COLUMBIA - Missouri and Oklahoma State have wrestled in dual meets 49 times through the years, and it's a series the 34-time national champion Cowboys have dominated.
Oklahoma State leads the series 41-7-1, and were so far ahead of the Tigers when Brian Smith took over the program in 1998 that he said the early memories he has of wrestling the the Cowboys sticks with him because they brought their backup wrestlers and won easily.
"Those were the tough years," Smith said Wednesday. "I remember saying that was the standard we had to get to. They've won 34 - we're on our 35th dual meet (win), they're on their 35th national title. When you talk about Alabama winning five or six football titles or whatever, they're trying to win their 35th national title. You're dealing with a really, really powerful tradition here. They expect to win, and they don't like losing to us."
But the only reason Missouri has seven wins and one draw against Oklahoma State is because of Smith. His program is 7-17-1, but after 24 straight wins before Smith arrived, it's hard to blame the Cowboys for using second-stringers.
When the two teams face off at 2:30 p.m. today at the Hearnes Center, the No. 5 Tigers (15-0) might actually be the favorites, and are seeking a second-straight win against No. 2 Oklahoma State (13-0).
Because of weather and the MSHSAA state wrestling tournament, Missouri is encouraging fans to arrive as close as possible to the 1 p.m. door time for the highly anticipated dual. The program is trying to break its all-time attendance record of 2,772, set in 2007 against Iowa State. The Tigers will send nine ranked wrestlers against eight ranked Oklahoma State wrestlers.
Jaydin Eierman's pin of two-time defending national champion Dean Heil at 141 helped Missouri storm back from a 9-0 starting hole last year in Stillwater, Okla., but the Tigers are in this position to win a second-straight dual against one of the sport's powerhouses because Smith has built up his program to be one of a few that can match the Cowboys' depth.
The wrestlers have a friendly in-program competition about who can record the most falls, and though Eierman is leading Daniel Lewis 12-11 this season, Lewis has led the team each of the last three seasons and his 47 career falls is tied for second in program history with J.P. Reese. His second-period (4:15) pin at 174 pounds of defending national champion Zahid Valencia gave Missouri a 21-9 lead at Arizona State a week ago and helped shore up his confidence.
"For me, I know I'm a world-beater, and that's what I intend to do every match," Lewis said.
Lewis will face No. 6 Joe Smith in the best matchup of the day by combined national rank.
Missouri has had to shuffle its lineup almost weekly because of injuries and illnesses, but have remained undefeated and have stretched a dual win streak to 35 consecutive thanks to that depth and a talented group of freshmen that were able to step in and wrestle almost immediately.
"We haven't lost a dual in two years, but that takes a lot, because of injuries and sickness, that you also have a deep room of talent," Smith said. "So this will be the first time since December that we've had the starting lineup going in a dual meet, and yet we've continued to win duals."
Wyatt Koelling at 197 and true freshman Zach Elam at heavyweight are the only two wrestlers who have been in every Missouri lineup this season. True freshmen Brock Mauller, who stepped in at 149 after Grant Leeth tore his labrum and rotator cuff in early December, and Jarrett Jacques, who was defeated 6-4 by teammate Lane Stigall in the preseason scrimmage but won the spot at 157 after two duals, have been key.
Elam, ranked No. 19 this week, Jacques (No. 13) and Mauller (No. 7) have a combined duals record of 31-7.
"I think in the sport of wrestling today, you're seeing more and more of it just because these kids are going to worlds, world competitions, the clubs they're wrestling in in the offseason and year-round now are progressing these young kids to a higher level," Smith said. "I didn't even have world-level and national-level type competitions, maybe one a year, when I was in high school. These kids do it every week. Wrestling season's almost a let-down for some of these kids when they're in these world competitions.
"When they get to us, they're so advanced compared to where we were in the early years of the sport that they're ready to go. They're ready for this. So when you throw young kids in there now, they're not a typical young kid."