The Mizzou Tigers’ wrestling season is almost here. Matthew Gustafson and I will be keeping you updated on all things Tiger Style.
Don’t be afraid to jump into the sport if you’ve yet to give it a shot. Wrestling is historically one of Mizzou’s best athletics teams and is currently on an upward trend.Last season set the groundwork for Tiger Style in a campaign where Brian Smith had to figure out what he had at several spots on the roster. The Tigers finished 12-8 in duals, a fourth-place finish at the Big
12 Championships and a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Aeoden Sinclair and Cam Steed emerged as leaders of the team – both finishing as All-Americans – while Gage Walker and Seth Mendoza offered optimism for the future.
The coaching staff remains consistent as Smith enters his 29th season as head coach of the program after his 20th season with a top-15 team finish. Kendric Maple and Dom Bradley remain familiar faces on the matside, and Keegan O’Toole is going into his second season as an assistant.
College wrestling is also embracing the NIL era, evident in the general manager signing of Brian Vargas. He’ll help grow the program financially with a background in entrepreneurship and wrestling.
There are currently 29 wrestlers on the roster of the 30 allowed, including two high-profile transfers in seniors Zan Fugitt (141lbs) and Luke Geog (197lbs).
Smith also brought in a deep freshman class to prepare for the future. The seven wrestlers are headlined by Zion Borge (133lbs), the only Tiger ranked in MatScouts top 100 incoming freshmen. Mizzou’s lineup features plenty of proven talents to give the prospects time to develop.
Lineup Projection
All rankings are according to FloWrestling.
125: Mack Mauger, Jr
In his first season as a starter, Mauger went 23-16, winning five bouts by major decision. He was also one of six NCAA qualifiers for Tiger Style last season. Consistency is what stood out about Mauger. He didn’t claim too many upsets, but he also wasn’t caught on the other end very often.
The highlight of his season came in a Soldier Salute title, where he beat No. 13 Kysen Terukina (UNC). Mauger enters the season ranked No. 18 in the 125lbs class. There shouldn’t be much doubt about his starting spot, with freshmen Jason Hampton and Will Pfeifer backing him up.
133: Gage Walker, Jr
Walker was the biggest riser for Mizzou last season. Two-time NCAA qualifier entered the season as the starter, but injuries and overall inconsistency opened the door for Walker. Once he was inserted into the lineup, he never let go en route to NCAA qualification after a fifth-place finish at the Big 12 Championships.
He was named the Tigers’ most improved wrestler and goes into this season with little doubt about job security. A trio of underclassmen sits behind him, headlined by a returner at 133lbs in Boogie Harris. Walker enters the season as the No. 12 wrestler at 133lbs.
141: Zan Fugitt, Sr
The Nixa, MO, native returns home after three seasons with Wisconsin, where he wrestled at 133lbs. Mizzou’s coaching staff has already expressed confidence in Fugitt making the jump to 141lbs. He went 44-17 over the past two seasons, qualifying for NCAAs in both and achieving All-American status in 2025.
Despite a worse finish at nationals in 2026, he still won the Big 10 title at 133lbs and claimed nine wins by major decision. Fugitt is ranked 11th currently – he’s the third-highest-ranked Big 12 wrestler. He’ll definitely be pushed by longtime Tiger Style wrestler Easton Hilton, who was effective at times last season.
149: Seth Mendoza, So
Last season, former top-15 recruit Aeoden Sinclair took a massive leap into All-American stardom in his second season at Mizzou. This season, 2025 No. 11 overall recruit Mendoza will have hopes of doing the same. He wrestled between 149lbs and 157lbs last season, but will move back down to the weight he was expected to compete at when he was recruited.
Mendoza went 8-5 in attached matches during his redshirt season. He won the Cyclone Open while wrestling unattached, beating former NCAA qualifier Tagen Jasmison (OKST) in the process. Mendoza comes in at No. 10 at 141lbs to begin the season. The only other Big 12 wrestler in the top 10 is No. 1 Sergio Vega (OKST). Mendoza’s also the only wrestler on the team listed at 149lbs, but plenty of other wrestlers are likely to see some opportunities at the weight throughout the season.
157: Kollin Rath, Fr
This weight class is going to be one to watch. Rath enters as the frontrunner after being the 25th-best recruit in the country in 2025, but he didn’t compete at all in his redshirt season due to injury. He finished high school with an impressive 107-4 record.
Sophomore David Gleason is the only other option listed at 157lbs. He didn’t have the same hype out of high school, but he actually had time on collegiate mats last season. The Kansas City kid won the Missouri Valley Open wrestling unattached at 157lbs. The Tigers have some other options if the coaching staff wants to move down any of their young backups at 165lbs: Dominic Bambinelli, Danny Heiser or Peyton Westpfahl.
