No. 11 Missouri wrestling lost a close dual meet to No. 9 Illinois, with a final score of 21-16 on Monday night at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Missouri. The Tigers now hold a 5-4 record for the season, while Illinois improved to 5-2.
The dual began at 125 pounds, where Mack Mauger, ranked 25th and a redshirt freshman, defeated Illinois’ No. 22 Spencer Moore. Mauger secured the win with a late escape and stall point before earning a takedown in sudden victory. At 133 pounds, Kade Moore took an early lead against top-ranked and defending national champion Lucas Byrd but ultimately lost by decision, 12-9.
After a defeat at 141 pounds, redshirt senior Josh Edmond brought Missouri back into contention with a win at 149 pounds, tying the team scores at six points each. Illinois regained the lead with a decision at 157 pounds.
Following intermission, Missouri dropped two consecutive matches by major decision to ranked Illinois wrestlers. At 184 pounds, No. 2 Aeoden Sinclair earned an injury default win after establishing control early in the match. Senior Evan Bates followed at 197 pounds with a major decision victory that narrowed Missouri’s deficit to one point heading into the final bout.
In the last match of the evening at heavyweight (285 pounds), Jarrett Stoner was defeated by Illinois’ ninth-ranked Luke Luffman by major decision.
Missouri’s all-time record against Illinois is now 16-22 overall and 6-8 under head coach Brian Smith. This season marks the first time Missouri and Illinois have met multiple times in one year. The last meeting between these teams in Hearnes Center occurred on November 12, 2009.
Only three matches from this dual were repeats from their recent encounter at the National Duals Invitational: those contested at 125 lbs., 133 lbs., and 184 lbs. Kade Moore faced Lucas Byrd for the third time in his career; this was their first meeting decided by regular decision.
True freshmen Dominic Bambinelli and Danny Heiser made their dual debuts for Missouri at 165 and 174 pounds respectively. Sinclair’s injury default marked his eighth bonus-point win of the season, while Bates’ major decision kept him as team leader for most bonus-point victories this year with nine.
Missouri will spend its next two months competing on the road beginning Friday, December 5th at Journeymen Wrestling’s Hustle In The Heartland event in St. Charles, Missouri. Matches will be held at Francis Howell High School and streamed on FloWrestling as Missouri faces Long Island University at 6 p.m. CT and No. 5 Nebraska at 8 p.m. CT.
“Visit MUTigers.com for the latest information on all things Mizzou Wrestling. You can also find the Tigers on social media by liking us on Facebook (Mizzou Wrestling) and following us on Twitter and Instagram (@MizzouWrestling).”
### FULL RESULTS ###
No.11 Missouri:16 | No.9 Illinois:17
125 | [25] Mack Mauger (MIZ) over [22] Spencer Moore (ILL) by decision, 5-2 SV1
133 | [1] Lucas Byrd (ILL) over [20] Kade Moore (MIZ) by decision, 12-9
141 | [15] Danny Pucino (ILL) over [20] Zeke Seltzer (MIZ) by decision, 12-6
149 | [14] Josh Edmond (MIZ) over Will Baysingar (ILL) by decision, 6-2
157 | [7] Kannon Webster (ILL) over [20] J Conway (MIZ) by decision, 4-1
165 | [8] Braeden Scoles (ILL) over Dominic Bambinelli (MIZ) by major decision, 18-4
174 | [21] Colin Kelly (ILL) over Danny Heiser (MIZ) by major decision, 11-2
184 | [2] Aeoden Sinclair (MIZ) over [22] Chris Moore (ILL) by injury default, 2:01
197 | [17] Evan Bates (MIZ) over Cade Lautt (ILL) by major decision, 14-6
285 | [9] Luke Luffman (ILL) over [25] Jarrett Stoner (MIZ) by major decision, 13-3
*Rankings via InterMat