Tigers and Hokies

[MizzouFan01]

Not looking great on the Mizzou side. Tech came to wrestle. 

[Gus]

Andonian is such a wild ride every match. It’s a joy to watch as a wrestling fan. 

[Gus]

Gioffre gave Henson a really tough match. He wrestled great. 

[MizzouFan01]

KOT bump up?

[Hammerlock3]

1 minute ago, MizzouFan01 said:

KOT bump up?

na

[BIGTENFANBOY]

1 minute ago, MizzouFan01 said:

KOT bump up?

Nope. OTOOL VS BRADY 165

[tiger-style]

KOT defeats Brady by TF. 
 

[tiger-style]

Poor Conway. 

[Hammerlock3]

this is the dual I think...

[MizzouFan01]

19-17 Mizzou up. Last match of the night. 

[flyingcement]

8 minutes ago, MizzouFan01 said:

19-17 Mizzou up. Last match of the night. 

no way Zach will let them down

[MizzouFan01]

2 minutes ago, flyingcement said:

no way Zach will let them down

Sure didn’t. Mizzou wins 22-17. I’m sure they wanted different results in some of the matches, but VTech is a good team. Great dual overall. 

[Hammerlock3]

57 minutes ago, Gus said:

Andonian is such a wild ride every match. It’s a joy to watch as a wrestling fan. 

coaching him would be horrible

[creek chub]

6 minutes ago, Hammerlock3 said:

coaching him would be horrible

As a VT fan, he’s the most nerve wracking but exciting wrestler to watch. He does things you are not supposed to do but generally pulls it off. 

[Hammerlock3]

2 minutes ago, creek chub said:

As a VT fan, he’s the most nerve wracking but exciting wrestler to watch. He does things you are not supposed to do but generally pulls it off. 

you never feel safe

[D3 for LU]

No. 2 Missouri 22 | No. 11 Virginia Tech 17

125 | (11) Cooper Flynn over (9) Noah Surtin by dec. SV-1 10-3

133 | Kade Moore over (5) Sam Latona by fall (4:37)

141 | Tom Crook over (18) Josh Edmond by dec. 9-8

149 | (2) Caleb Henson over (20) Logan Gioffre by dec. 6-4

157 | (7) Bryce Andonian over (9) Brock Mauller by dec. 13-10

165 | (1) Keegan O'Toole over (27) Connor Brady by dec. TF 20-4 (6:01)

174 | (2) Mekhi Lewis over James Conoway by dec. TF 15-0 (4:00)

184 | (9) Clayton Whiting over Dakota Howard by dec. MD 11-3

197 | (6) Rocky Elam over (21) Andy Smith by dec. MD 11-0

285 | (6) Zach Elam over (20) Hunter Catka by dec. 8-1

Looked like a lively dual that turned Missouri's way.

D3

[The_KC_Godfather]

Disappointing to see Surtin, Edmond and Mauller lose. What a grind college wrestling is and especially tough coming off the holidays.  Was sure looking forward to Mocco/Lewis, but it is what it is.  Hats off to Whiting and R. Elam for getting the majors, and to Zach for closing it out.  And of course, as always, KOT doing his thing.  Glad he didn't bump up, although I know he would if asked...Lewis is a brick sh*thouse!  We got lucky that Moore CAME TO WRESTLE!  What a bad a** pin!  That dude is funky as all get out.

The Tigers have work to do, but solid performance coming off of the holiday and our leaders really stepped it up to bring this one home.  Strong remaining schedule with Stanford, Cornell, OkST, NDSU, SDSU and Iowa State coming up.  Hope we rest up and get in top form before Big 12's and down the stretch for natty's...

Edited January 3 by The_KC_Godfather

[TylerDurden]

I might be out of the loop, but I'm assuming a result like this keeps Seltzer on the bench if that wasn't already the case, yes? 

Edited January 3 by TylerDurden

[MizzouFan01]

Just now, TylerDurden said:

I might be out of the loop and I know a few on here mentioned weight and potentially other reasons, but I'm assuming a result like this keeps Seltzer on the bench if that wasn't already the case, yes? 

Thats a good question. I myself had high hopes for him this year. Seems weight management has been an issue. He wrestled 141 at Soldier Salute, losing to Kai Owen of Columbia and Josh Koderhant of Navy. He beat Clay Carlson of SDS en route to a 5th place finish. 

[TexRef]

I don't think Kade Moore is getting enough love from the Mizzou fans. That kid is solid and came up with a big fall against VT. 

[Mizzou Fan]

133 | Kade Moore over (5) Sam Latona by fall (4:37)

Love what Kade Moore is doing for the Tigers this season!  When he first appeared in the line-up, thought it was a temporary appearance.  He's looking more and more like a long term, great starter!  Another great addition by Coach Smith!

 

[MidwestMan]

13 minutes ago, TexRef said:

I don't think Kade Moore is getting enough love from the Mizzou fans. That kid is solid and came up with a big fall against VT. 

