James Hackney
#7 Mizzou over West Virginia 38-3
Mizzou kicked off their conference schedule with a bang, taking nine of ten matches against a tough West Virginia team. Pre dual Noah Surtin was present but with his knee wrapped up and on crutches. The team looked great early, winning the first four matches by bonus points. Ranked matches at 165 and 285 were closer than the score appears as the Tigers were pushed there. There were many potential starters announced beforehand, but the lineup for the most part looked typical. The biggest lineup surprise was Colton Hawks getting a shot at 197. Even though it was a one sided dual, there are some intriguing takeaways going forward.
Tigers focusing on offenseIn a Mizzou Radio episode earlier this week, Coach Maple discussed how much they’ve been encouraging guys to stay aggressive and not being afraid to put points on the board. That showed early with four consecutive bonus points, and Peyton Mocco stayed very aggressive through his match. Hart and Mauller bounced back in a big way as they both scored four takedowns each in their matches. All in all Mizzou won the takedown battle 19-1 in nine matches. Once the Tigers hit tougher dual competitions they’ll need their ranked guys looking to continue to separate and get big team points.
