Last season, the Missouri wrestling team fell in its season opener to Virginia Tech by a score of 29-10. Fast forward to the start of this season, and fortunes have started out far different for the Tigers.

The now No. 10 Tigers traveled to Fargo, N.D. to participate in the NDSU Quadrangular, with meets against South Dakota State, North Dakota State and Oregon State. Missouri got their season off to a perfect start, finishing 3-0 on the day.

The action started when the Tigers faced off against SDSU, who they defeated by a score of 33-9. Missouri got off to a fast start, with No. 19 Connor Brown earning a 14-5 major decision victory against the Jackrabbits’ Daniel Vega.

The Tigers didn’t look back, only losing when No. 11 Matthew Schmitt fell to No. 30 Zach Price and Canten Marriott was defeated by No. 8 Tanner Sloan.

Missouri also claimed two ranked wins in the dual. No. 16 Allan Hart defeated No. 23 Clay Carlson with a 14-4 major decision. Freshman Keegan O’Toole won his debut by defeating No. 24 Cade DeVos with a pin.

The next dual saw Missouri face the hosts of the event, North Dakota State. The Tigers would see off the Bison by a score of 38-3. Like they did against SDSU, Missouri got off to a fast start, with Noah Surtin pinning Ryan Henningson to give the Tigers an early 6-0 lead.

The only match that the Tigers dropped saw Trey Crawford fall to Kellyn March by a score of 7-4.

The Tigers again claimed multiple ranked wins in the dual. Joshua Edmond came into his match with No. 24 Dylan Droegemueller unranked but defeated his ranked opponent with a 14-5 major decision. Jarrett Jacques came into his match ranked No. 13 against No. 13 Jared Franek, with Jacques winning 5-2. Missouri’s No. 7 Zach Elam pinned No. 15 Brandon Metz.

The final dual of the day came against Oregon State, with the Tigers claiming a 43-0 victory over the Beavers.

Missouri got off to a quick start in terms of ranked wins, as No. 19 Brown defeated No. 26 Brandon Kaylor by a score of 8-6. No. 11 Schmitt bounced back from his earlier loss to beat No. 7 Devan Turner with a 12-0 major decision. Hart pinned No. 16 Grant Willits in quick fashion, finishing at 0:36. No. 13 Jacques defeated No. 20 Hunter Willits by a 3-2 scoreline.

Former Tiger Lane Stigall faced his former team, as he was defeated by No. 3 Brock Mauller 9-5.

The final match of the day was forfeited by the Beavers, giving Missouri a 43-0 victory.

Overall, Missouri finished 3-0 in duals, outscoring their opponents 114-12 and picked up 10 ranked wins.

The Tigers next duals are Friday against No. 21 Central Michigan and Wyoming in Columbia.

The Cowboys of Wyoming started their season with a loss to Northern Colorado by a score of 24-19.

Wyoming fell behind early against the Bears, slipping to an early 24-0 deficit. Its fortunes began to turn at the 165 weight class when Cole Moody pinned Northern Colorado’s Billy Higgins. The Cowboys would mount a comeback effort, but they ultimately would fall short in their season opening dual.

Last season, the Tigers defeated the Cowboys 22-10.

As for Central Michigan, they went into their dual against NCAA Division III outfit Olivet College ranked No. 21 in the country. They would go on to defeat the Comets handily, with the final score being 44-0. Having won all ten matches, they won bonus points in six of them, capping off a dominant performance against the Comets.

Despite the comprehensive victory, Central Michigan didn’t move in the NCWA Rankings, remaining at No. 21.

Central Michigan got wins from three of its four ranked wrestlers, namely Drew Hildebrandt, Matt Stencel and Drew Marten. Their other ranked wrestler, Dresden Simon, did not make his season debut against Olivet.

Last season, Missouri defeated CMU by a score of 25-13, which extended the Tigers’ then-MAC winning streak to 18.

When Missouri faces Central Michigan in Columbia on Friday, it will be its first ranked dual matchup of the year. The Tigers will be looking to improve against ranked opposition this season, as they went 1-6 against teams in the Top 25 last season, with their only win coming against then-No. 21 Iowa State.

_Edited by Jack Soble | jsoble@themaneater.com_