TexRef, he's got my attention from what I saw last night.  The kid is gritty and displayed a lot of fire.  I've commented before about the Tigers sometimes seem a little "vanilla" in their wrestling psyche, and that includes the coaches and teammies in the bench area.  Moore was locked in from the get go, and fired the arena up with that stick.  I just like his competitive spirit.  I'm definitely a fan now.  It's easy to play the "if" game in any sporting contest, but Moore's upset was the flip to this match, and the Tigers have had some barn burners with Tech over the years.  Nice to be on the W side this round.  Lot's of respect for that program.

[Gus]

31 minutes ago, Mizzou Fan said:

133 | Kade Moore over (5) Sam Latona by fall (4:37)

Love what Kade Moore is doing for the Tigers this season!  When he first appeared in the line-up, thought it was a temporary appearance.  He's looking more and more like a long term, great starter!  Another great addition by Coach Smith!

 

He ended up surrendering the first takedown but showed a lot of grit fighting off that single leg in the first period. He was in a splits position for a long time. 

[ionel]

52 minutes ago, Gus said:

He ended up surrendering the first takedown but showed a lot of grit fighting off that single leg in the first period. He was in a splits position for a long time. 

Not again!  

[MidwestMan]

I had this dual circled since the Tiger schedule had been released.  This dual has been competitive and entertaining and with the possibility of a lineup bump, Otoole vs Lewis, and Mauller vs Andonian "dog fight", it was a no brainer to jump in the car and do the 2+ hour drive from BFE Missouri on a week night.

I have a "12 hour rule", learned via school of hard knocks, about making comments before adjusting perspective, minus emotion, and definitely sober.  I've earned all my grey hair.

When I arrived for the dual, Mizzou was giving away foam hands with 3 fingers held up indicating 3 pt takedowns, and this was part of the theme for the night.  I got a chuckle when a Tiger fan commented that AJ Ferrari would need 2 of em!  I would find my self commenting during earlier matches that I'm not sure I'd send my kid to a Tiger Style Camp to learn offensive takedowns, as V. Tech was hitting some textbook singles and scoring the initial 3.  This is where I have to be a little selective in my interpretation, and maybe my view is skewed.  Over the years, the Tigers have infused more "funk" into their repertoire, and that style leads to defensive strategies.  Great when it works, not so in the current 3 pt takedown scenario and it could be the difference in finding the podium at season end.

Anyhow, your getting my take so here we go: Noah going all out with the lateral attempt in OT, I'll call that a "growing opportunity."  I'm not a mouse in the Tiger wrestling room so I don't have privy to how they approach OT strategy.  Moore-that stick was electric.  Going to be fun watching this kid continue to develop.  Absolutely love his fire.  Edmond-that was a head scratcher.  I was excited about seeing him at 141, and when he was a frosh he was exciting to watch with his explosive speed.  I certainly don't want to short change VT'S Tom Crook, as he is tough kid, but Edmond seemed to be in control until the crash out a bounds and then it was like he switch got flipped off.  Don't know if it was conditioning or what.  Now I question how much he is improving.  Gioffre-gave up the first takedown but hung in tough with #2 Henson, with funky style.  Another wrestler that might surprise.  Mauller-I can't hide my frustration I have with Brock and his defensive/control style of wrestling.  I always thought that Brock and J. Jacques must have been practice partners as their styles are so much alike.  Brock is a beast physically.  Gotta think if he would open up more with leg attacks, with his strength, he can score.  Mauller and Andonian are not new to each other and styles totally conflicting.  You can flip a coin between these two any time they wrestle, and with their experience, I think it would be disappointing and a lack of achieving potential if they don't finish in the top 3.   Coaches gotta coach.  Break score Miz-6, VT-12.  What's the plan Stan?  Are we going to see the Otoole-Lewis showdown.  Who's doing the math?  I was wondering if we might see Steed in the lineup at 165, but I also know he was injured wrestling in a previous tournament and may not be available.  Speculation came to an end when Otoole reported to the mat and proceeded to do KO stuff for the tech.  Conway-took one for the team.  Tough draw for anyone not named KO or Starocci.  It was coming down to NCT "nutt cutting time" and Whiting is the project that we all wondered about, and finally arrived.  Another exciting, aggressive wrestling style and the guy moves like he is a middle weight.  Whiting didn't disappoint with the major.  Elam 1-Speculation flying.  Why has Rocky been out of the line up?  Hell if I know, but whatever it was, he's back.  I was pretty sure the match was in the bag after Whitting's match, Rockys major adding the first layer of frosting.  Elam 2-and by the way, I'm so old I watched their dad Bryan wrestle in HS.  We knew Zach would be a monster as he continued to fill out his frame.  Now it's a matter of continuing the positioning and technique improvements and having Dom Bradley as a coach/training partner is certainly a plus.  Decision Elam.  Victory and dual current streak alive fir the season.  A dual win always makes that damn drive home much easier.