University of Missouri
Cornell
No. 9 Gymnastics and No. 19 Wrestling Open Home Slate at Beauty and the Beast
1/3/2025 8:59:00 PM | Gymnastics, Wrestling
Gymnastics posts an event-record score to take the quad meet while wrestling drops match to No. 12 Cornell
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The University of Missouri gymnastics and wrestling teams rang in the new year with the return of "Beauty and the Beast" at Mizzou Arena. Friday evening was the 10th edition of the multi-sport event and saw its fourth-largest crowd with 4,655 fans in attendance.
The ninth-ranked gymnastics program took victory in their season opener with a final score of 196.700, defeating Ball State (194.925), Illinois State (194.775) and Southeast Missouri (190.475). No. 19 Wrestling dropped its match to No. 12 Cornell, 26-12.
Gymnastics
Missouri gymnastics began its 2025 campaign on the right foot by clinching its eighth win in 10 Beauty and the Beasts events all-time, posting its highest-ever team score in the simultaneous spectacle. The squad picked up its 41st win over Southeast Missouri, its 20th over Illinois State and ninth over Ball State.
Vault
- The Tigers tallied a total score of 48.975.
- Senior Jocelyn Moore notched the highest score of the vault rotation for the Tigers with a 9.850.
- Graduate Abby Mueller and sophomore Hannah Horton added scores of 9.800 to the Tiger effort.
Uneven Bars
- MU recorded a 49.425 on bars.
- Horton dominated the uneven bars, matching a Beauty and the Beast team record with a score of 9.925, her first career tally of 9.900 on bars.
- Senior Amari Celestine followed with a 9.900, her third-ever score of 9.900 or higher in the event.
Beam
- The total score for the beam rotation was 49.100.
- Junior Addison Lawrence clinched a 9.900, the third such score of her career.
- Two Tigers scored a 9.800 on beam. Freshman Railey Jackson made her Tiger debut, and redshirt senior Helen Hu made her return for the Black and Gold to use her final year of eligibility.
Floor
- The Tigers notched a floor score of 49.200 for the meet.
- Three gymnasts claimed scores of 9.850, including Horton, Celestine and Moore.
From head coach Shannon Welker…
"I was really pleased with our team tonight. For the opening competition of the year, I thought we did a really nice job. We really wanted to take tonight to kind of test out some lineups and just see how some people were going to do in those situations. And I was pleased with them overall."
From senior Amari Celestine…
"I was just honestly proud to get out there. This is not my last meet, it's just my last season. But I just feel like I'm taking everything one event at a time. The feeling I had was just overfilled with joy."
Up Next
The Tigers travel to take on the Denver Pioneers in Magness Arena for their first road meet of the year at the Denver Quad on Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. Georgia and LIU join Mizzou and Denver for the contest.
This marks the first time Missouri visit the Pioneers since March 3, 2012, which was also in a quad format. Mizzou is 9-11 against Denver all-time, 11-24 versus Georgia and meet LIU for the first time.
Wrestling
No. 19 Missouri wrestling fell to No. 12 Cornell 26-12 Friday evening. The Tigers claimed victory in three of the 10 contested matches, tallying bonus points in one bout.
True freshman Gage Walker opened the dual on a high note, picking up his first career fall to give Mizzou an early 6-0 lead. Redshirt sophomore Zeke Seltzer got the Tigers back on the board at 149 pounds with a decision over Cornell's Mark Botello. Cornell picked up key wins to put Mizzou in a hole at the break.
Cornell's momentum continued in the second half, picking up five consecutive victories. The Big Red's Chris Foca clinched the dual victory with a ranked win over Colton Hawks at 184 pounds. Texas native, Jarrett Stoner ended the night on a high note for the Tigers, securing a late takedown to seal a victory.
Match Notes
- Mizzou falls to 5-9-0 all-time against the Big Red. Cornell has picked up victories in the last 3 dual meetings.
- Walker's victory at 125 pounds marked his first home dual victory for the Black and Gold, as well as his first career fall.
- At 149 pounds, Seltzer tallied his first dual win of the season, coming off an 0-3 start in duals.
- Stoner picked up his second dual victory, with his first coming over Little Rock's Keith Miley. Stoner moved his record to 6-4.
- Hawks dropped his first career match against Foca in a battle of returning national qualifiers.
- The Tigers move to 6-4 all-time in Beauty and the Beast matches with all four losses coming against top-12 opponents.
Results
No. 19 Missouri 12, No. 12 Cornell 26
125 | (30) Gage Walker (MIZ) over Marcello Milani (COR) by fall (6:10)
133 | Tyler Ferrara (COR) over Kade Moore (MIZ) by decision, 3-2
141 | (32) Josh Saunders (COR) over (14) Josh Edmond (MIZ) by major decision, 12-4
149 | Zeke Seltzer (MIZ) over Mark Botello (COR) by decision, 4-1
157 | (2) Meyer Shapiro (COR) over (32) James Conway (MIZ) by technical fall, 17-2 (6:25)
165 | (5) Julian Ramirez (COR) over Joel Mylin (MIZ) by decision, 9-2
174 | (13) Simon Ruiz (COR) over Jake Stoffel (MIZ) by major decision, 17-3
184 | (8) Chris Foca (COR) over (9) Colton Hawks (MIZ) by major decision, 9-1
197 | Aiden Hanning (COR) over Jesse Cassatt (MIZ) by decision, 2-0
285 | Jarrett Stoner (MIZ) over Aiden Compton (COR) by decision, 5-0
UP NEXT
The wrestling program will continue the five-match homestand against No. 15 Stanford on Jan. 12 at 2 p.m. The dual will take place at the Hearnes Center and tickets can be bought here.
FOLLOW THE TIGERS
For all the latest on Mizzou gymnastics and wrestling, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the teams on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
