Mizzou wrestling has its 2026-27 slate set, and the Tigers will spend plenty of time at Hearnes Center along the way.
Seven home events are on the calendar, highlighted by a pair of early-season tournaments and five duals. The season opens Nov. 2 in Columbia with the second annual Missouri Duals, where Central Missouri, Central Methodist, Avila, Drury and Maryville will all come to town.
The Tigers will stay home again for the Tiger Style Invite on Nov. 14. That event brings a loaded field to Hearnes Center, with Mizzou set to see Purdue, Oregon State, Little Rock, South Dakota State and Morgan State.
Mizzou’s first trip away from Columbia comes Nov. 22 at the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia, a tournament hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. From there, the Tigers head back to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the second straight year to take part in the National Duals Invitational on Dec.
12-13. The two-day event will feature teams competing for a share of more than $1.2 million.
Conference duals begin Dec. 20, when Little Rock visits before the holiday break.
After that, January brings a two-dual weekend in Oklahoma. Missouri will be in Norman to meet Oklahoma on Jan. 8, then move on to Stillwater for a Jan. 10 matchup with Oklahoma State.
The home stretch of the regular season starts Jan. 14 against West Virginia and continues Jan. 22 with Northern Iowa coming to Columbia. Mizzou’s final road trip of the regular season lands Feb. 5-6, when the Tigers travel west for Big 12 duals against Utah Valley and Wyoming.
The regular season wraps with back-to-back home duals. Arizona State comes to Hearnes Center on Feb. 11, and Iowa State closes things out in Columbia on Feb. 17.
Postseason wrestling starts with the Big 12 Championship, set for March 5-6 at the BOK Center in Tulsa. From there, Mizzou’s qualifiers will head to the NCAA Championships, which will be in St.
Louis in 2027 and hosted by the University of Missouri. That tournament is scheduled for March 18-20 at Enterprise Center.
In Other News...
Missouri May Have Found The Pass Rusher It Desperately Needed
Missouris defense got a welcome jolt in the Border War, and it came from a player who is still just scratching the surface of what he can become. Defensive end Daeden Hopkins was named Co-SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week after he spent the game harassing Kansas quarterback Isaiah Marshall, finishing with eight pressures in the matchup. For a Missouri front that has been searching for more consistent disruption, Hopkins performance stood out as the kind of edge presence that can change how an offense has to play.
Hopkins, a 19-year-old underclassman, has already piled up 12 pressures this season and sits among the nations top players in that category. Eli Drinkwitz has pointed to the work ethic and development behind the jump, noting that Hopkins has added weight while also becoming more reliable against the run. The bigger question now is whether this was a breakout night or the start of Missouri finally having the pass rusher it has been trying to find. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Wrestling Schedule Sets Up A Season Tigers Fans Will Track Closely
Mizzou wrestlings 2026-27 schedule is now on the books, and it gives fans a clear early look at a season that should keep interest high from start to finish. The Tigers will have seven home events on the calendar, along with a slate of road tournaments that includes stops at the Keystone Classic and the National Duals Invitational, before the Big 12 Championship arrives late in the year. The season is set to begin with the Missouri Duals on Nov. 2, giving the program an immediate chance to set the tone in front of its home crowd.
The biggest date on the wrestling calendar, though, comes in March 2027, when the NCAA Championships will be hosted by the University of Missouri in St. Louis. For a program like Mizzou, that kind of spotlight adds another layer to a schedule already built around familiar in-state interest and high-level competition. By the time the postseason rolls around, Tigers fans will have had plenty of chances to track how this group handles the grind, and whether the long run toward St. Louis looks as promising as the schedule suggests. [Read more 🡒]
Drinkwitz Knows Mizzou Has Two Problems That Could Get Exposed Fast
Missouris loss to Kansas in the 122nd Border War came with a pair of glaring issues that were hard to ignore, and they were the kind that can snowball quickly once SEC play starts to tighten the screws. Special teams had a rough day, and the secondary was uneven enough in coverage to leave head coach Eliah Drinkwitz with more than one area to clean up after a rivalry game that exposed some familiar stress points.
Drinkwitz said he took responsibility for the problems and noted that changes have already been made to address them, which matters because the schedule ahead will not offer much room to breathe. Missouri has to get sharper in a hurry, especially with cornerback play still searching for consistency and the margins getting thinner against tougher opponents. [Read more 🡒]