KCKingdom
Fansided

Can Mizzou Wrestling make noise at the Big XII Tournament?

By Matthew Smith

Northern Iowa's Drew Bennett wrestles Missouri's Allan Hart during a University of Northern Iowa vs. University of Missouri match on Jan. 17, 2020 at Hilton Coliseum. Missouri beat Northern Iowa 34-6, then the Cyclones at 31-7.
Northern Iowa's Drew Bennett wrestles Missouri's Allan Hart during a University of Northern Iowa vs. University of Missouri match on Jan. 17, 2020 at Hilton Coliseum. Missouri beat Northern Iowa 34-6, then the Cyclones at 31-7. /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

The 2022 Big XII tournament is set to begin on March 5th at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Brian Smith and the Tiger Style wrestling team will travel to Oklahoma for its first Big XII wrestling championship since the 2011-12 season. The last time the Tigers competed in the Big XII tournament they took home a first-place team finish and qualified all 10 of their wrestlers.

This year Mizzou brings in a young roster to the tournament with four freshmen, three sophomores, and three juniors.

Every year the NCAA allocates bids to each conference based upon talent levels at each weight class. Every weight class has a different amount of bids with numbers from one up to over 10.

This year the Big XII conference received a total of 50 eight bids which is second most in the NCAA to the Big Ten conference who received 88 total bids. All weight classes have 28 to 29 preallocation bids through-out the entire NCAA with four to five at-large bids. At-large bids go to those wrestlers who miss their placement mark but still show a solid resume and competitive history.

Now we look at the Missouri Wrestling line-up and where they seed within the tournament.

Noah Surtin (17 – 5): Freshman

Weight Class: 125 lbs. – Bids: 6 – At-Large: 4 – Pre-Seed: 5th

Noah Surtin enters with an 8-2 conference match up record. His two losses have come from opponents seeded higher than him: Brody Teske, 3rd seed out of UNI and Taylor LaMont, 2nd seed out of Utah Valley. His bout with Teske ended in a 5-3 decision as to the LaMont bout where he lost by fall in the final seconds of the match. Surtin has matched up with Trevor Mastrogiovanni (OSU), 4th seed, in the 2020 season where he won with a 9-6 decision. Surtin has the potential to be a rising name in this year’s tournament and could look to upset some higher seeds on his way to qualifying for the NCAAs.

Connor Brown (3 – 7): Junior

Weight Class: 133 lbs. – Bids: 6 – At-Large: 4 – Pre-Seed: N/A

The 133 lbs. weight class for Mizzou has bounced around all season but has ended with Brown taking the spot. Connor Brown comes in with a 1-5 conference record matching up with some of the top seeds in his bracket prior to this year’s tournament. Brown will have an uphill battle as the lone Mizzou wrestler to enter unseeded needing to pull off multiple upsets.

Allan Hart (13 – 4): Junior

Weight Class: 141 lbs. – Bids: 7 – At-Large: 5 – Pre-Seed: 4th

Hart comes to the Championship with a 6-3 conference record looking to grab a bid to the NCAAs for the third straight year. Hart has matched up with the 2nd seed (Clay Carlson, SDSU) twice winning both bouts by a two point decision while falling to the 3rd seed Andrew Alirez (UNC), 6th seed Cael Happel (UNI), and non-seed Ty Smith (UVU) all by less than a two point decision. Hart could be a huge swing wrestler for the Tigers this year and one who is capable of shocking the 141 lbs. weight class.

Home/Big 12