Missouri regained its footing last weekend. 

Now the Tigers are looking to accelerate into the postseason. 

After losing two straight dual meets for the first time in four years, Mizzou rebounded last weekend with a pair of road wins, blowing out North Dakota State and downing South Dakota State on heavyweight Zach Elam’s pin in the final bout. 

Brian Smith’s team is headed back on the road this weekend for a Friday night dual at Northern Iowa before a Sunday showdown against Iowa State. 

Of the 20 bouts on the slate this weekend, 17 could feature head-to-head battles between top 30 opponents, including eight top-15 matches. 

“Both of them are very physical teams,” Smith said. “It's going to be a big challenge. We have some big matchups and important again for seeding. It'll be a big test for all of our guys.” 

The biggest tests are at 165 and 184. Two-time NCAA champ Keegan O’Toole is set to square off Sunday against Iowa State’s David Carr, who won the first two of their three matches last season before O’Toole won the national title bout. At 184, Mizzou freshman Clayton Whiting could tangle Friday night with top-ranked Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa.  

Other important bouts are looming as well, including a pair at 141 pounds. 

Missouri’s #24 Josh Edmond could face #8 Cael Happel of Northern Iowa and #7 Anthony Echemendia of Iowa State.  

Edmond is 10-6 on the season. He had dropped four straight matches — three of which were one-point decisions — before winning both of his bouts last weekend. 

“Guys like Josh may be on the bubble for qualifying a spot,” Smith said. “It's really important that he gets out there and does good things and continues in his winning ways. At the beginning of the season and throughout most of the season, he was finding ways to lose close matches. In the last couple of matches, he won big, and then he won a tight one, so he's winning matches now. So I'm pleased that the effort I see in the practice room is paying off.”

All Eyes On 165

The eyes of the college wrestling world will be focused Sunday on Ames, where O’Toole takes on Carr for the fourth time in the last two seasons. 

Carr, a 2021 NCAA champ at 157 pounds, won the first two matches, defeating O’Toole 7-2 in the dual meet and scoring an overtime fall in the Big 12 finals before the Mizzou star won an 8-2 decision in the NCAA title match.  

“He's a great competitor, an awesome challenge for me,” O’Toole said. “I think that it's super special to have two amazing elite-level wrestlers in the same weight class. We're both NCAA champs, but he's pushed me to levels that I didn't think that I was gonna need to go to and I'm very fortunate to have a competitor like that. If I didn't have those two losses last year, I’m probably not a (U23) World champ.”

O’Toole is 16-0 this season with 13 bonus-point victories, including six pins and four technical falls. Carr is 18-1 with 14 bonus-point wins. 

“I know they both have gotten better (since last season),” Smith said. “I've watched a lot of Carr and he's wrestling well this year, so It's an exciting matchup because the two of them are so talented, and they both score points. There's a possibility they could wrestle three times again, so it would be six matchups, which is a lot. They're both national champs and Hodge candidates. They're the tops in the sport and it’s exciting when you get to see two guys lay it on the line like that.”

Winning The Close Ones

Mizzou’s losses to Cornell and Oklahoma State coincided with the Tigers’ sudden inability to win their share of close matches. Before those two duals, Missouri went 11-11 in matches determined by a takedown or less or in overtime. The Tigers went 2-6 in those matches against Cornell and Oklahoma State.

“You have to win those tight matches,” Smith said. “We lost a couple of overtime and one-pointers and you got to win those. We were getting beat with the collar tie, so we're working on certain situations with that. We got to some shots but we just didn't finish a lot.

“There are times when I see certain guys in the room and they can score a lot when they wrestle a certain way, they're better. They just have to follow that game plan. And that's our job (as coaches), is to get them to believe in it and execute it. Finishing takedowns, executing moves, and sticking with their process and doing it.” 

Missouri got back on track in close matches last weekend, going 3-1 in bouts determined by a takedown or less. 

Health Update 

The Tigers have been without two of their starters in February and it remains to be seen when they’ll return to the lineup. 

Kade Moore, who’s ranked 25th at 133, was injured in an off-the-mat incident. 

“He got some stitches, so it's just going to take time,” Smith said “He should be back for Big 12s. I'm hoping to have him soon for some more matches before the conference tournament, but I'm not going to put him in if he's not ready.”

Additionally, 149-pounder Logan Gioffre has been out since Jan. 26. 

“That's a week-by-week thing,” Smith said “When we think he's (Gioffre) ready, then we'll maybe bring him back. But (Joel) Mylin has an opportunity now to do something, and he's got some tough matches this week.”