(Photo courtesy Missouri Athletics)
The inferno extinguished early in Columbia Sunday as No. 5 Arizona State lost eight of ten total matches in its dual against No. 3 Missouri, falling 39-6, the Sun Devils worst loss to the Tigers in the history of the series.
The struggle for the Sun Devils began with the 125-pound bout, where ASU’s Damian Moreno suffered a loss by fall in the first minute to Missouri’s Noah Surtan. At 133 pounds, Julian Chlebove looked to stop the bleeding with a decisive 6-4 decision over Zeke Seltzer.
However, the Sun Devils couldn’t string together many victories beyond that, dropping seven of the next eight matches. Missouri’s 141-pounder Josh Edmund defeated ASU’s Carter Dibert by way of a 14-3 major decision, while Mizzou’s Brock Mauller dominated at 157 with a 21-5 technical fall over Arizona State’s Michael Killic in six minutes and twenty-three seconds. The Sun Devils only other victory came at 149 on Kyle Parco’s 8-2 decision over Mizzou’s Logan Gioffre.
The two adversaries opened from intermission at 165 pounds, where Mizzou’s returning two-time national champion and top-seeded Keegan O’Toole cruised to a 20-6 major decision victory over Oklahoma State transfer turned ASU 165 pounder Chance McClane.
Missouri found its most bonus point in the upper weight divisions with a pin, two technical falls, and a major decision.
At 174, Arizona State’s Max Wilner fell a 20-5 via technical fall to Missouri’s Payton Mecco in four minutes and twenty-five seconds. ASU’s 184-pounder Tony Negron lost by a 15-3 major decision to Missouri’s Clayton Whiting. The Tigers continued to claw their way through the Devils, with Missouri’s Colton Hawks tech falling to ASU’s Kai Argyros 19-4 in six minutes and thirty-one seconds. The dual culminated at 285 when Mizzou’s Zach Elam picked up the fastest victory of the night over ASU’s Damion Schunke on a pin in one minute and twenty-eight seconds.
Despite the rough outing for the men in Maroon and Gold, lightweights Julian Chlebove and Kyle Parco remain undefeated on the young season at 2-0 apiece. Parco secured his 12th consecutive dual victory, improving his record to 26-2 as a Sun Devil.
No. 4 ranked Heavyweight Cohlton Schultz did not compete for the third contest in a row due to his participation in the Pan American United World Wrestling Championships.
Arizona State drops to 1-2 on the early season, while Missouri starts its slate 1-0 with a showdown versus No. 20 Oklahoma coming up next on the calendar.
The Sun Devils still lead the all-time series over Mizzou at 5-3-1.
Arizona State looks to rebound in Las Vegas at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on December 1 and 2 – A tournament in which 5 Sun Devils podiumed last year. ASU hosts Iowa State in its home opener on January 6.
