University of Missouri
Northern Colorado
No. 9 Wrestling Opens Season With Road Win at Northern Colorado
11/2/2024 9:44:00 PM | Wrestling
GREELEY, Colo. - Ninth-ranked University of Missouri wrestling brought home an opening weekend victory, 25-14. The Tigers claimed victory in six out of ten matches, tacking on three bonus point wins. Mizzou moves to 1-0 (1-0 Big 12), while Northern Colorado falls to 0-1 (0-1 Big 12).
Freshman Aeoden Sinclair (197) opened the dual with an offensive barrage to take down Northern Colorado's Franklin Cruz by major decision. The win marked Sinclair's first in a Mizzou singlet. Redshirt junior Seth Nitzel (285) made a strong first impression, tallying three takedowns for a win in his first dual appearance for the Tigers. Northern Colorado picked up three victories to close out the first half of the dual, including the marquee match of the dual between redshirt junior Josh Edmond (141) and 2022 NCAA Champion Andrew Alirez.
Logan Gioffre (149) kicked off his redshirt junior campaign with a hard-fought overtime win over Benji Alanis. Redshirt sophomore Cam Steed (165) picked up a quick fall to put the Tigers back in the lead. Reigning Big-12 Conference champion Keegan O'Toole (174) clinched the dual with one match remaining by getting a technical fall. Redshirt junior Colton Hawks (184) closed out the contest by major decision, 9-1.
MATCH NOTES
- Mizzou moves to 3-0-0 all-time against Northern Colorado.
- Four wrestlers made their Mizzou dual debuts, with Sinclair at 197, Nitzel at 285, Gage Walker at 125, and Steed at 165. Together these four combined for 11 individual state titles (Steed, 4x Collinsville, OK; Walker, 4x Bixby, OK, Sinclair, 3x Milton, WI, Nitzel, 0x Blue Valley Southwest, KS)
- O'Toole made his 174 pound debut, after spending four seasons at 165 pounds, claiming two national titles, and two more all-American honors.
- Steed's fall at 165 pounds continued a trend from last season, in which he picked up three falls and had a 50% bonus win rate.
- The victory marks the fifth consecutive victory in a season opener for the Tigers, with the last loss coming in the 2019-20 season at Virginia Tech.
FULL RESULTS
No. 9 Missouri 24 | Northern Colorado 14
197 | Aeoden Sinclair over Franklin Cruz by MD, 19-11
285 | (23) Seth Nitzel over Remington Peterson by Dec., 11-4
125 | (8) Stevo Poulin over Gage Walker by Dec., 7-1
133 | (22) Dom Serrano over (29) Kade Moore by MD, 15-5
141 | (1) Andrew Alirez over (13) Josh Edmond by MD, 12-2
149 | (24) Logan Gioffre over Benji Alanis by SV-1, 7-4
157 | (17) Vincent Zerban over (31) James Conway by Dec., 8-4
165 | (24) Cam Steed over Daishun Powe by Fall, 0:29
174 | (1) Keegan O'Toole over Aydin McElhinney by TF, 20-4
184 | (14) Colton Hawks over AJ Heeg by MD 9-1
*Rankings according to InterMat
UP NEXT
The Tigers will return to the mat on Saturday, Nov. 9 for the Tiger Style Invite in Kansas City, Missouri. The tournament will take place at Staley High School, with action starting at 10 a.m. The event can be streamed on FloWrestling, and tickets can be bought here.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
Visit MUTigers.com for the latest information on all things Mizzou Wrestling. You can also find the Tigers on social media by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
