No. 20 Wrestling Travels to West Virginia for Conference Showdown

Friday, February 6

Morgantown, W.Va.

6 p.m.

Missouri

West Virginia

No. 20 Wrestling Travels to West Virginia for Conference Showdown

2/5/2026 10:33:00 AM | Wrestling

#20 Missouri (10-7-0) vs. #16 Oklahoma (9-3-0)
Match Details	Friday, Feb. 6 • 6 p.m. CT • Morgantown, W. Va. • Hope Coliseum
Match Coverage	ESPN+
Match Notes	Missouri \| West Virginia
Social Media	Twitter: @MizzouWrestling \| Instagram: @MizzouWrestling

Mizzou wrestling journey east to Morgantown, West Virginia, to take on the Mountaineers on Friday, Jan. 6. The dual is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CT and can be viewed on ESPN+.

LAST TIME OUT

Missouri earned a dominant win over Little Rock, 33-9, winning seven of 10 matches in the dual on Jan. 31.
Redshirt freshman Mack Mauger (MD, 13-3) and sophomore Gage Walker (TF, 18-1) got the Tigers started with bonus points at 125 and 133 pounds, respectively.
At 157 pounds, redshirt senior Teague Travis added a tech (19-4), as well as redshirt junior Cam Steed (19-4) at 174 pounds and redshirt freshman Logan Cole (15-0) at 197 pounds.
Redshirt freshman Aeoden Sinclair earned his seventh fall of the season at 184 pounds and redshirt sophomore Jarrett Stoner added an 8-2 decision at 285 pounds.

THE STANDARD

Mizzou clinched its 22nd season totaling 10-or-more wins under head coach Brian Smith with the 33-9 victory over Little Rock, Jan. 31.
Additionally, with a 10-7 record and three duals left on the schedule, the Tigers secure at least a .500 record for the year. Coach Smith has only had three losing seasons in 28 years at Mizzou.

PACING THE PACK

Redshirt freshman Aeoden Sinclair leads the team with 23 wins, followed closely by redshirt senior Evan Bates with 20.
Sinclair tops the team with 17 bonus-point wins and seven pins, and leads the team with 89 takedowns this season, followed by redshirt senior Evan Bates (58).

COACHES CALL

The first NCAA Individual Coaches' Poll was released with all 10 Missouri starters ranked in the top 33 of their weight class.
Mizzou is one of six schools to have all 10 ranked in the first coaches' poll and has three listed in the top 10.
Aeoden Sinclair (184) is the highest-ranked Tiger at No. 3, while both Cam Steed (174) and Evan Bates (197) are No. 9.

BEST IN THE BUSINESS

Head coach Brian Smith recorded his 350th career dual win with a 42-0 victory over Northern Colorado, Jan. 25.
Coach Smith now has 351 wins, which currently ranks second among active NCAA Division I coaches behind North Carolina's Rob Knoll with 356. Ohio State's Tom Ryan is chasing coach Smith with 350 wins as well.
Moreover, Coach Smith ranks atop the Big 12 coaches, with the closest competition being Tim Flynn at West Virginia (283) and Kevin Dresser at Iowa State (261).

SIGNED, SEALED, SINCLAIR

Redshirt freshman Aeoden Sinclair continues to dominate at 184, securing his 17th bonus-point win of the season, most recently, pinning Kodiak Cannedy of Little Rock.
The pin marks his seventh of the season and makes it 10 of his last 11 matches that ended with a technical fall or pin.
The third-ranked 184-pounder leads the team with 23 wins to just one loss, and has an 89-2 takedown ratio this season to average 3.7 takedowns per match.
Moreover, the redshirt freshman's 89 takedowns lead all NCAA wrestlers this season per TrackWrestling.

NO DEBATE(S)

Redshirt senior transfer Evan Bates has continued to rise since putting on the Black and Gold singlet.
Bates ranks ninth at 197 pounds and is second on the team in wins (20) and bonus point wins (13).
Moreover, the Chesterton, Indiana native, has well surpassed his takedown average from a season ago at Northwestern. Bates is averaging 2.32 takedowns per match (58 takedowns in 25 matches), compared to 1.21 (39 takedowns in 32 matches) from a season ago.

GAGE IN GEAR

Missouri recently pulled the redshirt of sophomore Gage Walker following Soldier Salute (Jan. 3-4).
The sophomore ranks 24th at 133 pounds and has gone 2-2 since being inserted back into the starting lineup, most recently defeating Cooper Dillon of Little Rock by technical fall (18-1).
Walker competed unattached at UCM Kaufman Brand Bayly Open (Nov. 22) and Kent State Holiday Classic (Dec. 14), coming away with the top spot at both tournaments. Additionally, he made the final at Soldier Salute but lost a 4-2 decision to No. 17 Ethan Oakley (UNC).

FULL STEED AHEAD

Tiger Style has been bolstered by the return of NCAA All-American Cam Steed to the lineup at 174 pounds.
Steed was out due to injury following National Duals, from Nov. 17 to Jan. 15.
The redshirt junior most recently earned a first-period tech fall of Little Rock's Bronson Baxter, 19-4.
Despite a tough 8-5 start to the season, Steed is ranked ninth at 174 pounds by the NCAA Coaches Poll, with five of his wins coming with bonus points.

LAST TIME VS. WEST VIRGINIA

No. 23 Missouri defeated No. 20 West Virginia, 22-16, on Jan. 26, 2025, inside Mizzou Arena.
The Black and Gold had wins at 133, 141, 149, 157 and 285 to win the dual.
Moreover, the Tigers earned bonus points from Kade Moore (133-Fall) and J Conway (157-MD), as well as six points at heavyweight due to an injury default by the Mountaineers.

THE SERIES: TIGERS - MOUNTAINEERS

The dual marks the sixth meeting between Missouri and West Virginia in program history, with Mizzou holding a 5-0 record against WVU.
Over the five matches between the two programs, the Tigers have outscored the Mountaineers 141-56 in team points.
Additionally, all five duals have occurred during the Brian Smith era, with the first meeting happening in the 2003-04 season. Coach Smith is also undefeated against WVU head coach Tim Flynn, holding a 3-0 record against Flynn when he led the Edinboro program (1997-2018).

MOST WINS (Active, 50+)

Josh Edmond (77), Max Mayfield (75), Evan Bates (72) and Luqman Masud (67).

ON THE HORIZON
The Tigers return home for their final dual at Hearnes Center this season on Feb. 12 against No. 18 Oklahoma. The match will serve as Senior Night for Tiger Style, where the program will honor its 10 seniors before the dual. The ESPN+ stream will begin at 6:30 p.m. CT.