Missouri’s Brock Mauller simply couldn’t get the escape he needed.
A three-time All-American at 149 pounds, Mauller came up short in a 2-1 tiebreaker loss to second-seeded Austin O’Connor of North Carolina in the semifinals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Enterprise Center on Friday night.
Mauller, the No. 3 seed, will wrap up his season Saturday morning in the medal round.
The semifinal match was tight throughout as neither wrestler was able to establish any control. Mauller, who took sixth at 149 as a true freshman in 2019 and who earned All-America honors again last year when the tournament was wiped out by COVID, scored first with an escape to start the second period.