Missouri starts the 2023-24 season off strong with a dominant win over Arizona State 

Missouri wrestling dominated No. 21 Arizona State on Nov. 19 at the Hearnes Center. The Tigers won the duel by a score of 39-6, the largest win in program history. 

Junior Noah Surtin started the match by pinning his opponent, freshman Damian Moreno, in 1:38, earning the Tigers an early 6-0 lead. The 125-pound Surtin dominated from start to finish. 

Sophomore Joshua Edmond, weighing in at 141 pounds, took home a major decision over ASU sophomore Carter Dibert, 14-3. At 157 pounds, No. 7 senior Brock Mauller mauled his opponent, sophomore Michael Kilic, in each of the three rounds on his way to a 21-5 victory, giving Missouri a 15-6 overall lead in the match. 

Two-time defending champion Keegan O’Toole, the nation’s top-ranked wrestler, won a major decision over No. 33 Chance McLane of ASU. O’Toole, who weighed in at 165 pounds, gave Missouri a 19-6 lead over Arizona State. 

No. 8 senior Peyton Mocco had a 20-5 technical fall over ASU’s Max Wilner. Mocco had the second technical fall of the day, extending Missouri’s lead to 24-6. 

184-pound freshman Clayton Whiting added four more points to the team score with a 15-3 major decision over Tony Negron. After dominating the match against Negron, Whiting was able to extend the team’s lead to 28-6. 

Sophomore Colton Hawks, weighing in at 197 pounds, took down his opponent 19-4 for Missouri’s third technical fall of the day, giving the Tigers a 33-6 lead over Arizona State. 

Senior Zach Elam put an emphatic finish on the duel, beating sophomore Damion Schunke by fall in 1:28, earning 6 points for the team. Elam had complete control over Schunke to finalize the score at 39-6. 

The Tigers will host No. 20 Oklahoma on Dec. 1. It will be Missouri’s first conference duel of the season as they look to improve to 2-0 on the year. 

Edited by Quentin Corpuel | qcorpuel@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com