MO State HS Sports

TigerStyle In-Depth: From Rocky IV to International Dreams, Three Mizzou Wrestlers Take On UWW Junior World Championships

Keegan O'Toole wins by pin in first round of NCAA Championships

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Freshman Rocky Elam doesn’t have certainty on the origin of his name. For him, though, it doesn’t really matter. He sits down to talk in the Hearnes Center wrestling practice room wearing a shirt with his presumptive namesake sprawled across the chest.

For Elam, channeling Sylvester Stallone’s iconic character adds another layer of meaning for an already exciting opportunity to represent the United States overseas.

“This is what I’ve dreamed of as a child and now I’m living it,” Elam said.

Thirty-six years after Rocky Balboa infamously fought Ivan Drago in Russia in “Rocky IV,” Elam and his Mizzou Wrestling teammates Colton Hawks and Keegan O’Toole will travel east to accomplish their own dreams on Russian soil.

The trio is set to compete with Team USA in the United World Wrestling Junior Championships from Aug.16-22 in Ufa, Russia. They are three of just 10 American wrestlers to qualify for the international event.

American champions in their respective weight classes, the group had to first get past their fellow countrymen at the UWW Junior Nationals in Coralville, Iowa, in May. In each of their championship best-of-three series, the Mizzou wrestlers did not lose a match.

Wrestling at 74 kg, O’Toole won his second consecutive UWW Junior National Championships. He would have qualified for the world team in 2020 but, due to the pandemic, there were no international events held.

Training in his home state, Wisconsin, with Mizzou Hall of Famer and former Olympian Ben Askren, O’Toole can now continue the proud lineage of Mizzou wrestlers donning the red, white and blue.

“To finally have the opportunity to put on a singlet that has the USA on the front of it and represent my country is going to be something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.”

Unlike O’Toole and Elam, whose finishes at the 2021 NCAA Championships already garnered them All-America honors, Hawks will now be considered All-America in a different context.

Wrestling at 86 kg, Hawks, who only started three times during his freshman season, secured his title as the best American freestyle wrestler under 20 years old in his weight class in dramatic fashion with a pin in 4:00.

His world team appearance gives Hawks the opportunity to go head-to-head with international competition for the first time in his career.

“[The world championships] is going to be something that really makes a leap in my wrestling,” Hawks said.

In addition to traveling with Tiger teammates, the group has the luxury of having head coach Brian Smith and assistant coach Kendric Maple accompany the team overseas. For Elam, who will wrestle at 92 kg, he will even be surrounded by family.

Able to bring personal coaches with them, he will be joined by his father Bryan. The elder Elam has served as Rocky’s personal coach his entire life. He also has experience traveling overseas with Rocky’s older brother, Mizzou wrestler Zach Elam, who competed at the 2018 Junior World Championships in Slovakia.

Zach won a silver medal in his international appearance after being added to the American contingent as a late alternate. The family’s experience on the world stage gives Rocky an opportunity to learn from his brother’s first-hand advice.

“I’ve always followed in Zach’s footsteps,” Elam said. “He’s been a great leader for me.”

The Tigers have bounced back and forth from their hometown training mats to the Hearnes Center wrestling room, which is classified as a Regional Training Center for USA Wrestling and therefore open all-year to wrestlers across Missouri. With three members on the world team, USA Junior Wrestling head coach Jackson decided to bring the entire team to Columbia for its training camp.

Training in the shadow of Mizzou Olympians Askren and J’den Cox, the team’s upcoming UWW Junior World Championship trip acts as a jumping off point for their individual Olympic aspirations. For Brian Smith, hosting the training camp will act as another opportunity for him to help his athletes toward that goal.

“[Elam, Hawks and O’Toole] came here to become Olympians and this is a part of that process,” Smith said.

This article is provided by University of Missouri Athletics