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Keegan O’Toole sat on the mat awaiting an official’s decision. Already up big in his gold medal match of the 2021 Junior World Championships, his fate was square in his hands but with time left on the clock nothing was set in stone. That was until the official called the match a technical fall in favor of O’Toole.
It was a moment he’d dreamt of and worked toward his entire life. Completing the journey 5,693 miles from home would be a lonely feeling for some, but as O’Toole came off the mat he was greeted with an enveloping hug from Mizzou Wrestling assistant coach Kendric Maple.
Having Maple by his side made the victory in Ufa, Russia more meaningful. And as if the win wasn’t sweet enough, a friendly bet between the two of them added that extra cherry.
“The first thing [O’Toole] said after he won his world title, he comes off the mat and says ‘you better lace them up’ and points to me,” Maple said.
A couple months prior to their overseas trip, O’Toole approached Maple during practice with a proposition: if the freshman won the junior world title, Maple would come out of retirement to compete at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas in April 2022.
The 2013 NCAA Champion at 141 pounds and a three-time All-American, Maple’s expertise on the mat is a talent that O’Toole and the rest of the team wanted to be showcased on the national level for the first time in three years.
“Everyone in the practice room knows how [talented] Coach Maple is,” O’Toole said. “We’re always telling him that he should compete. I saw a moment and I figured I’d get him in front of the whole wrestling room.”
The wager reflects the mutual respect and admiration the coach and his athlete share. According to O’Toole, their relationship goes far beyond the mat. While living hours away from his family in Hartland, Wis., Maple acts as a father figure through his college experience.
O’Toole, whose freshman year was marred by the pandemic, was homesick when he first moved to Columbia. In the team, and specifically with Maple, he found a second family.
During their training days, Maple participates with the team in lifting and sparring practices. He believes that being on the same level as his athletes gives him an opportunity to continue growing closer to them.
“There’s not much of a better bond when you can go out and scrap,” Maple said. “You get to see a purer side of somebody.”
Traveling to Ufa alongside head coach Brian Smith and fellow Mizzou wrestlers, Rocky Elam and Colton Hawks, Maple and O’Toole were able to grow their bond as the American contingent endured over 24 hours of travel and experienced a brand-new culture together. The two continued to practice together as O’Toole advanced his way through the tournament.
Dominating all four rounds at the Junior World Championships, the freshman had Maple in his corner through each of his wins, two of which were by fall. As they walked out of the arena with O’Toole draped in the American flag, his coach walked right behind him excitedly. It was the culmination of months of hard training and hours of seeing each other in the purest form.
O’Toole hopes to compete alongside Maple at the U.S. Open. Since they wrestle at different weights, the ideal scenario would be for them to both win titles. For that to happen, the student-athlete will make sure his coach doesn’t arrive to the desert without proper preparation.
“I’m going to make him train and keep him on his toes,” O’Toole said.
