Smith keeps family tradition alive at NCAA championships
ST. LOUIS — Father and son stood together Thursday in the northwest tunnel of the Scottrade Center. The pair exchanged few words. A head nod. A slap on the rear. Nothing more.
Oklahoma State coach John Smith followed 157pound Cowboy wrestler Joe Smith from the arena’s shadow and into its spotlight where more than 18,000 in attendance looked upon eight mats on college wrestling’s biggest stage.
The NCAA championship spectacle is hardly overwhelming, though, for the sport’s first family.
John Smith won consecutive national titles in 1987 and 1988. His brother, Lee Roy, earned one in 1980. A third brother, Pat, became the first to ever win four straight in 1994. Joe Smith practically grew up at here as the coach’s son who watched the Cowboys claim four consecutive team titles from 2003 to 2006.
“I’ve been coming to this event since I was probably seven years old,” Joe Smith said. “It’s just something that I’ve had as a lifelong goal, to compete in this event, to win and to get All-American. I just find it as carrying my family tradition and accomplishing my own goals.”
So, the silence he shared in that arena tunnel in the fleeting moments before his first match was warranted. Joe Smith, now an OSU sophomore, needed no last-minute instruction.
“You realize the journey, being able to see this opportunity, it’s much more than just wrestling,” John Smith said. “It’s a bond that you have in a sport that you love.”
OSU finished the first day of competition in third place with 25.5 team points. Joe Smith, the No. 5-seed, advanced to the quarterfinals with decision victories against Purdue’s unseeded Alex Griffin (4-3) and Minnesota’s No. 8 Jake Short (6-3).
It might as well have been a Smith family reunion, too. In the crowd was mom, two sisters and two brothers. Three or four aunts and uncles and their spouses. Grandparents and six to eight cousins. In all, Lee Roy Smith estimated more than 20 family members were there to watch the latest Smith push for a title.
“He’s always engaged it and been around it,” Lee Roy Smith said. “His dad has created a space from him to grow, develop and enjoy the sport and what it can do for you as a person.
“He’s always understood that perspective. We’ve been real proud of him.”
But it hasn’t always been easy.
Joe Smith expected to redshirt as a freshman, but had it pulled that January, and still managed to win a Big 12 title and earn All-America status with a seventh place finish at nationals. This season, he missed extended time with multiple injuries, then repeated as a conference champion.
“As a coach, you have a little bit of compassion for him, but as a dad, I kind of like everything that’s happened,” John Smith said. “It hasn’t been easy on him. … Either you deal with (adversity) or you fall short, which is not the worst thing in the world, as long as you get back up.”
It doesn’t get any easier for moving forward for Joe Smith, either. He’s set to face the fourth-seed from Nebraska, Tyler Berger, in the quarterfinals Friday.
“The family certainly is there, win or lose, to support him,” Lee Roy Smith said, “and hopefully continue a great tradition we’re very proud of.”