Mizzou Minute: 'One more time' - Missouri Wrestling Prepares for the 2024 Big 12 Wrestling Championship
COLUMBIA, Mo. — "One more time," a sentiment that Missouri wrestlers and head coach Brian Smith echoed at Tuesday's media day before the Tigers compete in the 2024 Big 12 Wrestling Championship.
The motto originated when a wrestler, feeling defeated, initially walked off the mat during practice, only to return to wrestle once more.
"I had an assistant coach that was training for the Olympics, and he had a freshman in there, and they were working out," he said. "I came in to eat my lunch and they were going [at it.] The kid was getting the best of [him]…But then my coach took him down, maybe on the last takedown, and the kid was upset. He walked [out] and kicked the door open. He [was] mad, and he just stormed out."
What happened next is a lesson Smith has continued teaching his wrestlers today.
"My assistant coach came up and [said,] 'Man, he was wrestling really good. I was surprised after I got that takedown [that] he didn't want to go anymore,'" Smith said. "Next thing I know, the door kicks open. The kid goes, 'We're going one more.' And I [thought,] 'Oh, one more. That's the attitude we want."
The last four duals of the season presented a unique challenge for Missouri. With the starters out due to illness and injury, newer and less familiar wrestlers stepped up to take the mat for Missouri. These duals showed a different side of the team, one that was losing big duals but also displaying the adaptability of the new generation of Tiger Style.
However, Smith said that the decision does not count them out for getting the team's third Big 12 Championship and that it is nothing new for teams to find themselves in the same predicament late in the season. It also is not something he is willing to dwell on.
"I'm not worried about [being written off,]" he said, "I'm just worried about who's up first. 'Noah, you up first? Let's go. Let's do what you do. Get out there. Let's get wins.' A big thing in this tournament [is] the team that's going to win it is going to win tight matches because there's going to be some one-point and overtime matches.”
Now that all the starters are healthy and heading to Tulsa, their eyes are back on the prize of winning individual and team titles. That determination to get back on the mat is the core meaning of “One more time.”
“I ask the team, and ask others, that doing one more is not just for yourself but for a teammate,” he said. “[Your] teammate’s having a bad day? Stay after and help them.”
Missouri’s senior starters are ready to do it one more time to finish their time at Missouri as champions, individually and as a team. The coaches do not focus on that expectation every day, but it is a goal for redshirt seniors Peyton Mocco (174) and Zach Elam (285).
“The guys who paved the way before us [set] that expectation,” Mocco explained. “It’s kind of our duty to keep that going and honor those guys who came before us. The streak can’t end with us, that’d be a terrible way to end our careers, so we’ve got to keep going.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s pressure,” Z. Elam said. “It’s going in and doing [our] job, and everyone goes out and does their job [then] the team will [finish] what they need to finish off, so getting the job done and doing the little things right.”
For them, they plan to continue what Smith has said throughout the season, “You can't be looking ahead to matches. You've got to be focused on the one in front of you.”
The Tigers will head to Tulsa, Okla., March 9-10 for the 2024 Big 12 Wrestling Championship. There, 10 of the wrestlers will compete for a spot on the podium and a spot at the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championship in Kansas City, Mo.
