No. 9 Virginia Tech Wrestling Falls To No. 3 Missouri In Columbia, 22-17

By: Jack Brizendine | SMA '24
A year after beating a top-10 Missouri squad in Cassell Coliseum (pictured), Mekhi Lewis and Virginia Tech lost to the Tigers in Columbia to start 2024. (Ivan Morozov)

Despite earning a few key early upsets early in the night, No. 9 Virginia Tech couldn’t get over the hump against No. 3 Missouri on Tuesday in a 22-17 loss.

The Hokies (3-2) and Tigers (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) split the bout with five matches apiece, but four of Mizzou’s wins were bonus-point victories; Virginia Tech only had one.

Tech jumped out to a hot start through the first half of the dual, winning four of the first five matches, including three upsets.

No. 10 Cooper Flynn (125) gave Virginia Tech the early lead with his 10-3 overtime win over Missouri’s No. 2 Noah Surtin. After Surtin tied the match at three with an escape and the riding time point to force the sudden victory period, Flynn exploded for a takedown and four back points in the extra period to secure the win. It was his second victory over a top-four opponent in as many duals this season.

Tom Crook (141) and Bryce Andonian (157) helped Tech to a 12-6 lead at the intermission with upset wins as well.

Making his season dual debut, Crook eked out a 9-8 win over Missouri’s No. 19 Josh Emond. Trailing 3-1 at the end of the first period, he fired back with a pair of takedowns in the second to tie the match at eight entering the final two minutes. After an initial escape to start the third, Crook stonewalled Edmond for the rest of the period to lock up the win

Andonian got revenge against Missouri’s No. 5 Brock Mauller after falling to the Tiger wrestler at the NCAA Tournament in 2021. In a match that highlighted the night, the top-10 grapplers went back-and-forth, with a buzzer-beating takedown from Andonian sealing his 13-10 victory.

Although Tech picked up three ranked victories in the first five matches of the night, Missouri got one, too, as Kade Moore pinned No. 5 Sam Latona (133) with under 30 seconds left in the second period. Starting the period on bottom, Latona was unable to escape and got caught on his back while trying to roll out from underneath Moore.

The bout was a nine-point swing in the Tigers’ favor and gave Missouri some cushion despite being on the wrong side of the other three upsets.

No. 2 Caleb Henson (149) battled through a close bout with another unranked foe as he took down Missouri’s Logan Gioffre, 6-4. He led 4-1 after an escape to start the third period, but a late takedown from Gioffre tied the match with 35 seconds to wrestle.

Since Henson had the riding time point locked up, Gioffre was forced to eat an escape point and try to notch another late takedown. The Tech sophomore defended well through the final 30 seconds to lock up his 18th win of the season.

No. 2 Mekhi Lewis was the only other winner for the Hokies on the night, beating Missouri’s James Conway via technical fall, 15-0, with ease. The former national champion racked up a takedown and eight back points in the first period before finishing off Conway in the second.

Many believed Lewis would face Missouri’s No. 1 Keegan O’Toole depending on how the early matches played out. O’Toole bumped up to 174 two weeks prior in place of injured No. 6 Peyton Mocco and beat Illinois’ No. 3 Edmond Ruth 11-7 on Dec. 21.

Instead, Missouri decided to roll O’Toole at 165 against No. 24 Connor Brady and let Conway handle Lewis at 174.

In the 165 bout, the former two-time national champion exploded for six takedowns against Brady to pick up the 21-4 technical fall victory. The match appeared to be a step back for Brady who held his own against O’Toole in an 8-4 loss in last year’s dual and looked solid in his 10-3 win over Stanford’s Hunter Garvin two weeks ago.

Tech’s final three bouts left a lot to be desired as the Hokies were outscored a combined 30-4.

Dakota Howard (184) couldn’t keep up with Missouri’s No. 11 Clayton Whiting in a 11-3 defeat while No. 25 Andy Smith (197) and No. 20 Hunter Catka (285) were shut down by the top-ranked Elam brothers, 11-0 (to Rocky Elam) and 8-1 (to Zach), respectively.

Tony Robie and Co. return to the mat in Ithaca, N.Y., on Sunday to face No. 8 Cornell at 1 p.m. ET.

Results:

125: No. 10 Cooper Flynn (VT) dec. No. 2 Noah Surtin (MIZZOU), (SV) 10-3

133: Kade Moore (MIZZOU) win by fall No. 5 Sam Latona (VT), 4:37

141: Tom Crook (VT) dec. No. 19 Josh Edmond (MIZZOU), 9-8

149: No. 2 Caleb Henson (VT) dec. Logan Gioffre (MIZZOU), 6-4

157: No. 8 Bryce Andonian (VT) dec. No. 5 Brock Mauller (MIZZOU), 13-10

165: No. 1 Keegan O’Toole (MIZZOU) tech fall No. 24 Connor Brady (VT), 21-4 (6:01)

174: No. 2 Mekhi Lewis (VT) tech fall James Conway (MIZZOU), 15-0 (4:00)

184: No. 11 Clayton Whiting (MIZZOU) maj dec. Dakota Howard (VT), 11-3

197: No. 3 Rocky Elam (MIZZOU) maj dec. No. 25 Andy Smith (VT), 11-0

285: No. 6 Zach Elam (MIZZOU) dec. No. 20 Hunter Catka (VT), 8-1

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2 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. I would also like to thank TSL for covering Tech wrestling. I was at the match. Really proud of Andonian, Flynn, and Tampa Tom. Was also great to see Lewis dominate from start to finish. Tech was really close to winning that dual.

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