaches made a conscious decision to have tough opponents but dialed back from the six duals in the month last season. Opponents the Tigers didn’t see last season include conference opponents Utah Valley and Northern Colorado, along with the field at Collegiate Duals.
Tournaments mirror last season, with an early Tiger Style Invite to kick off home events. The only other listed tournament is the Cougar Clash, but Coach Smith said that they are leaving another date open with potential for another tournament to be added.
Mizzou comes into the season ranked #13 in duals and #8 for tournaments, the schedule features seven teams ranked higher than them in duals.
10/25: Black & Gold
The intramural competition is always a good start to the season, giving fans a chance to see both returning starters and wrestlers battling for the spot in the lineup. While most of the lineup is established, there are a handful of weights I’m looking out for.
At 133 while Kade Moore is returning, getting a match or two could highlight how he is looking after a tough finish to last season. At 149 Logan Gioffre performed well in the face of injury, but look out for Nate Pulliam to challenge if he is healthy. Zeke Seltzer is someone else that could enter the conversation, but at 141 or 149 remains to be seen.
The other two weights that could have a true wrestle off are 157 and 285. I feel confident about J Conway and Seth Nitzel manning those weights but there is depth. Jerrdon Fisher at 157 had a solid redshirt season in 2023, and Jarrett Stoner showed some good stuff as an undersized freshman.
The other thing to look out for are the young wrestlers. Mack Mauger and Gage Walker in the lightweights could have an entertaining match. Carter McCallister is supposedly dropping to 141 after redshirting at 149. Aeoden Sinclair may end up getting some early starts, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in a match, potentially against Jesse Cassatt who started at times last season.
11/02: Northern Colorado (Away)
This is the teams earliest dual since starting the 2020 season against Virginia Tech on November 2nd. The Bears return 2023 national champ Andrew Alirez, a premier match for Josh Edmond to start the season. There’s also ranked matches at 125, 133, 157, and 165. UNCO is a sneaky tough dual team, so look for the Tigers to be challenged early this season.
11/09: Tiger Style Invite (#17 Little Rock, #29 Purdue, Maryland, Cal Poly, SIUE)
The annual Tiger Style Invite kicks off for the third year, with Purdue coming in place of Illinois. While not every team will bring all of their stars there’s a good chance that most will be there. Little Rock has All-Americans Stephen Little and Nasir Bailey….
