Interview with coach Brian Smith, Part 1

On averaging more than 3,000 fans and have a combined "Beauty and the Beast" gymnastics wrestling meet on Friday night
It’s the highest we’ve ever had. I just saw a thing that it’s ranked like fifth in the country right now for the season, and we’ll probably end up second or third because I know our crowd (Friday) is going to be about 5,000-7,000 because we’re doing a thing with the gymnastics team, and they’re saying half the town is coming out, so it’s going to be a huge crowd. Everybody I run into in the town says they’re coming, and I have to remind them that we have a pretty big one on Sunday too, and it’s kind of getting overlooked by fns, but it will get out there because its being broadcast all over the radios that Sunday its two and three in the country going at it. Plus, it will be announced during the match on Friday, plus we’re playing Kansas in basketball and they’re going to do something there. So it’ll get out.

On the wrestling community having an unfamiliar favorite to win the Big 12
I’m sure for outside fans hearing that Iowa State and Missouri are the favorites in the Big 12 – Iowa State not as much, but with us, that’s a definite change because our average is five, taking fifth in the Big 12. But five years ago we were second in the Big 12. We’ve been there before, we’ve had some good teams that have finished fourth and just didn’t have good Big 12s and this year, it’s definitely my strongest team since I’ve been here, but every year we get a little bit better and better. The program’s just it’s growing things. This is my ninth season, when I took over it was just bottomed out. IT just takes time, an now it’s a culture where the fans are starting to understand the sport and are coming out for matches. We’re getting better and better recruits so our room is getting deeper, we have a lot of good depth in our room, a lot of good things. Plus, our facilities are the nicest in the Big 12 right now. I know Oklahoma State is expanding their room but facility-wise I know we have the best facility. The biggest room, we have our own weight room just for wrestling, and we have brand new locker rooms. So a lot of changes have been made, besides the kids coming in and wrestling hard, we’ve had some good facility things, budgetary things that have helped the program.

I mean six years ago we were 18-3, the next year we were in the national dual finals, and every year we’ve just kind of put more and more pieces of the puzzle together. Him winning the national title was big because it was just something that’s something never been done in the program, and but it seems like every year we do something that’s never been done in the program, this year we’re hoping to win the Big 12s and have multiply ranked national champions with the Brothers being ranked No. 1 and a couple other guys in the hunt, so there is a lot of things. We thought we could win theNational Duals, it’s the first time we’ve been ranked No. 1 in the country, so every year we just break barriers.

On what senior Ben Askren has done for the program
Ben winning a national title was a huge thing because I know just recruiting wise other coaches were saying why would you go to Missouri they’ve never had a national champ. And in our conference, that’s a big deal. When you look at the other four schools, they’ve all had multiple time national champions. And they’d say if you go there, they’ve never had a national champ. Now, we have the Hodge Award winner and that makes a difference. We tell kids that and they all know who he is. And now, with his brother here and we have other kids like Raymond Jordan, ranked fourth or fifth in the country, and we have Matt Pell. We’ve got a solid program.

On Askren as a leader
He wants to win. He has a great work ethic. He’s an unbelievable team player, or team wrestler if you want to state it that way. He really cares about what the team does. I went to Marable, Pell and Askren before the Minnesota dual and said you know if it happesn to be where the dual is kinda not going our way, I may end up bumping you guys. And these are two seniors that could have this really affect their years, because Pell had only lost to Hendricks at that point, and Tannenbaum from Michigan, and then Askren is undefeated looking to win the Hodge again, you know, which on a personal level is a big deal for him. But none of them flinched, they all said let's do it.
And that’s the type of kids they are. In the summer, they’re dragging kids around with them. Hey I’ll take you to this camp. Outside our kids, they’re taking kids to other camps and working out with them, and that’s what makes the team better. He told me in the beginning of them year “I want to win the team title. I’m focused on winning the individual again, but I really want to do everything.” And that’s what great. Him and Matt Pell. We have two really good seniors who want to do great things as a team.