UNI wrestling squares off with No. 10 Missouri Sunday afternoon

No. 13 UNI wrestling (3-1 / 1-0 Big 12) at No. 10 Missouri (3-2 / 2-0 Big 12)

4:30 p.m. CT Jan. 8, 2023
Hearnes Center (13,611) | Columbia, Missouri

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — UNI wrestling will face its third top-10 team when it travels to No. 10 Missouri to take on the reigning Big 12 champions.

Action will start at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 8 in Columbia, Missouri. UNI enters the dual with eight Panthers in the rankings. The Tigers are expected to be missing top-ranked Keegan O'Toole at 165 pounds, but still have eight wrestlers listed in the probable lineup.

Fans could see a top-10 matchup at 141 pounds when Cael Happel of UNI, ranked No. 9 by Intermat and No. 7 by FloWrestling, could face Missouri's Allan Hart, ranked seventh by Intermat and ninth by FloWrestling.

Three more top-15 matchups are possible at 149 pounds, 174 pounds and heavyweight.

UNI (3-1 / 1-0 Big 12)

The Panthers are coming off a dominant Big 12 win, beating Wyoming 33-3. The home opener gave head coach Doug Schwab his 100th career win.

Derek Holschlag knocked off the highest ranked wrestler in his career with a decision over No. 9 Jacob Wright at 157 pounds. Austin Yant remains undefeated at 165 pounds with 11 wins so far this season. Colin Realbuto (149 pounds) and Parker Keckeisen (184 pounds) join Yant as undefeated in dual competition.

MISSOURI (3-2 / 2-0 Big 12)

The Tigers are the newest member of the Big 12 Conference. In 2022, the Big 12 lost Fresno State but gained Missouri, a familiar opponent for the Panthers from the MidAmerican Conference.

The Tigers' returners include:

141 pounds | Allan Hart (second at 2022 Big 12s)
165 pounds | Keegan O'Toole (2022 Big 12/NCAA champion and currently ranked No. 1)
174 pounds | Peyton Mocco (second at 2022 Big 12s)
197 pounds | Rocky Elam (third at 2022 Big 12 / two-time NCAA All-American)
285 pounds | Zach Elam (third at 2022 Big 12)

At 92 career wins, both senior Jarrett Jacques and redshirt junior Brock Mauller have the chance to enter the exclusive 100-win club. The two veterans would be the 29th and 30th members to join.

Mizzou returns eight of its nine NCAA qualifiers from the 2021-22 season, led by the 165-pound NCAA national champion Keegan O'Toole. The Tigers have three two-time NCAA All-Americans in Keegan O'Toole, Rocky Elam and Brock Mauller. The Tigers also return Noah Surtin (125), Allan Hart (141), Jarrett Jacques (157), Peyton Mocco (174) and Zach Elam (285) from last year's tournament lineup. The Tigers have nine wrestlers ranked in the top 20 of their weight class and six in the top 10.

LINEUPS - (Intermat/FloWrestling Rankings)

125 | Kyle Gollhofer (UNI) vs. #13/14 Noah Surtin or Preston Spray (Missouri)

Gollhofer was fifth at the Daktronics Open. He has started all four duals this year, earning his first win of the year earlier this week.

Surtin is a two-time NCAA qualifier. Spray is a two-time state medalist in Wisconsin as a prep.

133 | #12/15 Kyle Biscoglia or Julian Farber (UNI) vs. #26/HM Connor Brown, Zachry Seltzer or Eric Lovelace (Missouri)

Biscoglia already has three top-20 wins this season and was third at the Cliff Keen Invite. Farber was second at the UNI Open and third at the Harold Nichols Cyclone Open.

Brown was seventh at the 2022 Big 12 Championships. He started his collegiate career at South Dakota State, where he was an NCAA qualifier in 2018. He transferred to Wisconsin the following year before joining Mizzou in the 2020 season. Seltzer is a three-time champion in Indiana with just three career losses as a prep. Lovelace went 13-4 competing unattached in 2022.

141 | #9/7 Cael Happel (UNI) vs. #7/9 Allan Hart or Korbin Shepherd (Missouri)

REMATCH: Happel took down then-ranked No. 12 Hart in last year's dual, 9-6.

Happel is the only Panther with a Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honor so far this year. He took second at the Cliff Keen Invite and has four top-20 wins so far this season.

Hart is a three-time NCAA qualifier. He earned the No. 9 seed to nationals as the Big 12 runner-up in 2022. He was seeded sixth at the NCAA championships in 2021 as a junior. Shepherd went 10-2 in his redshirt year at Mizzou in 2022.

149 | #12/14 Colin Realbuto (UNI) vs. #9/9 Brock Mauller or Joel Mylin (Missouri)

Realbuto is coming off the Collegiate Duals with two top-20 wins, beating No. 3 Sammy Sasso of Ohio State, 9-7, and No. 19 Jackson Arrington of NC State, 5-4.

