Wrestling Wins 12th-Consecutive Conference Title at Big 12 Championships#MIZ 🐯 #TigerStyle https://t.co/teLzAMmTui
— Mizzou Wrestling (@MizzouWrestling) March 6, 2023
TULSA, Okla. - The University of Missouri wrestling team won its 12th-consecutive conference championship by claiming the 2023 Big 12 wrestling title Sunday, March 5, at the BOK Center. The Tigers racked up 148 team points on their way to victory and were powered by an individual conference championship victory by sophomore Rocky Elam at 197 pounds and six total conference finalists.
All 10 wrestlers finished on the podium and will continue their seasons at the NCAA Championships based on their placements at conference championship weekend, denoting Mizzou as one of just three programs in the country to have its entire lineup automatically qualify.
The Tigers held off Oklahoma State and Iowa State, who finished second and third, respectively, on their path to claiming the team title. Mizzou started off strong in the first two sessions Saturday, holding the advantage at the conclusion of the opening sessions.
Session III
Redshirt senior Connor Brown (133) earned his first NCAA qualification at Mizzou and his first berth since 2017-18, when he wrestled for South Dakota State. He finished in sixth place at this year's Big 12 Championships.
Redshirt senior Jarrett Jacques won his lone match of the day in a decision victory, becoming the ninth member of the starting lineup to qualify for the NCAA Championships at 157 pounds. The win over Northern Colorado's Vinny Zerban also etched Jacques' name into the program's record book as the 29th wrestler in Mizzou wrestling history to notch 100 wins in his career.
Later in the day, sophomore Colton Hawks (184) became the 10th and final Tiger grappler to qualify for NCAAs with a decision over Air Force's Noah Blake. With the result, Hawks advanced to the third-place match, where he concluded his conference championship weekend with a fourth-place finish, dropping a decision to No. 3 seed Travis Wittlake of Oklahoma State.
The best placement the Tigers claimed in the consolation bracket came from redshirt junior Zach Elam, who took third place in the 285-pound bracket. Elam won his consolation semifinal against Oklahoma State's No. 8 seed Konner Doucet, then knocked off No. 7 seed Tyrell Gordon of Northern Iowa to take a bronze-medal finish.
Session IV
In the first finals match of the slate, redshirt junior Peyton Mocco faced off against No. 2 seed Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State in the rubber match of their 2022-23 series. Entering with the season series tied 1-1, Mocco dropped a close decision to take second.
R. Elam took home his second-career conference championship and first Big 12 title at 197 pounds, taking down the bracket's top seed, Tanner Sloan of South Dakota State. After the two took a 1-1 tie past sudden victory, Elam rode Sloan and prevented an escape through the entirety of the first tiebreak and closed out his victory by avoiding a takedown.
In the 125-pound championship match, redshirt sophomore Noah Surtin dropped his contest against No. 4 seed Stevo Poulin of Northern Colorado. The runner-up finish is the best Big 12 finish of his career.
Another second-place finish followed as redshirt senior Allan Hart dropped a decision in the 141-pound final. The No. 6 seed Hart collected his third top-two finish in the league title match against Northern Colorado's Andrew Alirez, the No. 1 seed in the bracket at the top-ranked grappler in the class.
In his fourth-career conference finals appearance, redshirt junior Brock Mauller took second place at 149 pounds. Mauller dropped his rematch against Iowa State's No. 3 seed Paniro Johnson by decision.
To close out the night, sophomore Keegan O'Toole fell in sudden victory in his highly-anticipated 165-pound final against David Carr, the bracket's No. 1 seed out of Iowa State.
Notes
2023 marks the 12th consecutive season in which Mizzou sent at least eight wrestlers to the NCAA Championships.
With his 12th all-time conference championship, head coach Brian Smith has captured the most league titles in the history of Mizzou Athletics, surpassing legendary men's basketball coach Norm Stewart (11).
The 148 team points scored by the Tigers reset their best mark in the Big 12 Championships, breaking the record set by the 2022 team (131.5 points).
For the fifth time in program history and the first time since 2020-21, all 10 Tigers in the starting lineup qualified for the NCAA Championships.
Mizzou is the only Big 12 program to automatically qualify its entire starting lineup into the national championship bracket and only the third team to accomplish the feat this season along with Iowa and Virginia Tech.
R. Elam claimed his second conference title after winning the MAC Championship in 2021. With his victory, he became the 14th multi-time conference champion in program history.
Jacques became the 29th member of the illustrious 100-Win Club. He is the first Tiger to reach that benchmark since Daniel Lewis, who accomplished the feat in December 2018.
With Z. Elam's third-place finish, he tied his highest placement at Big 12s, matching his result from the 2022.
Surtin's second-place finish equaled the best result of his career in the Big 12 tournament.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will conclude the 2022-23 season by competing in the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Tulsa at the BOK Center, March 16-18.