Cowboys Find the "Fix" at 141 Pounds for the Big 12
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State has been looking for a 141-pound wrestler as the Cowboys have had the worst luck there this season losing starter Kaid Brock to another knee injury and this one career ending. Dusty Hone stepped in and now he has stepped out with a leg injury. In the Bedlam dual to finish the regular season the Cowboys plugged in 125-pound freshman backup Jakason Burks, who wrestled well but ended up being pinned by Sooner standout Dom Demas. What to do? Remember when the Cowboys 133-pound No. 1 ranked Daton Fix was recruited, he came in a year after another talented in-state wrestler from Heritage Hall in Kaden Gfeller. It was thought that those two would be dominant competitors in the lower weights in the line-up. Gfeller’s career started off well but was derailed by injuries and he has ballooned up in weight. As part of over month-long plan, he has shrunk back down to 141-pounds.
“Kaden Gfeller,” Oklahoma State head coach John Smith answered when asked who would wrestle at 141-pounds in the Big 12 this coming weekend. “It’s almost every year you try to certify every wrestler at the lowest possible weight and it is the smart thing to do. Daton Fix certified at the lowest possible weight and Kaden Gfeller. If you do that then in September, you don’t have to be at or near that weight. When you are certifying then you’ve got that time to get down to that weight during the year.”
For the record Gfeller has not wrestled in a dual this season. In the ranking matches back at the beginning of January he wrestled Boo Lewallen at 149-pounds and was beaten soundly. During the season he has wrestled five times, all extra matches at dual events. He is 4-1 wrestling at 149 and 157-pounds with a tech fall and two major decisions. He hasn’t wrestled at 141-pounds for over a year.
The red-shirt junior hasn’t had it easy and Fix has watched the struggles closely as the two often work out with each other in the wrestling room.
“He’s been through a lot of injuries the past couple of years, but he was given an opportunity to go down a weightclass,” Fix explained. “He was given a chance to wrestle at the Big 12 Tournament. He could have easily said ‘that’s a lot of weight and I can’t make it.’ But you know he got right to work and even when he wasn’t able to be on the mat for a couple of weeks he was still running getting the weight off. His weight is at a pretty good place right now. I don’t think he’ll have any problems making weight as long as he can recover then I think he’ll be able to compete.”
He’ll have to. The 141-pound weight has a lot of good wrestlers starting with top two seeds Ian Parker of Iowa State and Dom Demas of Oklahoma. Gfeller will have to start with No. 3 seed Clay Carlson of South Dakota State and then with a win No. 6 seed Chris Sandoval of Northern Colorado. He wins those two matches and then he runs into Demas.
He will need to finish in the top four and claim one of the predesignated NCAA slots for that weight in the Big 12. Finish outside that and there’s no way he would get a wild card since he didn’t wrestle at 141 all season.
“He’s done a nice job the past three weeks of managing his weight,” Smith said. “We’ll see him. I don’t know what to expect. It may be a different feel for him the first time down (back at 141 pounds). If he has his mojo with him then he could be dangerous. We know that because we’ve seen him wrestle. Hopefully, he hasn’t missed too much of the season and he can be ready.”
Gfeller’s last match wrestling 141-pounds was January 1, 2020 and he pinned nationally ranked Kyle Shoop of Lock Haven in the Southern Scuffle. Bring back the “mojo.”