Head coach Brian Smith made it clear where the mentality of No. 20 Mizzou wrestling is at with two duals remaining in the regular season – “It’s Big 12 time.” The Tigers advanced to 11-7 after a win against the, at the time, No. 16 West Virginia Mountaineers. The victory was one of their most complete performances of the season against a quality opponent as they extended their win streak to three.
Tiger Style’s lineup from 165lbs to 285lbs swept West Virginia, continuing to be the team’s biggest strength.
When you include 157lbs wrestler Teague Travis, who lost by an 8-0 major decision to No. 4 Ty Watters, the top half of the lineup only looks stronger.
The penultimate dual of the regular season is also the final home meet for Mizzou, which means it will be senior night. There are two seniors in the starting lineup in No. 15 Teague Travis (157lbs) and No. 12 Evan Bates (197lbs), who Smith will try to send off in style against the No. 18-ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
All individual rankings are according to InterMat.
Oklahoma Overview
The Sooners are led by head coach Roger Kish, who is in his third season with the program. In those three seasons, Oklahoma has gone 23-15 overall and 9-13 in Big 12 play. Kish led them to back-to-back seventh-place finishes in the conference in his first two seasons.
This season has a chance to be the Sooners’ best yet in the Kish era, as they’re currently 10-4 overall and 3-3 in Big 12 matches. Oklahoma is 2-1 in its last three duals, the one loss coming against No. 3 Iowa State and one of the wins was an upset against No. 13 Northern Iowa.
In shared matchups with teams that the Tigers have wrestled this season, there were mixed results. Most recently, the Sooners took down Arizona State 31-9, a dual that Mizzou only won 22-17. As mentioned above, Oklahoma downed Northern Iowa 23-18 while the Tigers fell to the Panthers 22-14 on Dec. 14. From those two duals, it would appear that the rivals down south have the advantage, but their respective results against West Virginia skews the data.
Mizzou dominated the Mountaineers in its last dual to a 26-13 win, but suffered a narrow 19-17 defeat against them on Jan. 18. Teams change so much throughout this season because of health and hot stretches, but it appears that both programs are wrestling their best at this very moment in the season.
Looking at the Sooners’ lineup, their strengths benefit the Tigers. Mizzou has one of the best stretches from 157lbs to 285lbs, which is also where the bulk of Oklahoma’s talent is at. The Sooners have seven ranked wrestlers, two in the top 10 of their respective divisions.
The top wrestlers are No. 8 redshirt sophomore Carter Schubert (174lbs), No. 10 senior Brian Soldano (184lbs) and No. 11 senior DJ Parker (197lbs). The strengths of their lineup align with the Tigers.
Key Matches
Regarding injury updates, the 165lbs starter will still be No. 26 redshirt junior J Conway, as it appears graduate Max Mayfield could be out for the rest of the season. It is unclear if the 149lbs starter, No. 22 redshirt senior Joshua Edmond, will wrestle or not. Oklahoma is expected to be with its usual rotation.
With that background information laid out, let’s get into some of the swing matches that could decide the dual result.
174lbs: No. 9 R-JR Cam Steed (MIZ) vs No. 8 R-SO Carter Schubert (OU)
This matchup has already occurred once this season. It was the first tournament of the season, the Tiger Style Invite, where Steed lost to Schubert by a 6-5 decision. Steed struggled mightily in what was his season debut, ending with a 2-2 record. He’s not the same wrestler at this point in the campaign, but neither is Schubert.
Steed is 3-0 in his last three matches, including a victory by fall against No. 14 Brody Conley (WVU) last Friday. Schubert is also undefeated in his last three matches, including decision wins over No. 12 Jared Simma (UNI) and No. 13 MJ Gaitan (ISU).
197lbs: No. 12 R-SR Evan Bates (MIZ) vs No. 11 SR DJ Parker (OU)
Parker didn’t wrestle at the Tiger Style Invite, so this will be the first time the two will wrestle against each other this season. This is a prime opportunity for Bates to earn a marquee win, as he is putting forth some of his best wrestling of late.
Both come into this match undefeated in their team’s last three matches, but Bates has seen tougher competition. He defeated No. 14 Rune Lawrence (WVU) by a 7-4 decision last Friday. Parker hasn’t seen a ranked opponent in a while, but has taken three straight major decision wins.
285: No. 25 R-SO Jarrett Stoner (MIZ) vs No. 21 SR Juan Mora (OU)
These two faced off in the heavyweight championship at the Tiger Style Invite. Mora took that bout by an 11-5 decision.
It’s going to be an uphill battle for Stoner, but this is undoubtedly his last chance to make a statement before the conference tournament. Mora is 2-0 in Oklahoma’s last three duals, both wins coming via tech fall. This is a dual that will likely be decided by single digits, and Stoner could be put in a must-win situation.
Since both rosters have similar strengths, gaining some insurance wins in the lighter weight classes could be a deciding factor in the match’s outcome.
Mizzou trails in the all-time dual history 16-33, and will look for revenge after losing 23-13 in Norman last season.
