Mizzou Head Wrestling Coach Brian Smith has added one of the nation's top rising young coaches to his staff as Kendric Maple has joined the program as an assistant coach, subject to the completion of a successful background check per University policy, announced today by Mizzou Wrestling. Maple, a three-time All-American and 2013 NCAA Champion, comes to Mizzou after a successful two-year coaching stint at Nebraska where he coached five All-Americans and one NCAA Champion. Maple takes over the position that was left vacated by the departure of Joe Johnston, who took an associate head coaching job at Air Force earlier this month.
"We're excited to welcome Kendric to Tiger Style and his success both as a coach and on the mat embody what Tiger Style is all about," head coach Brian Smith said. "Kendric is a US Freestyle champion and won an NCAA Title at Oklahoma, so he understands what it takes to win at the highest levels of our sport, and I know he can serve as a great teacher and mentor to our wrestlers. I expect him to have a profound impact on our team and I can't wait for him to get started in the room with us."
"My family and I are very excited to have this opportunity to work with such a great program," Maple said. "Coach Smith has proven his ability to build student-athletes, both on and off the mat. I will greatly miss the staff and student-athletes at Nebraska, but I am looking forward to being able to work with this amazing program."
Maple spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Nebraska, helping the Huskers to a ninth-place finish at the 2017-18 NCAA Championships and a 10th place finish last season. In 2017-18, he guided Chad Red Jr. to All-America honors at 141 pounds, as Red became NU's first All-American at that weight since 2004. Red again earned All-American honors at last year's NCAA Championships. Maple also helped Tyler Berger and Taylor Venz to All-America honors in 2018. At the 2019 NCAA Championships, he helped coached Berger to a second-place nod at 157 pounds as well.
Prior to joining the Nebraska staff, Maple spent one year at Purdue as an assistant coach, where he helped lead three Boilermakers to the 2017 NCAA Championships. While there, he worked alongside new Mizzou Associate Head Coach Tyrel Todd, who joined Mizzou earlier this summer after a very successful career at Purdue.
Maple's coaching career began at his alma mater, Oklahoma, where he was a volunteer assistant from 2014-16. During his two seasons on staff, Maple coached former teammate Cody Brewer to the 133-pound title at the 2015 NCAA Championships. In 2016, Maple helped Brewer claim his fourth All-America honor with a third-place finish at 133 pounds at the NCAA Championships. Maple also played a key role in Ryan Millhof's 2016 Big 12 title run and All-America finish at 125 pounds.
Maple was one of the most successful wrestlers in OU history, as he won three All-America awards and posted a 127-25 (.836) career record from 2010-14. His 127 wins rank sixth all-time at Oklahoma.
Maple concluded his 2012-13 season by claiming the 141-pound NCAA title and finishing a perfect 31-0. The following year, after moving to 149 pounds, Maple became OU's 25th three-time All-American after placing eighth at the NCAA Championships. He took fourth in 141 pounds in 2012.
Off the mat, Maple was named to the Capital One Academic All-America Division I At-Large Team in 2014. Additionally, he was a three-time NWCA All-Academic Team member (2012, 2013, 2014), a two-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 honoree (2013, 2014) and a second-team Academic All-Big 12 selection (2012). He also won the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, as well as the Big 12 Dr. Prentice Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship.
Maple continued to see success in freestyle wrestling following the completion of his college career. He was a member of the United States team in 2018 that won the UWW Freestyle World Cup for the first time since 2003. Maple is a two-time U.S. Freestyle Open Men's finalist (61 kg), winning the title in April 2017. He also won the 61 kg title at the 2017 Medved International. Maple was a finalist in the 61 kg at the 2017 U.S. Freestyle World Team Trials. He was the runner-up at the 2015 U.S. Open, as he qualified for the U.S. Freestyle World Team Trials, where he earned a fourth-place finish.
Originally from Wichita, Kan., Maple earned his bachelor's degree from Oklahoma in health and exercise science in May 2013. He received his master's degree in adult and higher education, with an emphasis in intercollegiate athletic administration from OU in May 2015. Maple and his wife, Jordin, have two sons, Kiner and Kyro.
