Mizzou Wrestling’s Koelling, Mocco Earn At-Large Selections to NCAA Championships
3/10/2020 2:45:00 PM | Wrestling
Coupled with the Tigers six automatics qualifiers, the Tigers will send eight to Minneapolis next week
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Wrestling's Peyton Mocco (165 pounds) and Wyatt Koelling (197 pounds) each earned at-large selections to next week's NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, announced Tuesday by the NCAA. Both Mocco and Koelling were ranked among the top-25 at their weight in the NCAA RPI, but did not advance far enough at last weekend's MAC Championships to earn an automatic berth. Both were rewarded at-large selections based on their tremendous regular seasons. Mizzou will now have wrestlers at eight of the 10 weight classes at NCAAs.
Mocco took third at last week's MAC Championships, but the league only qualified two spots at 165 pounds. Mocco lost in the semifinals on a controversial call late in the third period when he seemingly grabbed a lead thanks to an escape and a takedown with just nine seconds remaining. But the escape was overturned after a video review and Mocco had to settle for third place. Luckily as the tournament's No. 2 seed, Mocco was one of the two wrestlers who qualified the league's spots at 165 pounds, and thanks to a 25-win redshirt freshman season and RPI in the top-25, he was rewarded an at-large berth. He will be making his first career appearance at the national tournament.
Koelling, a redshirt junior, went 1-2 at the MAC Championships and did not place, failing to clinch an automatic berth to the championships. Like Mocco, Koelling was rewarded for a tremendous 19-5 regular season that ranked him 10th in the RPI at 197 pounds prior to the MAC Championships. He is making his first appearance at the NCAA Championships after serving as the first alternate a year ago.
The NCAA Championships will begin Thursday, March 19 in Minneapolis and will run through that Saturday night (March 21). It will be held at US Bank Stadium, home of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings in front of what is expected to be the largest crowd to every watch a college wrestling event.
Seeding and brackets for this year's event will be revealed tomorrow, March 11, during the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Selection Show on NCAA.com at 6 p.m. ET.
For all the latest on Mizzou Wrestling, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on social media (MizzouWrestling on Twitter and Instagram, and Missouri Wrestling on Facebook).
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