'Expect to Win': Missouri Wrestling Starts the 2023-24 Season
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri Wrestling is opening the 2023-24 season in Kansas City, Mo., at Staley High School. Other teams competing will be Cal Poly, Lindenwood, Little Rock, Maryland and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
The Tigers return this season as reigning Big 12 Wrestling Champions. They also have 5 returning 2023 NCAA All-Americans and placed fifth at the 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
Head Coach Brian Smith is looking at this season as an opportunity to improve from last year.
"Hopefully, [we see] improvement in [the weaknesses we picked out from last season] because we spent a lot of time in practice working on it in the spring and summer," he said.
Those improvements include using the new NCAA takedown points rule to their advantage.
In June of this year, the NCAA changed the point system for collegiate wrestling starting in the 2023-24 season. All takedowns are now worth three points instead of two, and the hand touch takedown was eliminated completely.
"We want to see the little things if we run into [tight matches] this weekend," he said. "[Also seeing how] we're adjusting to the scoring because it's different now with three-point takedowns. We're going to hopefully be scoring more bonus points and attacking more."
He expects the team to continue working to be aggressive so more matches will be won by bonus points or higher scores.
Last season, the Tigers went 7-1 in conference matches and 8-3 overall. The team struggled to stay on top of opponents and avoid stalemates during slow periods of the matches. During Thursday's media meeting, many wrestlers expressed the differences they have seen in the team already this season.
"I'd just say our mindsets have shifted a little bit," redshirt senior Brock Mauller said. "Guys are really expecting more out of themselves. [They expect] to be on top of the podium at the end of the year. I think our mindset and everything is going in the same direction."
Mauller has wrestled at 149 pounds since joining Missouri in 2018 and will move up to the 157-pound weight class this year. For him, the shift in class is not a big jump, since Mauller had already wrestled many of his competitors at 149 before.
"I've really focused on mind, body, and spirit, not so much on how I'm moving up," he said. "I'm focused on this season. I'm so excited to go out there and compete and put the singlet on."
Missouri will face some new opponents for team veterans this season, including Stanford and Cornell. The team will also meet old rivals, including Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, South Dakota State and Iowa State. These will be competitive Big 12 Conference matches to watch. Those four schools were all ranked No. 14 and above last season.
Coach Smith's hope this year is for the Tigers to begin and end the season in Kansas City, where the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships will be held at the T-Mobile Center on March 21-23.
Missouri's first home dual will be against Arizona State on Nov. 19.