Hagerty joins the Tigers program after serving as both the men's and women's wrestling head coach at William Jewell. Hagerty joined Jewell in Aug. 2020 and was tasked with starting a women's program while revitalizing the men's program after a 27-year hiatus.
"I am excited to announce Keenan Hagerty will be joining our program as the new Director of Operations," Smith said. "Keenan grew up in Missouri, learning to wrestle while competing and coaching. Having to manage many responsibilities at William Jewell as the men's and women's head coach has prepared him for his position here as the director of operations and his background will add to our success on and off the mat. Please welcome him to the Tiger Style family!"
During Hagerty's head coaching stint, he showed his mettle as a recruiter, bringing over 30 new student-athletes into the wrestling programs. Hagerty led the women's program its first-ever national ranking of No. 15 while Emalie Olson earned the first individual national ranking at No. 8 in the 116-pound class. Five student-athletes from the women's program advanced to the NCWWC National Championships and freshman Sarina Bertram was tabbed as the William Jewell Women's Newcomer of the Year honors.
"I am extremely excited to join Coach Smith and the rest of the Tiger Style wrestling staff," Hagerty said. "Mizzou Wrestling is one of the most respected NCAA Division I programs in the nation. I am looking forward to the opportunity to contribute in any way possible. Although it was a very tough decision to leave the program we were building at William Jewell. I am confident that this program is in great hands with the leadership and commitment of both the College and athletic department at Jewell. The position as director of operations at Mizzou provides a unique opportunity for me to assist with a program that has the vision of a national championship."
Prior to his stint with the Cardinals, Hagerty spent four years as the top assistant at Maryville University. During that time, he has helped Maryville to 19 All-Great Lakes Valley Conference selections, 15 NCAA-II national qualifiers, seven All-Americans and one national champion.
Hagerty spent his own collegiate career at Maryville and his list of accomplishments is long. He compiled a career record of 125-28, was a four-time national qualifier and three time All-American. He opened his career in 2012 with a 33-7 mark and finished as the national runner-up at 149. Following that season, he was named the Maryville University Male Athlete of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. Throughout his career he set school records for wins in a season (42) and career (125), was a three-time Super Regional finalist, winning the title in 2013 and a NWCA All-Academic selection.
Although, he competed collegiately across the state, Hagerty's wrestling roots run deep in Kansas City. He attended Blue Springs High School where he won a state championship under his father, Mike, a 2016 inductee into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Hagerty earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Maryville in 2016.
Beginning his career as Missouri's seventh Head Wrestling Coach, Brian Smith sat down with his team and made a list of goals that he hoped would help the 1998 squad and future Tiger teams. Over the past 20 years, Smith and the many men that have come through the Mizzou Wrestling program have slowly but surely checked items off that original list. Individual Big 12 and MAC Conference Champions, improved grade-point averages, record-setting attendances, a No. 1 national ranking and Missouri's first-ever NCAA National Champion in wrestling were all on Smith's "to-do" list. Smith has checked off each task on his list, and he continues to take the program to unreached heights. His unique “Tiger Style” training program has molded today's team into a national powerhouse that continues to pursue the program's first team NCAA title.
Since being introduced as Missouri's Head Wrestling Coach May 5, 1998, Smith has demanded nothing but the best from himself, his coaches and his wrestlers. Owning 17 consecutive seasons with a dual record at or above .500, beginning with the 2001-02 season, Smith has coached 25 All-Americans to 51 top-eight performances and five Tigers to eight national championships.
The winningest coach in program history, Smith has compiled a 267-93-3 record at Missouri over his 20 season tenure. On Nov. 15, 2014 in the team’s season opener, Smith and his Tigers claimed a 54-0 victory over Truman State and gave the legendary coach his 200th career win at Mizzou. Smith’s 100th career victory came on Dec. 9, 2006 in Mount Pleasant, Mich., as the team bested then-No. 11 Central Michigan, 31-9. The win made Smith just the second Tiger wrestling coach to reach the 100-win plateau.
