2024-25 Rock M’mys: Most Gut-Wrenching Moment

It wasn’t all pretty this season, and these nominees aren’t for the faint of heart.

It’s awards season at Rock M Nation, and we’ve got a lot to celebrate from the 2024-25 school year. New hires, postseason highs, incredible individual and team performances… There’s a lot of good things going on in CoMo, and we intend to talk about it.

And because we always strive to do things a bit differently around here, we created our own award, the Rock M’my, last year. Consider it to be part Emmy, part Espy, and all parts love of Mizzou Athletics. (pronounced Rock Emmy)

I encouraged the staff to not just consider the major sports and the top dogs, but to dig below the surface and select worthy nominees from all the teams. Luckily, Rock M Nation represents a diverse group of writers with knowledge about a variety of Mizzou sports, so this wasn’t too much of an ask. With each nomination, you’ll also find a bit of backstory, so you, the fans, can make an informed decision, because at the end of each post, you’ll vote. Forget to cast your ballot one day? No big deal. I’ll provide links to the other awards from the preceding posts.

Once all the votes for each award have been tabulated over the next few weeks, I’ll present a winners list, and that student-athlete will win our completely serious award that will undoubtedly be the greatest triumph of their lives thus far.

Voting closes Friday, July 25 at 11pm CST.

Let’s begin.

It can’t always be sunshine and black & gold rainbows. For every euphoric moment and best performance — see earlier award noms — there were those moments that left us feeling a sense of despair, staring off into the distance, swearing, dramatically sighing, ranting on social media, screaming to our friends and family (sorry, Dad) and thinking we’d all been Mizzou’d again. Moments we wish we’d developed very specific amnesia so we could avoid thinking about it ever again.

It could have been an illness or injury (or several) that altered the course of a season, an unexpected trouncing, an inopportune losing streak, or a late game issue that determined the outcome of a game that made you go, “Ew” and retreat to the nearest watering hole, another tv channel, or anywhere else to get away from that.

So, prepare yourself. Honestly, you might need some therapy after reading this, SIGH.

Here are the nominees for Gut-Wrenching Moment

Keegan O’Toole loses national title match wrestling on torn ACL

After a tough loss in the 2024 national semifinals, Keegan O’Toole looked like he was on a revenge tour last season. The two-time national champion bumped up to 174 lbs before the start of the year and quickly established himself as the top dog at the weight class. An injury forced him to miss two months of the season, but he returned at the end of the season and took home his fourth Big 12 individual championship. He looked a little bit off as he began wrestling at the NCAA Championships, but made his way to the championship round, where he lost a heartbreaker in overtime to Dean Hamiti. We’d learn after that O’Toole was wrestling on a torn ACL since returning from injury, adding a massive “what if” to the end of a Tigers legend’s career. —Matthew Gustafson

Mizzou Hoops’ loss to Drake in first round of NCAA Tournament

The 2024-2025 Mizzou Men’s Basketball team had the makings of something special as the season went on. They had the right mix of talent, experience, chemistry — and a chip on their shoulders from a year ago. Despite struggling down the stretch in the regular season, there was still some optimism that they could make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. However, they got the worst draw imaginable as a No. 6 seed against 11th-seeded and Missouri Valley Champion Drake led by head coach Ben McCollum. It resulted in a 67-57 loss and the Bulldogs were an upset pick for all the right reasons. To make matters worse, the loss was in Wichita and Missouri native Bennett Stirtz had the game of his life.

In the end, the Tigers were an enjoyable team to watch, and they had a good season, but they left A LOT on the table. That’s why it stung so much. —Sammy Stava

Mizzou WBB on wrong end of 31-0 run in SEC Tournament loss

Robin Pingeton’s last game at the help of Mizzou women’s hoops started strong, as the Tigers led 39-32 at the half of the first round of the SEC Tournament against Mississippi State. But it quickly turned south, as in the middle of the third the Bulldogs broke off a 31-0 run, taking a 20-point lead which the Tigers would never recover. In the end Mississippi State won 75-55, permanently ending Pingeton’s tenure as the head coach of Mizzou women’s basketball.

This game was emblematic of not only the season, but of Pingeton’s tenure as a whole. A strong start filling the fanbase with hope and excitement, only to have it come crashing down in spectacular fashion. This punctuated the end of several rough years for the program, and going out with one of the most improbable runs I’ve ever seen —Dylan Heinrich

Mizzou Baseball faces historic struggles

Mizzou Baseball was projected to finish last in the SEC entering 2025, but no one expected the year that followed. Kerrick Jackson’s squad, still early into his rebuild, was hit by wave after wave of injuries that decimated the team’s ability to even look competitive against conference opponents. The team showed some marginal improvement late in the year as players developed and others returned from injury, but ended SEC play with a 3-27 conference record and set a new program high with 39 losses. The Tigers also had a .291 winning percentage, second-worst in program history: only ahead of George Yant’s 1901 squad that went 3-9. —Matthew Gustafson

Mizzou Soccer has SEC Tournament dreams dashed in loss to LSU

It’s no secret that the past couple years have been a struggle for Mizzou soccer. Under coach Stefanie Golan, the team has struggled to compete in an SEC that continues to get stronger and stronger. The Tigers missed the SEC tournament in the first three years of her tenure.

In year four, Mizzou won three home conference games while sneaking out a tie on the road against Alabama, putting them in the driver’s seat for one of the final spots in the SEC Tournament with one game to go. All they had to do was win/tie against LSU, who ranked below Mizzou and needed a win to make the tourney.

It seemed that the two teams were destined for a tie after a slow first half, before LSU’s Ida Hermannsdottir broke the tie in the 68th minute. Now with their backs against the wall, Mizzou tried and tried with 13 shots in the final 45 minutes, but it wasn’t enough. Golan’s team couldn’t break through, losing 1-0 and failing to make the SEC Tournament for the fourth straight season. After what appeared like a year of improvement, the Tigers couldn’t win the big game and it cost them dearly. —Dylan Heinrich

Mizzou football’s last second loss to South Carolina

It wasn’t supposed to end like that.

The lucky-horseshoe-jammed-up-Eli-Drinkwitz’s-butt seemingly always activated its powers in one-score games, allowing Drinkwitz to trot away gleefully while his kicker hit an unfathomably long field goal or his defense secured a strip sack return for a touchdown with no time left. It’s kind of what he does. His record in one-score games says enough.

So when Brady Cook uncorked a bomb to Luther Burden III along the left sideline and the future 2nd-Round draft pick secured it with one hand while shrugging off a top tier corner, and then skipped into the end zone to put the Tigers up by 1 with 3:45 to play – while Jamal Roberts converted the two-point conversion – you’d forgive the Missouri fans (and the world) for thinking, “Yup, that pretty much does it for this one”.

But then the horseshoe didn’t activate. Or it fell out. Or something happened.

And LaNorris Sellers marched the Gamecocks down the field on an 8-play, 70-yard drive, capped by a shovel pass to a Rocket Sanders who busily burled his way through an alleged 200 arm tackles for the game-sealing score.

Missouri’s last-ditch pass getting intercepted was just an extra insult to the surprising injury.

And, thus, Eli Drinkwitz lost his first one-score game in his last nine attempts, and took an “L” against South Carolina for the first time in his career. Missouri was officially officially bounced out of the Playoff and South Carolina stole the thunder of beloved out-of-nowhere-underdog-darling of the SEC.

Hey, man. That’s not supposed to happen! —Nate Edwards