Oklahoma State Gets 10 for Tulsa as NCAA Grants Sheets Wildcard

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State qualified nine wrestlers for the upcoming NCAA Wrestling Championships last weekend at the Big 12 Wrestling Championships in Tulsa. Wyatt Sheets at 165-pounds lost his first two matches and looked like he would be on the outside looking in for the NCAA Championships, also in Tulsa on March 16-18. Sheets did come back and win a four-man wrestle off to claim a ninth-place finish. There were not nine places allocated to the Big 12 at that weight. As a team Oklahoma State was second in the Big 12 Championships behind Missouri.

Oklahoma State Athletics

Sheets with a win earlier in the year against Wyoming.

Tuesday night Oklahoma State and head coach John Smith learned that Sheets, who in the 2020-21 NCAA Championships got in when another wrestler pulled out with injury. He was the No. 33 seed and went 5-3 to finish as an All-American in eighth-place. The best a wrestler has performed above his seed. Last season, Sheets went 1-2 in the NCAA after coming in as the No. 31 seed. Sheets gets another chance. He is 14-14 on the season.  

“I thought that Sheets had a chance, but you are never sure,” Smith said. “It is great to have all 10 wrestlers heading to Tulsa.”

Check out this NCAA brackets: https://www.ncaa.com/_flysystem/public-s3/files/2023-ncaa-di-wrestling-brackets.pdf

Daton Fix at 133-pounds and Dustin Plott at 174-pounds both won Big 12 individual championships and at 157-pounds Kaden Gfeller was the runner-up. Gfeller had a chance to win but his opponent North Dakota State’s Jared Franek continued to stall after taking the lead in the match and the officials issued a warning but wouldn’t go further. 

Reece Witcraft at 125-pounds, Carter Young at 141-pounds, Victor Voinovich at 149-pounds, Travis Wittlake at 184-pounds, Luke Surber at 197-pounds, and Konner Doucet at heavyweight all wrestled well enough to earn allocated spots to the Big 12 at their weights to move on to the NCAA.

Big 12 NCAA Qualifiers
125
Killian Cardinale – West Virginia [At-large]
Tanner Jordan – South Dakota State [At-large]
Tucker Owens – Air Force
Stevo Poulin – Northern Colorado
Joey Prata – Oklahoma
Noah Surtin – Missouri
Jore Volk – Wyoming
Reece Witcraft – Oklahoma State
 
133
Kyle Biscoglia – Northern Iowa
Connor Brown – Missouri
Daton Fix – Oklahoma State
Wyatt Henson – Oklahoma
McGwire Midkiff – North Dakota State
Cody Phippen – Air Force [At-large]
Zach Redding – Iowa State
 
141
Andrew Alirez – Northern Colorado
Clay Carlson – South Dakota State
Cael Happel – Northern Iowa [At-large]
Allan Hart - Missouri
Mosha Schwartz – Oklahoma
Casey Swiderski – Iowa State
Jordan Titus – West Virginia
Carter Young – Oklahoma State
 
149
Isaiah Delgado – Utah Valley
Paniro Johnson – Iowa State
Kellyn March – North Dakota State
Dylan Martinez – Air Force [At-large]
Brock Mauller – Missouri
Mitch Moore – Oklahoma
Colin Realbuto – Northern Iowa
Victor Voinovich – Oklahoma State
  
157 (7)
Jared Franek – North Dakota State
Kaden Gfeller – Oklahoma State
Jared Hill – Oklahoma
Derek Holschlag – Northern Iowa [At-large]
Jarrett Jacques – Missouri [At-large]
Jason Kraisser – Iowa State
Cael Swensen – South Dakota State
Jacob Wright – Wyoming
Vinny Zerban – Northern Colorado [At-large]
 
165
Michael Caliendo III – North Dakota State
David Carr – Iowa State
Tanner Cook – South Dakota State
Peyton Hall – West Virginia
Cole Moody – Wyoming
Gerrit Nijenhuis – Oklahoma
Keegan O’Toole – Missouri
Wyatt Sheets – Oklahoma State [At-large]
Austin Yant – Northern Iowa
 
174
Sam Wolf – Air Force
Cade DeVos – South Dakota State
Peyton Mocco – Missouri
Tate Picklo – Oklahoma
Dustin Plott – Oklahoma State
Demetrius Romero – Utah Valley

184
Anthony Carman – West Virginia [At-large]
Marcus Coleman – Iowa State
Colton Hawks – Missouri
Parker Keckeisen – Northern Iowa
Cade King – South Dakota State [At-large]
Deanthony Parker Jr. – North Dakota State [At-large]
Travis Wittlake – Oklahoma State

197
Yonger Bastida – Iowa State
Evan Bockman – Utah Valley
Austin Cooley – West Virginia [At-large]
Rocky Elam – Missouri
Tanner Sloan – South Dakota State
Luke Surber – Oklahoma State
Owen Pentz – North Dakota State
 
HWT
Konner Doucet – Oklahoma State
Zach Elam – Missouri
Tyrell Gordon – Northern Iowa
Josh Heindselman – Oklahoma
Wyatt Hendrickson – Air Force
AJ Nevills – South Dakota State
Sam Schuyler – Iowa State
Michael Wolfgram – West Virginia