Oklahoma State Wrestling Set Up Pretty Good in Final NCAA Coach Rankings
(This story originated with Oklahoma State University athletic media relations and was writtent by Jake LeForcce. Pokes Report publisher Robert Allen contributed to the story.)
STILLWATER – All 10 Cowboy starters landed in the top-20 of the third and final coaches ranking for the 2024 NCAA Championships, the NCAA announced on Thursday. Six Cowboys cracked the top-10 at their weight, highlighted by No. 2 placements from both Daton Fix and Dustin Plott. In addition, Troy Spratley, Teague Travis, Brayden Thompson and Luke Surber all secured higher placements in Thursday’s poll than they did in the original ranking back on January 22.
The coaches ranking is determined by a vote of 14 coaches in each weight class with two head coaches from each of the seven conferences. For ranking purposes, coaches may only consider a wrestler that has been designated as a starter at a respective weight class. Wrestlers must have eight Division I matches in the weight class to be considered with at least one within the last 30 days.
This poll is one of several criteria that will be evaluated by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee during at-large selection and seeding process along with head-to-head competition, quality wins, Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), conference tournament placement, results versus common opponents and win percentage. In other words these rankings will hold the key to the seedings that will roll out for the upcoming NCAA Championships in Kansas City, Mo. March 21-23 at the T-Mobile Center.
On Thursday, the NCAA also announced the pre-allocation spots for each conference tournament to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. The Big 12 was awarded 57 total automatic qualifying spots throughout the 10 weight classes, second-most in the country. The Big Ten led all conferences with 85 total pre-allocation spots.
After all the conference tournaments have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will meet in-person to select the 47 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 12, while brackets and seeding will be announced the following day.
The Cowboys are set to open postseason competition at the Big 12 Championships in Tulsa, Okla., on March 9 and 10. Two weeks later, OSU will conclude its season at the NCAA Championships in Kansas City, Mo.
| Weight | Oklahoma State Wrestler and (Ranking) | Big 12 Pre-Allocations for NCAA Championship (No. of Big 12 Wrestlers ranked ahead of OSU) |
| 125 | Troy Spratley (No. 10) | 6 (1 - Noah Surtin, Mo.) |
| 133 | Daton Fix (No. 2) | 6 (None) |
| 141 | Tagen Jamison (No. 8) | 5 (7 - Anthony Echemendia, ISU) |
| 149 | Jordan Williams (No. 18) | 6 (6 - Casey Swiderski, ISU; 7 - Ty Watters, WVU; 17 - Willie McDougald, OU) |
| 157 | Teague Travis (No. 10) | 6 (2 - Vinny Zerban, UNC; 8 - Ryder Downey, UNI) |
| 165 | Izzak Olejnik (No. 7) | 6 (1 - Keegan O’Toole, Mo.; 2 - David Carr, ISU) |
| 174 | Brayden Thompson (No. 20) | 6 (4 - Cade DeVos, SDSU; 10 - Peyton Mocco, Mo.; 18 - M.J. Gaitan, ISU) |
| 184 | Dustin Plott (No. 2) | 5 (1 - Parker Keckheisen, UNI) |
| 197 | Luke Surber (No. 20) | 6 (4 - Tanner Sloan, SDSU; 6 - Stephen Buchanan, OU; 9 - Rocky Elam, Mo.; 14 - Evan Bockman, UVSU) |
| Hwt. | Konner Doucet (No. 11) | 5 (2 - Wyatt Hendrickson, AFA, 3 - Younger Bastida, ISU; 5 - Zach Elam, Mo.; 10 - Josh Heindselman, OU) |