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Beginning his career as Missouri's seventh Head Wrestling Coach, Brian Smith sat down with his team and made a list of goals that he hoped to help the 1998 squad and future Tiger teams accomplish. Over the past nine years, Smith and the 123 men that have come through the varsity program have slowly but surely checked items off the list. Individual Big 12 Champions, improved grade-point averages, record-setting attendances, a No. 1 national ranking and Missouri's first-ever NCAA National Champion in wrestling were all on Smith's "to-do" list. His unique Tiger Style training program has molded today's team into a national powerhouse that looks to contend for the program's first NCAA title.
Since being introduced as Missouri's Head Wrestling Coach May 5, 1998, Smith has demanded nothing but the best from himself, his coaches and his wrestlers. Owning six consecutive winning seasons (18-3, 2001-02; 15-6, 2002-03; 15-3, 2003-04; 15-6, 2004-05; 13-5, 2005-06, 12-2, 2006-07) Smith has coached eight All-Americans to 14 top-eight performances, most recently guiding 174-pound grappler Ben Askren to the program's first back-to-back National Championship titles (2006 and 2007). In the past four years alone, five Tigers have earned nine Big 12 titles with Askren becoming Missouri's first three-time Big 12 Champion. In 2007, Missouri sent a program high eight wrestlers to the NCAA Championships, besting the previous high of seven set in 2003 and 2006. At least one Tiger grappler has been selected to compete at the championship event in each of his nine seasons at Missouri.
Smith's teams have made a remarkable turnaround in nine years. Inheriting a program that had not seen a winning record since the 1991-92 campaign, the Tigers are now continuously ranked among the top-10 in the nation, reaching as high as No. 1 during the course of the 2006-07 campaign. On Dec. 12, 2006, the Missouri wrestling team became just the 11th wrestling program in history to earn a No. 1 ranking. Missouri joined the elite ranks of programs such as Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Arizona State and Illinois to stand at No. 1 in the nation. Only a loss to eventual National Champion Minnesota forced the Tigers down in the polls.
In 2003, Smith helped his team to its highest Big 12 tournament finish ever (second), a feat the team repeated at home in the Hearnes Center in 2007. Through the efforts of three 2007 Big 12 Champions and three top-three finishes, Missouri edged eight-time Big 12 Champion Oklahoma State by a half of a point (61.5-61) for second place.
Smith has compiled a 110-56-1 record at Missouri and became only the second Tiger wrestling coach to reach the 100-win plateau. Hitting the century mark Dec. 9, 2006 in Mount Pleasant, Mich., Smith's squad bested then No. 11 Central Michigan, 31-9.
Smith's 50th career victory came with a win over Oklahoma Jan. 26, 2003, helping the Tigers improve to 3-1 in conference action, while earning the most conference victories the Tigers have had in the Big 12 or Big Eight leagues. Since 2003, only the 2006-07 Tiger squad has been able to match the 3-1 league mark.
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