Missouri’s wrestling room is entering another season with familiar hands guiding the ship, and Brian Smith sounds exactly like the steady, quietly driven coach who has built Tiger Style into what it is. In a sit-down with FloWrestling, Smith talked through his 28 seasons at Mizzou - now heading into 29 - and made clear that his commitment to the program still runs deep. He also said retirement will be “soon.”
That continuity matters in Columbia. Kendric Maple and Dom Bradley have both been on staff for more than five seasons, with Bradley’s connection stretching back nearly 20 years to his time wrestling for Smith.
Keegan O’Toole is beginning his second season as an assistant after a decorated career in black and gold. That kind of stability has helped shape the culture around the program, even as the sport’s transfer portal and NIL era has made roster-building more complicated.
Smith said the modern landscape is tricky for someone who values recruiting and watching athletes grow inside a system over multiple seasons. Even so, Missouri still landed two notable transfers this offseason in Zan Fugitt and Luke Geog, both of whom add to a roster that already has multiple wrestlers with All-American upside.
One of the names at the top of that list is Seth Mendoza at 149 pounds. A redshirt freshman, Mendoza went 8-5 in attached matches last season, with three tech falls and a pin.
Smith said, “Seth is really growing up and just getting better,” and the results back that up. Mendoza was MatScout’s No. 11 recruit in the country coming out of high school, and even in a redshirt season he showed his level with wins over No.
10 Jacob Frost of Iowa State and former NCAA qualifier Tagen Jamison of Oklahoma State. With Joshua Edmond out of eligibility, Mendoza is set to take over the starting job at 149, and FloWrestling has him No. 6 in its championship projection rankings.
At 174, Cam Steed put together another late surge in 2026, much like he did in 2025. The redshirt senior moved up from 165 to 174 and took his wrestling up a notch with it.
He finished 19-7, matching his record from his redshirt sophomore season, but this time he added his first Big 12 title and a second All-American honor, capped by a career-best fifth-place finish at nationals. His season had some rough patches - including an emotional moment at the Tiger Style Invite and an injury at the National Duals - but he finished with force, racking up 11 combined wins by fall or tech fall.
FloWrestling has him No. 4 in the weight class, behind Nebraska’s Christopher Minto, who beat Steed 5-1 at the NCAA Championships.
Aeoden Sinclair’s first season as a starter at 184 was the kind that turns heads fast. The redshirt sophomore went 36-2, with both losses coming against Iowa’s Angelo Ferrari, and finished third at nationals to earn All-American status.
He was already a high-end prospect coming out of high school, but the consistency he showed as a first-year starter still stood out. Sinclair also won a Big 12 title and posted 19 ranked wins during the season.
Beyond the results, Smith pointed to the way Sinclair carries himself and stays engaged in the sport, saying, “Having people like that who just have a passion for the sport… and doing all these extra little things that bring a team close together, I’m excited about (the team),” Smith said. Sinclair has also stayed busy this offseason, competing for the U20 and U23 world teams and wrestling in several RAF events.
FloWrestling ranks him No. 4 at the weight, behind Max McEnelly, Rocco Welsh and Angelo Ferrari.
Geog, meanwhile, arrives from Ohio State with a résumé that suggests there’s room for a jump. The redshirt junior is projected at 197 and came to Mizzou through the portal along with Fugitt.
Missouri could end up getting a similar kind of impact from Geog that it got from Evan Bates at the weight last season, though Geog has a chance to clear that bar. Bates finished 23-11 but did not place at the Big 12 Tournament or NCAA Championships.
Geog has two top-six finishes at the Big Ten Tournament and qualified for the NCAA Championships in both 2024 and last season, but he has not yet placed at nationals. He has only two career wins by fall and 18 by tech fall, so there’s still projection baked into the outlook, but Missouri’s developmental track record gives that upside some real weight.
FloWrestling currently has him as a round-of-12 exit, and the Big 12 picture at 197 has thinned enough that only three wrestlers in the conference are ranked ahead of him right now.
In Other News...
Mizzou Fall Camp Is Already Shaping Two Crucial Position Battles
Missouris second fall camp practice with media access offered an early look at a few battles that could matter well beyond August. Redshirt senior defensive tackle Marquis Gracial set the tone by leading the opening rally, while edge rushers Darris Smith, Langden Kitchen and Daeden Hopkins handled the bulk of the snaps as the Tigers sort through who will fill out that rotation. On the offensive side, Austin Simmons ran the drills with Matt Zollers, Nick Evers and Gavin Sidwar still jockeying for backup quarterback work, giving the staff an early chance to evaluate how the depth chart might settle.
Special teams had its own intrigue as kicker Blake Craig was back in action after his long rehab, and punter Brunno Reus worked with the first group. Four-star linebacker JJ Bush also participated in practice, a notable development for a defense trying to add more options at the second level. None of this decides anything in early August, but it does underline how many spots remain open, and how quickly those reps can shape the rest of camp. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou's Cornerback Battle Just Got Tougher Than Fans Realized
Missouris secondary has added some real intrigue this spring, starting with Jahlil Florence as the first official transfer addition from the January portal window and then bringing in another former Oregon defensive back in Sione Laulea. Both are now in the mix for starting cornerback jobs, and they have joined a crowded competition that already includes Ole Miss transfer Chris Graves Jr., giving the Tigers multiple options as they sort out the back end of the defense.
Cornerbacks coach Al Pogue has already pointed to the pairs skill set and the leadership they bring as they settle into the program, which only raises the importance of how this battle plays out. For Missouri, the challenge is not just finding one dependable starter but figuring out how all of these new faces fit together quickly enough to make the position group a strength instead of a spring-long project. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Is Getting National Respect With One Brutal Test Still Ahead
Missouri is entering the season with a bit more national attention than it had a year ago, as USA Todays preseason Coaches Top 25 poll placed the Tigers in the mix among the countrys final ranked teams. The recognition fits with a roster that already has several individual players drawing notice, including Ahmad Hardy, Cayden Green and Brett Le Blanc landing on national award watchlists tied to the Maxwell Award, Outland Trophy and Patrick Mannelly Award.
Hardy and Green also made the Preseason All-SEC First Team, giving Missouri a pair of headliners before the first snap is even taken. The larger question now is how that respect holds up once the games start and the Tigers face the kind of proving ground that can turn preseason buzz into something sturdier, or expose how much work still remains. [Read more 🡒]