When Brian Smith was first introduced as Missouri’s wrestling coach back in May of 1998, he told everyone he would make the Tigers Big 12 Conference champions.
People laughed.
On Saturday, nearly 14 years after that first meeting, Chris McCormick, the first of three McCormick brothers to wrestle for Smith, hoisted Smith into the air. For the first time in the history of the program, the Missouri Tigers won the Big 12 championship, narrowly edging out second-place Oklahoma State by a 77-73 margin.
It wasn’t supposed to happen, at least not this year. Not with senior heavyweight Dom Bradley taking an Olympic redshirt in preparation for next month’s Olympic Trials. Not with a 3-3 conference record on the season and especially not after losing both matches to Oklahoma State, including a 32-9 beat-down just eight days before the Big 12 Championships.
Apparently, nobody told Smith that.
“I’m just so proud of the coaches, the administration, everyone that’s put so much time and effort in the 14 years I’ve been here,” Smith said, with tears in his eyes, inbetween congratulations from supporters.
The Tigers captured the title in what may have been their last season of competition in the Big 12. Missouri is set to move to the Southeastern Conference, which does not have wrestling teams.
But that didn’t matter on this historical night. The team won its first conference championship and will send nine wrestlers to the NCAA Championships scheduled for March 15 to 17.
“Every year we set this as one of our goals, and we finally reached it,” said Missouri junior Mike Larson, who wrestled in front his parents for just the second time in his collegiate career. “To win it here at home, and possibly be going out of the conference on top for the first time ever, I don’t see how it can get any better than that.”
Despite Missouri having just one senior (Dorian Henderson) in the lineup, Smith scoffed at the idea of this being a young team early in the week. His experienced underclassmen proved him right, as eight Tiger wrestlers advanced to the championship round on Saturday night.
First-time titles from Larson, (184 pounds,) sophomores Alan Waters (125 pounds) and Zach Toal (165,) and redshirt freshman Drake Houdashelt (157) gave Missouri a program-record four conference champions.
With 1,562 wrestling fans on hand, the Hearnes Center was equipped for the occasion. Two large monitors faced the crowd, capturing the action that was broadcasted live on the Big 12 Network. Wrestlers emerged from the locker room through smoke-filled tunnels with fireworks shooting off on either side of them for each championship bout.
No. 1 seed Alan Waters took the fireworks to the mat for the 125-pound championship, scoring a reversal and five points in near falls in the final frame to earn a 7-0 decision. The highest ranked Missouri wrestler was happy to see the team recognized for its hard work.
“One of the best feelings I’ve had is the whole team winning it,” Waters said.
It was the underdog victories of Toal and Houdashelt that turned the tide in MU’s favor. The third-seeded Toal took down top-seeded Andrew Sorenson of Iowa State, who won a major decision over Toal earlier in the season. Houdashelt also beat the top seed in his weight class in St. Louis native Matt Lester of Oklahoma.
Larson’s victory pushed the Tigers over the top in a Big 12 Championship that wasn’t supposed to happen.
