Missouri wrestling will kick off their 2023-24 season with their annual Black and Gold Scrimmage on Oct. 28 at 3 p.m. at the Hearnes Center. The event gives fans an early look at what to expect from wrestlers both seasoned and new. 

The Tigers are returning to the mat as reigning champions of the 2023 Big 12 Wrestling Championship. It was their 12th straight conference title since 2012.

At the 2023 Big 12 Wrestling Championship, all ten Tigers placed in their respective weight classes. Junior Rocky Elam took home first place at 197 pounds and qualified for the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championship. 

After last season, Elam has worked to continue his momentum in hopes of repeating his success this season.

“I got a chance to do some training this summer,” Elam said. “Also, I got a chance to work with my coaches a lot individually.”

Elam says events like the Black and Gold Scrimmage, as well as the Tiger Style Wrestling Invite are ways to see how everyone has progressed.

“Black and Gold is always always a fun one,” Elam said. “It [kicks] the year off; everybody sees where they’re at, and that’s the theme for most of the competition throughout the year.”

Elam is not focusing on the scrimmage, though. Instead, he’s looking to progress throughout the season. 

“We’re always looking forward to the end of the year,” Elam said. “I’m not too worried about how I’m performing right now, but really looking forward to how I can prepare for the end of the season.” 

Head coach Brian Smith teaches the wrestlers the meaning of ‘Tiger Style’ and follows the motto “One more.” Smith uses the phrase ‘Tiger Style’ to define an attitude that encourages excellence on and off the mat. Missouri wrestling alum Allan Hart and redshirt senior Brock Mauller describe it as Smith wanting the wrestlers to also succeed in the real world.

For Elam, that is recognizing that his success also comes from his teammates. 

“Everybody’s trying to feed off one another,” Elam said. “We’re all trying to learn, and there’s no egos in the room. Nobody’s trying to outdo one another just to be better than someone. It’s all for a good purpose.”

Going into this season, Elam wants to advance his and the team’s accomplishments while also enjoying the process. 

“I don’t have a lot of control over the outcome,” Elam said. “What I do have control over are the things that I’m doing every day in my training: helping my teammates, cooperating with them and my coaches so we can all learn and have a growth mindset environment. That’s what I like about the room is everyone learns from each other.”

In June of this year, the NCAA changed the points system for collegiate wrestling starting in the 2023-24 season. All takedowns are worth 3 points instead of 2, and the hand-touch takedown was eliminated. Along with this rule change, near-falls are now 3 points, which could previously be 2 or 4 points. 

Hand-touch takedowns happened when the offensive wrestler had control, their opponent was not in control, and their hand touched the mat.

A near fall is an offensive move used to turn an opponent past 45 degrees for a period of time. Wrestlers can score these points if their opponent is in a bridged position on their elbows. The previous scoring method was based on how long the top wrestler held their opponent in the position. 

These changes will allow wrestlers to create more offensive plays, find new tactics to score points and make the one-point escape have less of an impact.

“There’s never really been a three-point takedown as far as I know, so it’s definitely going to be different,” Elam said. “It’s something when you look at it, you’re saying, ‘Oh, it’s all relative, takedown for takedown.’ But the escape point is less valuable now, and I think it’s going to be one of those things where you’re going to have to have a feel for it.”

Elam wrestles at 197 pounds, a weight class that has to use offense frequently to gain a larger margin on opponents and is using this adjustment to find other ways to strike. 

“You’re going to have to get out there on the mat and get in some mat situations and have that mat situation going through your head,” Elam said. “It’s thinking about it beforehand.”

With the new rule, wrestlers can be up 3 points and know that if they ride their opponent out, the likelihood of winning a match is higher. 

“If you have two takedowns and you ride a guy out in the first period, going into the second period up 6-1 is a huge difference as opposed to 4-1,” Elam said. “I think it’s gonna be a lot easier to score points, to create separation within the scoreboard and get [major decisions] and [technical falls] easier.”

The 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championship will be hosted in Kansas City, Mo. at the T-Mobile Center. Elam is from Kansas City and looks forward to having more Missouri fans at the championship this year. 

“I’m excited about the national tournament, especially because I’m going back home,” Elam said. “There’s going to be a ton of Tiger fans there. Personally [for] me, there’s a lot of sentimental value in it. There’s gonna be a lot of people that I grew up with, a lot of coaches and teammates that I have come to pass with throughout the years that are going to be there.”

Missouri seeks to win its 13th straight conference championship and continue creating champions nationally and internationally.  

The Tigers open the regular season at home against Arizona State on Nov. 19 at 1 p.m. Their first in-conference dual will be against Oklahoma on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Hearnes Center.

Edited by Quentin Corpuel I qcorpuel@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Grace Knight and Audrey Dae Bush

Edited by Sophie Rentschler | srentschler@themaneater.com