In unfortunate news for Missouri wrestling fans, head coach Brian Smith announced on Thursday that Rocky Elam will not wrestle this year for the Tigers. The Missouri Athletic Department released Smith's below statement:

"We are home the whole month of January, so I felt it was important to let the fan base know, Rocky has been recovering from multiple injuries and will not be back this season.

Rocky Elam has been a staple at 197 pounds for Missouri over the past four years. Elam is a four-time All-American placing 5th (2021), 4th (2022), 3rd (2023), and 6th (2024) at the NCAA Tournament and was ranked #3 in the country prior to his removal. Elam has yet to wrestle this season because of his injury and will likely be eligible for another year if he applies for a medical hardship waiver to cover this season.

Keegan O'Toole Out For A Month

Beyond the Elam news, coach Smith also shared that Keegan O'Toole will not wrestle this month because of an injury. Smith had this to say about O'Toole:

Keegan sustained an injury earlier in the year and has been battling through it. We ultimately made the decision that it is best to hold him out and let him recover as much as possible.

O'Toole is also a 4-time All-American and is currently ranked #1 in the country at 174 pounds. O'Toole is a two-time NCAA Champion at 165 pounds (2022 & 2023) and also placed third twice (2021 & 2024). Most recently, O'Toole defeated Penn State's #2 Levi Haines at the Collegiate Duals on December 22 in a 4-1 overtime thriller. With this news, O'Toole will miss 5 matches but if he's back by February, his first two matches will be against highly ranked opponents. Missouri is set to wrestle Oklahoma and Oklahoma State on February 1 and 2 respectively. If O'Toole is back for those duals, he will wrestle #10 Gaven Sax and #3 Dean Hamiti in successive days.