Mizzou Wrestling Hosts Stanford Sunday

COLUMBIA, Mo. | No. 21 University of Missouri wrestling continues its homestand, welcoming No. 15 Stanford to Columbia on Sunday, Jan. 12. The match will start at 2 p.m. CT inside Hearnes Center and can be streamed by fans on ESPN+. 

LAST TIME OUT 

• Mizzou welcomed No. 12 Cornell for Beauty and the Beast on Jan. 3, losing 26-12 inside Mizzou Arena. 
• Gage Walker started the team off with his first career fall at 6:14 of the 125-pound match. 
• Zeke Seltzer (149) and Jarrett Stoner (285) added decision wins for the Tigers. 
• Attendance reached 4,655 for the event, marking the fourth highest attended Beauty and the Beast in Mizzou history. 

VALUABLE VETERANS 

• Head coach Brian Smith announced that senior Rocky Elam, who has been combating multiple injuries, will not wrestle this season. 
• Additionally, classmate Keegan O'Toole has been battling an injury sustained earlier in the season and will miss the month of January to allow him to recover as much as possible. Smith remains optimistic O'Toole will be ready for the postseason. 
• Elam and O'Toole join senior Noah Surtin as missing starters from the 2024-25 lineup, as he announced his medical retirement on Dec. 13, 2024. 
• With their absence, the lineup is missing seniors who have totaled 234 wins and 133 bonus-point victories. 

RANKINGS REPORT

• The Black and Gold are ranked No. 21 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Poll. 
• Mizzou has six of 10 wrestlers ranked by both InterMat and FloWrestling. 
• Keegan O'Toole comes in at No. 3 on FloWrestling's pound-for-pound list and maintains his No. 1 ranking at 174 pounds. 
• WALKER WATCH
• Recording his first career pin, freshman Gage Walker continues to impress after taking over at 125 for Noah Surtin. 
• Walker secured the fall in the third period (6:14) against Marcello Milani of Cornell to put the Tigers up 6-0. 
• Currently ranked No. 31 by InterMat, the true freshman is 8-4 this season with a ranked win over No. 33 Carson Wagner of Binghamton and one-point decision losses to Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) and Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech). 

LAST TIME VS THE CARDINAL

• The Tigers blanked the Cardinal 39-0 in their last meeting on Jan. 10, 2024, in Palo Alto, California. 
• Bonus-point wins from Noah Surtin (125), Kade Moore (133), Keegan O'Toole (165), Peyton Mocco (174), Clayton Whiting (184) and Rocky Elam (197) helped propel the squad to a 39-point team tally, tying second-highest total by the squad during the 2023-24 season. 
• Additionally, Logan Gioffre secured an 8-1 upset win over All-American Jaden Abas at 149 pounds. 

THE SERIES: STANFORD

• The matchup between No. 21 Missouri and No. 15 Stanford will be the fifth meeting between the two programs with Mizzou holding a 4-0 record over the Cardinal. 
• All four matches occurred during the Brian Smith era, with the first dating back to 2005-06.  

HOMESTAND 

• After wrestling on the road for the first half of the season, the Tigers enter a homestand, competing five times in Columbia in January. 
• Missouri takes on No. 12 Cornell (Jan. 3), No. 15 Stanford (Jan. 12), Utah Valley (Jan. 17), Arizona State (Jan. 22) and No. 22 West Virginia (Jan. 26), all in the opening month of 2025.

MOST WINS (active, 50+) 

• Keegan O'Toole (99), Rocky Elam (70) and Noah Surtin (65). 

ON THE HORIZON 

The Tigers remain home, welcoming Utah Valley to Hearnes Center on Friday, Jan. 17. The match will begin at 6:30 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+. 

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-- By Robert Douglass 

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