STILLWATER – Oklahoma State wrestling head coach John Smith took a neutral chair at the scorer’s table in Gallagher-Iba Arena last Sunday for the annual Orange-Black ranking matches. Smith was attentive throughout the entire two hours plus of wrestling. He was excited at the prospect and competition at some of the weights and a majority of the matches. Like most coaches do, Smith takes notes. However, when 197-pound freshmen A.J. Ferrari and Luke Surber took the mat against each other, Smith looked like he was scribbling a wrestling version of War and Peace.
Smith became more animated and a couple of times he got up and paced before sitting down to write some more. By the time it was over and Ferrari, the number one recruit in the 2020 class of wrestlers had scored a 6-2 hard fought decision over Surber, a three-time Oklahoma State Champion at Tuttle, Smith was convinced of something. The two talented freshmen will end up splitting. For Smith it is like having a pair of aces at a black-jack table in Las Vegas. Okay, this is wrestling, so let’s say a black-jack table in Reno and with Ferrari or Surber staying at 197-pounds and the other moving up to heavyweight then Smith and the Cowboys are going to have a dominant duo at the top of the line-up much like they did during the Cowboys six NCAA Championships in seven-years run from 2000-to-2006.
“What makes me excited about both of them is they love wrestling,” Smith said the other day when asked again about the future of the pair. “They wake up thinking about wrestling and that just fires you up as an old coach.”
Ferrari had a 96-1 record in his prep career and won about every honor that you could. He was a two-time Texas state champion He finished first in the high school Reno Tournament of Champions. He has future Olympic and international competitor written all over him.
Surber was a stud quarterback at Tuttle and a member of the National Honor Society when he wasn’t on the mat wrestling for his father, Matt, the coach at Tuttle and an All-American wrestler at Central Oklahoma.
“Luke Surber’s grandfather is a big man and Luke has come in here and in the short time he’s been here has put on 15-20 pounds,” Smith said of Surber’s potential to go up to heavyweight. “Sometimes you don’t want a 240-pound or 250-pound heavyweight. Sometimes you want a 225-pound heavyweight if you remember Z (Alan Gelogaev) and (Jake) Rosholt. Those guys were 225-pound heavyweights and Luke is already up around 215-pounds. Ferrari is at 220 pounds and both of them could be at 220 right now. I think it is going to be real easy for us to turn one of them into a heavyweight.”
If you are worried about strength, don’t be. Smith said that Surber has taken to the Cowboys weight room and the coaching of wrestling strength coach Gary Calcagno. Ferrari walked in the door as a strength enthusiast.
“He (Ferrari) can probably match up with any athlete on campus, in any sport,” Smith said. “Pound for pound he’s a strong kid. I also think Surber has found himself in a nice weight room. Watching him mature and as he is maturing, he is putting on that weight, putting on that man muscle.”
The Cowboys answer last season at 197-pounds was Dakota Geer. Geer moved up from 184-pounds and now he is back at his more natural weight class and is ranked No. 10 in the country. He also believes in those two young wrestlers now at 197-pounds.
“Those guys are tough. They two of the toughest freshmen coming into college right now,” Geer said with gusto. “A.J. is a brute, a big boy and he will definitely do the team well at 197. Luke, as you saw in the wrestle off (ranking match) is not far behind. He could do well at heavyweight or 197. Whichever one moves up to heavyweight, I think they are both going to do well for the team.”
A great luxury for Oklahoma State wrestling, two very talented wrestlers and for now, see which one more naturally grows into a bigger body and hope that the two can take care of a big role solidifying the top two weight classes in the line-up.
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Luke is already up around 215-pounds. Ferrari is at 220 pounds and both of them could be at 220 right now.