With a .736 career winning percentage, Smith holds the highest winning percentage in Mizzou wrestling history. Smith earned six consecutive conference Coach of the Year honors from 2012-17, including five straight awards by the MAC league office. Additionally, Smith has been honored as the top wrestling coach in the NCAA twice in his career, first being named the Dan Gable Coach of the Year by W.I.N. Magazine in 2007, then Smith was named the National Wrestling Coaches Association Coach of the Year in 2017.
Mizzou Wrestling head coach Brian Smith has hired Purdue's Tyrel Todd as the program's new Associate Head Coach, announced in May by Mizzou Athletics. Todd comes to Mizzou following a very successful five-year stint at Purdue, serving as the Boilermaker's lead assistant coach since 2016. He will fill the position on Coach Smith's staff that was vacated by the departure of Alex Clemsen, who took the head coaching job at Maryland last month.
"When looking for new members of your coaching staff, it's always important to find and identify people who fit your culture and embody what your program is all about. For me, Tyrel is a perfect fit for Tiger Style and brings the type of work ethic that I know will translate well to the type of wrestlers that we have in the room every day. He is a decorated wrestler and left an unbelievable mark on Purdue's program during his five years there. I am excited to welcome him and his wife Loni, and their two daughters, to Columbia and can't wait to see the impact he will have on Tiger Style."
"This is a very exciting opportunity for me to work with Coach Smith and his outstanding staff," Todd said. "I have known Coach Smith since my recruitment by Missouri in high school. I believe in a strong team community that is committed to excellence. I am fired up to put on the stripes, go Tigers."
Todd began his stint at Purdue during the 2014-15 season and helped elevate the program thanks to a tireless work ethic on the recruiting trail. He helped put together three consecutive top-25 recruiting classes, starting in 2016 when he was elevated to the program's lead assistant role. He secured nine top-100 recruits over his first four seasons at Purdue, and the program reaped the benefits of that in 2017-18. That year, the Boilermakers turned in their best Big Ten Championships performance in six years at the Big Ten Championships with 59.5 points to finish ninth in the team standings. The 59.5 points were the most at Big Tens for Purdue in nearly a decade. He coached six placewinners at the meet, the most since seven Boilermakers landed on the podium in 2012.
In four seasons with Todd on staff, Purdue had 27 NCAA Championship qualifiers and 24 Big Ten Championships placewinners.
Prior to his stint at Purdue, Todd served as an assistant coach at Cal Poly (2010-11) and Arizona State (2013-14). While on staff at Cal Poly, Todd coached four NCAA qualifiers (141, 157, 165, 197), including a runner-up finish from Borislav Novachkov at 141. The following season Ryan DesRoches earned All-America honors at 174.
In July 2013, Todd was named an assistant coach at Arizona State where he worked hands on daily with the upper-weights, including Blake Staffer, who earned All-America honors at 184 pounds with a third-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Championships. Todd's work at ASU focused on recruiting, coordinating practices, developing training schedules and organizing team travel.
Todd is an extremely decorated collegiate wrestler, earning All-America honors three times at Michigan, culminating with 2009 Big Ten Championship during his senior season at Michigan. That year, he went 25-3 overall and earned fourth place at the NCAA Championships. He finished his collegiate career with a 121-30 overall record, ranking 16th in UM history in career wins.
He excelled in the classroom as well at Michigan, a trait that was important to Coach Smith during the search process. He was an All-Big Ten Academic selection and Athletic Academic Achievement Award winner in 2006, received the Snip Nalan Scholarship for Wrestling in 2008-09 and was named the team's Distinguished Scholar in 2009.
Todd also found success wrestling freestyle at 84 kg. He took fifth at the 2007 ASICS U.S. National Championships, eighth in 2008 and was seventh in 2011. In 2008, Todd placed fourth at the Olympic Trials, narrowly missing a bid for the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Todd is a native of Bozeman, Montana, and hails from a six-generation dairy farming operation. He received his bachelor's degree in secondary education from Michigan in 2009, majoring in history and minoring in psychology. He and his wife, Loni, have two daughters, Jacy Clair and Reyn Lindsay.
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