Wrestling Returns Home, Hosts No. 9 Missouri

²⁰ Oklahoma

⁹ Missouri

Thursday, Jan. 20 / 7 p.m. CT / Norman / McCasland Field House

BallySports Oklahoma / Live Stats / Match Notes / Tickets

Projected Starters (Rankings by Flo/Intermat)
No. 20 Oklahoma
Wt.	Result	Record
125	No. HM/32 Joey Prata	8-4
133	No. 10/14 Tony Madrigal	6-3
141	Jacob Butler	4-5
149	HM/NR Dom Demas	3-2
157	No. 18/16 Justin Thomas	11-4
165	No. HM/31 Joe Grello or Troy Mantanona	3-4 / 4-4
174	No. NR/32 Anthony Mantanona	9-4
184	No. HM/26 Darrien Roberts or Keegan Moore	11-5 / 2-0
197	No. 7/12 Jake Woodley	14-4
285	No. HM/29 Josh Heindselman	8-6

Projected Starters (Rankings by Intermat)
No. 9 Missouri
Wt.	Result	Record
125	No. 13 Noah Surtin	12-3
133	Trey Crawford or Connor Brown	0-0 / 3-0
141	No. 10 Allan Hart	10-3
149	No. 21 Josh Edmond	10-3
157	No. 24 Jarret Jacques	12-6
165	No. 3 Keegan O'Toole	13-0
174	No. 11 Peyton Mocco or Sean Harman	10-4 / 3-0
184	No. 14 Jeremiah Kent	10-4
197	No. 5 Rocky Elam	11-1
285	No. 15 Zach Elam	6-2

NORMAN - For the first time this season, Oklahoma wrestling will look to defend the friendly confines of historic McCasland Field House as the No. 9 Missouri Tigers (6-2, 4-0 Big 12) come to town for the first time in five years.

Last Time OUt

Last week the Sooners (5-2, 2-1 Big 12) traveled to Hampton, Va., for the Virginia Duals where they emerged victorious in all three of their matches.

Day one of the tournament saw OU come away with wins over Lock Haven (24-15) and Kent State (35-3). On day two, OU topped Maryland (41-6) and wrestled individual matches against Virginia. The Sooners had to shorten their dual against the Cavaliers due to issues with Covid-19 protocols.

The team's 41 points against Maryland were the most it had put up in dual action since November 2017. The result is the largest margin of victory in four seasons and the most lopsided score against a power five opponent in the Rosselli era.

Veterans Justin Thomas and Anthony Mantanona led the charge, going undefeated on the weekend with a combined 7-0 record including four wins via fall. Thomas now leads the team in wins with 85 and Mantanona won by fall in all three of his matches, moving into a tie for 13th on the Oklahoma wrestling career pin leaders list.

With his win in the dual against Lock Haven, redshirt senior Jake Woodley joined teammates Dom Demas and Justin Thomas in the 75 career win club.

RUN IT BACK: OUR LAST TANGO WITH THE TIGERS

In Missouri's last trip to Norman back in Jan. 2017, the Tigers came in as the No. 5 team in the country and left with a 24-18 loss to the No. 18 Sooners in Lou Rosselli's first season at the helm.

Oklahoma's Christian Moody got things started with an upset 6-4 decision win over Missouri's No. 14 Barlow McGhee. The match came down to the final bout with the two teams tied up at 18 with only the heavyweights left to wrestle. No. 19 Ross Larson won via fall (5:59) to cap off the upset win in dramatic fashion for the team in Crimson and Cream.

OU registered six bout wins in the contest to end a three match skid against the Tigers.

BACK IN BUSINESS

Missouri's wrestling program made its return to the Big 12 this season after 10 seasons away due to the school's move to the Southeastern Conference.

In its final year of Big 12 membership in 2012, the program claimed its first and only Big 12 team title on the backs of four individual title winners. The Tigers ended a nine-year run in the Mid-American Conference after the 2020-21 season.

They won the conference title all nine years in the MAC, piling up 40 individual conference titles as well.

SCOUTING MIZZOU

Missouri comes into this dual fresh off of claiming first place as a team and two individual titles at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn., beating out the likes of North Dakota State, Michigan State and Minnesota.

No. 3 Keegan O'Toole and No. 5 Rocky Elam took the title at their respective weight classes in the tournament, with three more Tigers making the finals in their brackets.

On the season, the team is 6-2 in dual action. Wins over Big 12 foes Northern Colorado, Air Force and No. 17 Northern Iowa are offset by two top-10 losses to No. 10 Virginia Tech and No. 5 NC State.

SERIES HISTORY

The Sooners hold a 42-11 all-time series lead over the Tigers with the first ever match between the two programs taking place in 1923. Thursday's dual will be the 53rd meeting between the teams.