Morning wrestling practices at Mizzou start before the sun makes its appearance over Columbia, and on one particular February morning in 2017, Tigers coach Brian Smith noticed something unusual on his drive to the Hearnes Center.
“I see this person in the dark and think who’s that massive guy running in the middle of the winter?” Smith recalled recently. “I get to morning practice and J’den shows up. I ask him, ‘Were you just running down Providence?’”
“He says, ‘Yeah, I’m running to morning practices now just to get in an extra workout. I don’t want to leave any doubt for this year.