165: J Conway, Fifth year
Conway is one of two fifth-year wrestlers on this team. He wrestled between 157lbs and 165lbs last season, but he’s now set to lead those aforementioned young backups at 165lbs this season. Conway was an NCAA qualifier in 2025 at 157lbs before getting his spot taken by Teague Travis in the second half of the season.
His high floor will be a difference-maker in duals that are decided by just a few points. Conway isn’t ranked to begin the season, but he should have no problem rising the board early on.
174: Cam Steed, Fifth year
The epitome of improvement returns for one final lap. Steed capped off last season with a fifth-place finish at NCAAs, locking up his second straight All-American designation. His postseason success began at the Big 12 Championship, where he won the 174lbs title.
Steed has managed to increase the level of his performance when it matters most despite consistently battling injuries. A healthy season would go a long way in contending for a national championship. He’s the top-ranked wrestler in the Big 12, coming in at No. 3 in the class. Juniors Jake Stoffel and Kolten Oborny will back Steed up.
184: Aeoden Sinclair, Jr
Sinclair remains Tiger Style’s most prized wrestler. In his first season as a starter, he went 36-2, won a Big 12 title and became an All-American with a third-place finish at NCAAs. Both of his losses were to Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari. Sinclair’s had a busy offseason with international competition to prepare for his goal of winning a national title.
Mizzou lacked in takedown power across the lineup last season, but Sinclair never faltered, winning a combined 21 matches by fall or tech fall. He enters this season at No. 15 in the pound-for-pound rankings and No. 4 in a stacked 184lbs class. There are not currently any other Tigers at 184lbs, but Logan Cole is the likely backup.
197: Luke Geog, Sr
Last season, Mizzou brought in a two-time NCAA qualifier, Evan Bates, to fill in at 197lbs. A similar strategy is being used with the Geog acquisition. He was the second and final transfer that the Tigers brought in during the offseason, coming from Ohio State in the Big 10.
Geog advanced to the Round of 12 at the 2026 NCAA Championship following a third-place finish at the Big 10 Championship. He’s currently slotted in at No. 10 in the 197lb class, which is a very deep position in the Big 12. Cole is also a backup option here, along with two freshmen, Cash Cooley and Trey Craig.
285: Jarrett Stoner, Sr
Stoner rounds out Mizzou’s lineup for the third straight season, starting at heavyweight. His greatest feat actually came off the mat when he became the program’s first recipient of the NCAA’s Elite Scholar-Athlete Award (Elite 90), given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA at each NCAA Championship.
Although he didn’t win a match in his first national qualifying campaign, he had a strong finish to the season, taking fifth at the Big 12 Championship. Stoner’s speed has always been a double-edged sword as a lighter heavyweight. We’ll see if the No. 23 285-pounder has found any new ways to combat that fact. Sophomore Sampson Stillwell remains the backup.
Schedule Preview
For the second straight season, Tiger Style begins its season at the Hearnes Center with the Missouri Duals. NAIA Central Methodist and Division II Maryville return, while Division II Central Missouri joins the event. Smith enjoys starting the season off like this to highlight other wrestling programs in the state and to ease his team into competition.
Another staple on the schedule is the Tiger Style Invite. It’s the fifth straight season of the event, the second year hosted at Hearnes. The Tigers have taken the team title every season hosting this tournament. Purdue, Oregon State, Little Rock, South Dakota State and Morgan State will come to Columbia on Nov. 14.
Rounding out Mizzou’s November slate is the PRTC Keystone Classic in Philadelphia on the 22nd. It’s the 30th year of the classic, featuring 11 Division I teams this season. Virginia Tech, Nebraska, Rutgers, Michigan State, Drexel, Harvard, Lock Haven, Edinboro and Franklin & Marshall will be in attendance alongside the Tigers.
Mizzou returns to the mats after a three-week break with the National Duals Invitational in Tulsa, OK, between Dec. 12-13. Smith commented on how the tournament helped the Tigers prepare for the conference schedule by facing multiple ranked opponents when they joined the event last season. Brackets will be revealed Dec. 1, with a prize pot of over $1.2 million at stake.
Big 12 wrestling begins Dec. 20 against Little Rock at home and goes through Feb. 17 against No. 9 Iowa State at home. Five of the duals will be at Hearnes, and four will be on the road. Seven of the nine conference opponents are ranked in the preseason top 25. Mizzou comes in at No. 10.
The Big 12 Championship goes from March 5-6 in Tulsa. Mizzou hosts the NCAA Championships at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis this season, where the Tigers’ qualifiers will compete from March 18-20.
