From unwelcome to undeniable: The Big 12 turbulence that shaped Mizzou wrestling's future

When Missouri decided a decade ago that a move to the Southeastern Conference would best serve the university in the long term, there was one problem.

The SEC doesn't sponsor wrestling.

Arguably the most consistent Tiger program since the turn of the century was about to be homeless with the move away from the Big 12 Conference.

"That was kind of scary because you're like, 'All right, we're going to be the only program that doesn't have a place, and I knew immediately just talking with the Big 12 people that we're not going to be in the Big 12 the next year. They're not going to let us stay," longtime head wrestling coach Brian Smith told the Tribune during a recent interview. "So that came out, and within the week or so, we knew we had to find a home."

Despite the turbulence and uncertainty, former Missouri athletic director Mike Alden and senior deputy AD Sarah Reesman were "unbelievable" during that time with their unwavering support for #TigerStyle, Smith said.

From mid-November 2011 until early August 2012, Missouri wrestling didn't know its future conference affiliation. That was a critical time for the Tigers in recruiting, as Smith was trying to secure the services of J'den Cox, Willie Miklus and others.

The Mid-American Conference eventually welcomed Missouri, and in doing so, brought into the fold its league champion for the next nine seasons.

In April 2021, Missouri wrestling announced its long-awaited return to the Big 12.

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A reunion with the conference became possible after a decade of Missouri administrators and opposing head coaches like Oklahoma State's John Smith trying to convince the conference's leadership to readmit the Tigers.

"For me, it's not weird. I just feel like it's where we belong," Brian Smith said of returning to the Big 12. "We've had the old logo on the back wall, we put a Tiger sticker over it. And I'd see that Tiger sticker once in a while, and I always knew what was behind it. ... It makes sense, and I'm glad we're back."

Missouri hosted the final Big 12 Tournament during its first membership run in March 2012. John Smith assured Brian Smith — the two are not related — that the Cowboys and Tigers would have a yearly dual, with the hope of eventually having those grapples under the league banner once again.

It took a while to build enough momentum for a return to the Big 12 to be a possibility.

Brian Smith got to a point where accepted it might never happen.

Hopes for a return became more realistic about two years ago, with a wave of new chancellors and presidents coming into the Big 12.

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Brian Smith doesn't know for a fact all the reasons for the delay in being brought back into the fold, but expressed a possible explanation for the lengthy process.

"This was 10 years of John Smith and us trying and writing letters that we'd love to come back," Brian Smith said. "And coaches in the conference trying to convince, it wasn't their administrators, it was the administrators from the schools that didn't have wrestling. So that's the hardest part. That's why I just didn't know if it was going to be possible.

"... At some point, it changed enough that the people really didn't give a damn anymore, weren't a part when we were here, when the breakup happened. And so to them, they looked at it and started to come to their senses. And (Big 12 Commissioner Bob) Bowlsby is wrestling guy and has a wrestling background. I think he was able to really push it, saying, 'This would be a good thing for the conference and elevate the conference.' And it already has."

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Being the best team in the MAC was used against the Tigers in recruiting, with opposition hoping to sway wrestlers to a high-level conference. Back with the Big 12, Brian Smith said ESPN has a renewed interest in streaming the team's matches.

The Tigers sold out of their mat-side season tickets before the season started. Other ticket sales are at an all-time high. Having a top-five team nationally helps, but being lauded in the Big 12 gives more credence to the happenings in Columbia.

"I can just sense it. Every time I walk in around Columbia, I have people coming up to me, some of them I don't even know, and they're like, 'Coach, we're going to catch a wrestling match this year. This is exciting,'" Smith said. "I've never felt that buzz in the air like it is this year. And we've had good teams. Now this is exciting that the community sees it now.

"That was my (goal) when I sat with (former Missouri athletic director Jim) Sterk at the time and said, 'Yeah, if we can make this happen, let's make it happen.' I know he had a relationship with Bowlsby from the Big 12 from the past, and then somehow it came about, which was great."

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Smith got word in early March that an invitation to rejoin the Big 12 was imminent. He knew going into the NCAA championships that it would be the Tigers' final event representing the MAC.

That was seven weeks before the news conference at Hearnes Center, where a black and gold "XII" was displayed on campus grounds for the first time in 106 months.

"One of my goals in life was to be a Big 12 or a Big 10 coach. And so I had that kind of stripped away. So it was coming back," Smith said. "I had matured enough to know, it's important but it's not the world. Seeing how excited the administration got, how much they promoted and did that day up for the athletes, that was exciting. And the fan base loved the videos and the press releases and the billboards on (Interstate) 70. That was exciting that they did all that."

Any notion that #TigerStyle would be hurt in the best interest of the rest of the athletic department never came to fruition.

In its first season back in the Big 12, Missouri sat at No. 3 heading into Saturday's doubleheader against No. 16 Northern Iowa and No. 10 Virginia Tech.

MU fought so hard to get back to familiar territory. Now the real work begins to elevate the program even higher, competing in one of the deepest leagues in the nation.

Contact Eric Blum at eblum@columbiatribune.com. Follow @ByEricBlum on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How Missouri wrestling's future was shaped by Big 12 turbulence