Mauller took fifth at the 2021 NCAAs and sixth at the 2019 NCAAs. He earned honorary First Team All-America honors when the 2020 championships were canceled for COVID-19. Mauller is coming off a redshirt year that led to him competing in freestyle at 70kg for Team USA in the U23 World Championships in Serbia. Mylin transferred from Hofstra midseason in 2022. He was 5-6 overall and 4-1 with Mizzou in 2022.

157 | #24/NR Derek Holschlag or RJ Weston (UNI) vs. #11/11 Jarrett Jacques, Logan Gioffre or Jerrdon Fisher (Missouri)

REMATCH: Jacques leads the series against Holschlag 2-0, beating the Panther 4-2 in last year's dual and taking him to sudden victory for the 3-1 decision in the fifth-place match at the Big 12 Championships.

Holschlag is coming off a win over No. 9 Jacob Wright of Wyoming. He opened the season with a Daktronics Open title. He is 3-1 in duals this season. Weston is coming off a fifth-place finish at the Soldier Salute that includes a win over No. 30 Nathan Lukez of Army.

Jacques is a four-time NCAA qualifier. He was seeded as high as No. 7 in 2021. Gioffre went 15-6 wrestling unattached as a freshman in 2022. Fisher is a three-time state champion as a prep in Kansas.

165 | #10/14 Austin Yant (UNI) vs. James Conway (Missouri)

Yant is undefeated with a 11-match win streak and 4-0 in duals. He notched a major decision over No. 18 Tony Negron of Arizona State at the Cliff Keen Invite before having to medically forfeit for sixth place.

Conway, a true freshman, was a two-time state champion in Indiana as a prep.

174 | #13/12 Lance Runyon or Carson Babcock (UNI) vs. #11/9 Peyton Mocco or Ellis Pfleger (Missouri)

REMATCH: Mocco beat Runyon 9-6 in dual in the 2021 season.

REMATCH: Pfleger beat Babcock in the first round of the 2022 UNI Open, 10-3.

Runyon opened the year with a 47-second fall at the Collegiate Duals against Lock Haven's Tyler Stotzfus. He was edged out by No. 7 Ethan Smith (Ohio State) and remains 1-1 overall this year. Babcock has two career duals under his belt and has placed in three open tournaments this season.

Mocco is a three-time NCAA qualifier. He entered the 2022 tournament as the No. 11 seed and was eliminated in the blood round. He was the Big 12 runner-up last year. Pfleger was 12-8 competing as a redshirt in 2022.

184 | #2/2 Parker Keckeisen (UNI) vs. HM/HM Sean Harman or Colton Hawks (Missouri)

REMATCH: Keckeisen earned the 2021 UNI Open title with a 6-1 decision over Hawks. He also beat Hawks 3-2 in his third collegiate dual as a Panther in 2020 (2021 season).

Keckeisen is a two-time all-American and the reigning Big 12 champion. He has amassed bonus points in seven of his nine wins this season and has never given up bonus points in his career.

Harman went 20-7 in 2022 and earned Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors for knocking off No. 10 Dustin Plott of Oklahoma State. Hawks was 8-3 in 2022, picking up bonus points in seven of his wins.

197 | Noah Glaser or Kalob Runyon (UNI) vs. #1/1 Rocky Elam or Jesse Cassatt (Missouri)

REMATCH: Last year's dual matchup with Glaser went to Elam, a 12-4 major decision.

Injury ended Glaser's season early last year. He returned to open the dual season with a win over Lock Haven's Brad Morrison. Runyon, the younger brother to teammate Lance Runyon, has placed in three open tournaments this year.

Elam is a two-time All-American. He was fourth in 2022 and fifth in 2021 as a true freshman. Cassatt was 13-6 wrestling unattached as a freshman last year.

285 | #14/13 Tyrell Gordon (UNI) vs. #8/8 Zach Elam or Ryan Boersma (Missouri)

REMATCH: Gordon closed the scoring gap against Elam from the 2021 season to last year. Elam beat Gordon by major decision in 2021 (14-2). Gordon was edged out in last year's dual, 5-2.

Gordon faced the most top-25 opponents of any Panther last year with 11. He earned his first top-20 career win with a 4-2 decision over Zachary Knighton-Ward (Hofstra). He has three top-15 wins so far this year, beating Ohio State's Tate Orndorff, who was ranked at No. 7 and No. 9, twice and No. 14 AJ Nevills (South Dakota State).

Elam is a three-time NCAA qualifier. He was third at last year's Big 12 Championships and notched seven bonus point victories during the season. He took an Olympic redshirt in 2020 and finished with a 16-2 record. Boersma, a freshman, was the Dave Schultz Excellence Award winner at the state and regional level in Illinois.

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