2022 was another banner calendar year for Missouri Wrestling. The Tigers took home a trophy case’s worth of accolades between the second half of the 2021-22 season and the first half of this season.

While it was a memorable year in many respects, let’s count down the five most memorable moments of 2022 for the Missouri Tigers.

Honorable Mention

— Mizzou hosts Tiger Style Invite in Kansas City

The Tigers returned to Kansas City in November for the first time since 2017 to a full gym at Staley High School for the first Tiger Style Invite. In what the program looks to become an annual tradition at the outset of the season, Mizzou finished first in a field that included Illinois, Maryland and Little Rock.

— Mizzou Places Ninth at NCAA Championships

Behind NCAA Champion Keegan O’Toole and All-American Rocky Elam, the Tigers finished in the top 10 at the national tournament for the seventh consecutive season.

Mizzou was bolstered by three wrestlers who bowed out of the tournament in the blood round, including Zach Elam, who gave the team necessary bonus points with back-to-back pins. His second came against All-American Matt Stencel, which was the fastest of the tournament at 32 seconds.

5 – Rocky Elam Wins At NWCA All-Star Classic

After finishing as an All-American in each of his first two seasons, Elam entered the season ranked in the top 5 at 197 pounds. In one of the biggest tests of his career, he excelled in the spotlight, winning an overtime match against #2 Jacob Warner at the NWCA All-Star Classic.

The highest-ranked victory of his career, Elam defeated last year’s national runner-up in a thrilling 8-6 finish.

The win set the table for Elam to move into the top-ranked spot shortly after following movement at the top of the rankings.

4 – Upset Victory over #10 Oklahoma State

In front of over 3,000 fans, the then-#12 Tigers took down the Cowboys for the first time since 2018 in spectacular fashion.

Following a top-10 win for Keegan O’Toole to get Mizzou on the board, Sean Harman led arguably the biggest upset victory of the season for the Tigers with a 5-4 victory over 10th-ranked, eventual Big 12 champion Dustin Plott.

After a win from Rocky Elam at 197 pounds, the Tigers’ electrifying bookend wrestlers Zach Elam and Noah Surtin both stuck their opponents to put the dual essentially out of reach. 

With Oklahoma State winning the coin flip and opting to end the night at 133 pounds, Trey Crawford held Daton Fix to a technical fall as Mizzou took the dual 21-20.

3 – Coach Kendric Maple Wins U.S. Open Title

The world can thank Keegan O’Toole for getting his associate head coach Kendric Maple to come out of retirement. After losing a bet involving O’Toole winning the 2021 Junior World title, Maple held true to his word and entered his name into the 2022 U.S. Open. 

Maple returned to the mat for the first time in four years to light up the 65kg bracket, earning USA Wrestling’s Wrestler of the Week for his efforts.

2 – Mizzou Wins Big 12 Championships

After a nine-season hiatus, the Tigers returned triumphantly to their old conference to defend their 2011-12 Big 12 title. It was the team’s 11th consecutive conference championship between the Big 12 and the MAC.

Mizzou put all 10 wrestlers onto the podium and finished the tournament with three runners-up and a conference championship from Keegan O’Toole.

Brian Smith also left Tulsa with some hardware. Following the tournament, he was named Big 12 Coach of the Year for the second time.

1 – Keegan O’Toole Wins NCAA Championship

Fighting through an ankle injury, Keegan O’Toole climbed the mountain top to claim the 165-pound national championship over returning champion Shane Griffith.

The five points O’Toole surrendered in the national championship were the only points allowed the entire tournament. He held his opponents scoreless in the first four matches, including gutting out a 2-0 win in the quarterfinals against Carson Kharchla in a match that saw no takedowns.

O’Toole became Mizzou’s ninth individual national champion and its first since J’den Cox in 2017.