A comparison of Missouri’s starting lineup on Nov. 2 versus Northern Colorado to what it will be on Wednesday against Arizona State is such a stark difference that the Tigers could be labeled as the Missouri M.A.S.H. unit.

Many, if not most, athletic teams encounter injury problems; this is preposterous bordering on pure absurdity.

The projected lineup for Wednesday night’s dual with the Sun Devils includes seven wrestlers who were not on the mat for the Tigers when they opened the season against UNC. Mizzou is also without the services of two lineup anchors from last year’s squad: four-time NCAA qualifier Noah Surtin (125), who medically retired, and four-time All-America Rocky Elam (197), who is out for the year. 

The others who are sidelined?

“They’re going to return but I don’t know if it will be for the conference meet or maybe the Iowa State meet (Feb. 22); that’s probably the soonest,” Missouri coach Brian Smith said. “I mean, it's never fun when you look over in your cardio area at the guys there and you're like, ‘These are all great wrestlers that are experienced, and some have been to nationals four times.’

“One of them is a four-time All-American (two-time NCAA champ Keegan O’Toole). And we've had other injuries to even back-up kids; we've had about 10 kids have surgeries, or need surgeries, and it's just that we don't even have depth anymore.”

Leave it to a guy with 27 years of experience at Mizzou to find the bright spot. 

“We've had a lot of great discussions and great practices, and I'm actually — it may sound crazy — enjoying the difficulty,” Smith said. “I think our fan base and our program … I don't know if it's stale, but we just expected to always go in and win, which is great. But now that there's a struggle, it's almost like this hunger is coming back. And you see that the guys are on each other about things. We’ve got to do little things right. 

“They're excited about competing, even if they're not the starter and they're getting thrown out there, they want to be the guy that makes the difference to win the dual,” Smith continued. “It's kind of become enjoyable that we're this big underdog now, and we’ve got to fight through it until we get guys healthy. It’s not that I want my team to lose, but it's a different perspective that we haven't had in a while. I think it's going to elevate our program; I know it's going to.”

Smith took a troop of a dozen or more Tigers to the Cyclone Open in Ames, Iowa, last weekend to find ways to focus on the good.

“Some of those younger guys did a really good job,” Smith said. “We had a lot of them competing hard and getting back on the mat, like a Cam Steed (165), even a Seth Nitzel (285), a few of them like that who are just getting back out there. So it gave us some positive because it's been a struggle.”

Smith said Gage Walker (125), Josh Edmonds (141) and James Conway (157) are wrestling well, but the Tigers might have to forfeit one weight class against ASU. 

“We bumped a kid up three weights the other day against Utah Valley, and the kid went up and lost a major and helped us win the dual (18-16), so that's kind of the predicament we're in,” he said.

He said Joel Mylin (165) started the season at 149 and has battled highly ranked wrestlers. 

“And Jeremy Jakowitsch came in at 141 and has wrestled five weights at Missouri,” Smith said. “He said, ‘Coach, I’ll go at 184,’ and I said ‘Go at ‘74 to keep your certification.’ But I love kids that are willing to do that.

“That's showing that the kids still care, and the program’s still in good shape. We just have to get healthy; that's going to happen. Those are the little battles that you see … kids giving that effort, working really hard in the room, and showing improvement; those are the things you have to focus on.”

The team’s overall work ethic is described by Smith as “unbelievable,” when he thinks of all the ways they could be negative and down on themselves. 

“That's what you have to do, you have to win some little battles … stop focusing on the big things and find those little battles and find some positives. And that's what we're doing,” he said.

The Tigers are 3-7 and, interestingly, the program hasn’t had a losing record since 2001. 

“Just think about that, that’s a long time,” Smith said. “Eventually we'll get some guys back. When we get Keegan (174) and (Colton) Hawks (184) and Cam Steed (165) and (Logan) Gioffre (149) and those guys back, we'll have a solid lineup again.”

After the rare Wednesday match, Missouri will host West Virginia on Sunday in another Big 12 dual and then go to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State on back-to-back days Feb. 1-2. But then there are 20 days between that two-match weekend the final dual against Iowa State, giving the Tigers time for another training cycle and time to get healthy.

Smith not only remains optimistic about this season but the next one as well, as he signed a 10-man recruiting class that includes Big Board #9 Seth Mendoza (133), #23 Kollin Rath (157), #28 Dominic Bambinelli (165/174) and #34 Sampson Stillwell (285).

“It's a special group, a lot of bright young men who love wrestling,” Smith said. “When I talk to them, I'll be driving home, or be talking to them after a meet as a group, they're like, ‘We're going to be the guys to bring it back’ and ‘We’re coming, Coach, we’re coming.’”

Smith made sure to stress that the current problems do not mark the end of the world. 

“It’s just been a struggle of a season with injuries, but I do see guys getting healthy, so that's a good thing,” he said.