No. 20 Missouri rallies past No. 16 West Virginia, 26-13
A string of bonus-point results in the middle weights carried the Tigers to an upset at Hope Coliseum.
Missouri pulled off a road upset at Hope Coliseum, beating No. 16 West Virginia 26-13. The Tigers recovered from an early deficit and closed the dual with a run of match-clinching performances that West Virginia could not answer.
The momentum shift began when true freshman Seth Mendoza turned a 149-pound bout into an 18-3 technical fall, the kind of bonus result that swung team momentum in Missouri’s favor. Missouri piled on in the thick of the lineup: No. 9 Evan Bates added a 7-4 decision at 197, and redshirt junior Cam Steed delivered the knockout blow with a fall at 174 that the home recap lists as coming in roughly the first half-minute.
West Virginia’s best stretches came from ranked standouts. No. 9 Jett Strickenberger opened the night with a tight 4-1 decision at 125, and No. 7 Ty Watters stopped Missouri’s run at 157 with an 8-0 major decision to keep the Mountaineers within reach midway through the dual.
Missouri’s late surge was built on bonus outcomes and a five-match win streak to close the meet. Aeoden Sinclair’s 2-1 win at 184 illustrated how close those matches were: an escape late in the third followed by riding-time that finalized the margin. Those bonus and edge wins produced the swing Missouri needed to pull away.
By the time Jarrett Stoner closed the card at heavyweight, the Tigers had turned a hole into a definitive road victory. The result moved Missouri past the Mountaineers in the dual and underscored how converting midline opportunities into bonus points can decide a Big 12 meet.
Missouri claimed six of the ten matches on the card; West Virginia’s ranked performances kept the dual competitive but could not overcome Missouri’s share of bonus outcomes and late-match execution.