No. 14 Missouri Tigers wrestling will conclude its regular season with a dual against No. 4 Iowa State on Sunday, Feb. 22, at Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa. The match is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. CT and will be available for streaming on ESPN+.
Missouri enters the contest with a 12-7 overall record and a 5-2 mark in Big 12 competition. In their most recent outing, the Tigers secured a 23-14 victory over No. 16 Oklahoma on Senior Day, winning six matches including back-to-back technical falls at the 174 and 184 weight classes.
Among individual performances, Gage Walker (133), Josh Edmond (149), and Teague Travis (157) contributed wins against Oklahoma. Travis recorded four takedowns and a reversal to earn a technical fall, while redshirt freshman Aeoden Sinclair (184) notched his tenth tech fall of the season with five takedowns in just 90 seconds.
Redshirt junior Cam Steed also achieved a technical fall over Oklahoma’s Trae Rios, marking his eighth bonus point win of the season and earning him Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors earlier this month after pinning No. 13 Brody Conley in just 23 seconds.
Sinclair leads Missouri with 25 wins this season, followed by redshirt senior Evan Bates with 21 victories. Jarrett Stoner joined them as he picked up his twentieth win against West Virginia’s Brock Kehler. Sinclair has also tallied seven pins and leads all NCAA wrestlers this season with 96 takedowns according to TrackWrestling.
The latest NCAA Individual Coaches’ Poll lists eight Missouri starters among the top-33 in their respective weight classes. Sinclair is ranked third at 184 pounds, Bates is eighth at 197 pounds, and Steed holds the tenth spot at 174 pounds.
Sinclair recently extended his winning streak to nineteen matches after defeating Oklahoma’s Eli Cordy by first-period technical fall.
Head coach Brian Smith reached his milestone of 350 career dual wins earlier this year with a victory over Northern Colorado and now stands tied for second among active Division I coaches with Ohio State’s Tom Ryan at 353 career wins.
Redshirt senior transfer Evan Bates continues to improve since joining Missouri from Northwestern University, currently ranked eighth nationally at 197 pounds and averaging more than two takedowns per match—an increase from last season.
Missouri clinched its twenty-third winning season under Smith following their win over Little Rock on Jan. 31. Over Smith’s twenty-eight-year tenure as head coach, only three seasons have ended below .500.
Several freshmen have made significant contributions during their redshirt seasons: Seth Mendoza has compiled a record of fourteen wins; David Gleason won titles at both the Cyclone Open and Missouri Valley Open; Dominic Bambinelli claimed Outstanding Wrestler honors at the Missouri Valley Open; Danny Heiser leads freshmen at his weight class.
In last year’s meeting between these teams on Feb. 22, Iowa State edged out Missouri by three points in Columbia. Notable performances included upset victories by J Conway and Seth Nitzel for Missouri as well as falls by Cam Steed and Keegan O’Toole.
Sunday’s dual marks the sixtieth meeting between Missouri and Iowa State; Iowa State leads the series but Missouri has won seven of the last ten encounters under Coach Smith.
The upcoming matchup could feature eight bouts between nationally ranked opponents across multiple weight classes:
125 – Mack Mauger vs. Stevo Poulin
133 – Gage Walker vs. Evan Frost
149 – Josh Edmond vs. Jacob Frost
157 – Teague Travis vs. Vinny Zerban
174 – Cam Steed vs. MJ Gaitan
184 – Aeoden Sinclair vs. Isaac Dean
197 – Evan Bates vs. Rocky Elam
285 – Jarrett Stoner vs. Yonger Bastida
Josh Edmond leads all active Tigers wrestlers with seventy-eight career wins.
Looking ahead, Missouri will start postseason competition at the Big 12 Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 6-7 inside BOK Center, with coverage available on ESPN+.