No. 25 Missouri wrestling will compete in the 2025 Big 12 Championship, taking place at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from March 8 to March 9. The event begins on Saturday at 10 a.m. CT, with coverage available on ESPN+ and the finals airing Sunday night on ESPNU.
Missouri concluded its regular season with a record of 5-10 overall and 4-4 in Big 12 duals. Of their 15 dual matches, 11 were against ranked opponents, including seven teams ranked in the top 15 nationally. Six starters recorded multiple wins over ranked competitors, led by senior Keegan O’Toole with five victories.
Throughout the season, Missouri faced injuries and lineup changes but managed to secure a total of 84 wins among its starters, including 46 bonus-point victories. Redshirt sophomore James Conway led with 14 wins, followed by Josh Edmond (13) and Keegan O’Toole (12). Cam Steed and Kade Moore each registered four pins this season.
Keegan O’Toole returned to competition on February 22 after missing two months due to injury. He closed his season undefeated at 12-0 with a bonus rate of over ninety percent. In his previous match before the injury, he defeated No.2-ranked Levi Haines of Penn State.
At last year’s Big 12 Championship, Missouri finished fourth overall with nine wrestlers earning automatic qualification for the NCAA Tournament. Keegan O’Toole won his second conference title at 165 pounds by defeating Iowa State’s David Carr.
The team is currently ranked No.25 in the National Wrestling Coaches’ Association Poll and has seven wrestlers listed in the final NCAA Coaches’ rankings. O’Toole holds Missouri’s highest individual ranking at No.5 for the 174-pound class.
Missouri has claimed three Big 12 Conference titles since joining the league and twelve conference championships overall when including previous MAC titles. The program has produced twenty-three individual champions at the Big 12 tournament since Tyron Woodley’s win in 2003.
Head Coach Brian Smith has been recognized as Big 12 Coach of the Year three times: in 2012, 2022, and most recently in 2023.
“As a reigning Big 12 Champion, many wrestlers will be coming for Keegan O’Toole’s crown at the conference tournament,” states information from Missouri wrestling staff.
Last year at this event, O’Toole secured his third career conference championship after winning all three matches at his weight class.
For this year’s NCAA tournament pre-allocations announced on February 27, the Big 12 received sixty-one qualifying spots across ten weight classes based on criteria such as win percentage and coaches’ rankings.
Eight out of ten Missouri starters are seeded for this weekend’s championship; Keegan O’Toole is seeded second at his weight class while others like Seth Nitzel (285), Cam Steed (165), Josh Edmond (141), Logan Gioffre (149), James Conway (157), Kade Moore (133), and Colton Hawks (184) also earned seeds.
Several experienced athletes missed significant time due to injuries during the season—most notably Noah Surtin who medically retired in December and Rocky Elam who was ruled out for this season due to ongoing injuries. Both Keegan O’Toole and Colton Hawks have returned to action ahead of postseason competition.