Lockett Wins His Debut, Freshman Power and a Heavyweight Makeover Have OSU A Big Winner

STILLWATER – Dee Lockett had dreamed about what this moment would be like almost 1000 times. The Stillwater native, four-time state champion high school wrestler, and brand new Cowboy freshman coming off a U-20 World Championship over the summer. Lockett had the pressure of being the hometown hero, while taking on a two-time All-American and No. 4-ranked Stanford 165 pound wrestler Hunter Garvin. Even head coach David Taylor said it was kind of an unreasonable start for Lockett.  He lived up to his expectations, winning the match in a very unconventional fashion for him.

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Lockett rode out the second period of the match to gain a superiority as he won 2-1.

Lockett rode out the second period to gain a riding time advantage and then traded single points on an escape and a stall call. Lockett won 2-1 and the No. 5 Cowboys throttled No. 19 Stanford 33-7.

“This was crazy, I was so nervous, what if the hometown kid failed? It all came together and I know I have the best coaches and the best partners in the world,” Lockett said. “When it does come down to those tight matches, I usually win those. If I have to go there, then I go there. My dad has done so much for me and he has always said, ‘you do what you have to to get the win.’”

Lockett wasn’t the only brand new Cowboy wrestler to score a victory, fellow freshman Sergio Vega at 141 pounds and Landon Robideau at 157 pounds also scored wins. Both were impressive in their debuts. Vega routed Jack Consiglio of Stanford with an early takedown and a four-point near fall. His major points came on a second period reversal and two third period takedowns to score a 16-1 technical fall.

Robideau scored two first period takedowns in overpowering returning All-American and No. 4-ranked Daniel Cardenas. He maintained an advantage to win, but then added a late takedown to stretch it out to an 11-2 major decision. Then talked about the freshmen unity going into the opener. went over Stanford talked about being united as a group after the win.

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Landon Robideau was aggressive from start to finish in his first match as a Cowboy.

“It was exciting and once I got out there and got that first takedown and it was pretty exciting to hear everything around me go insane,” Robideau explained. “It is super cool and we are excited about it.”

“These kids are hungry and they want to wrestle,” Taylor said of the freshmen, but could have been talking about the ntire team. “We talked about wrestling with passion and I thought that is what they did tonight. That is a tough match to step up and wrestle as a freshman. The excitement, being at home, and then stepping into the momentum of those older guys that finished last year.”

The match got off to a good start as the crowd of 7,600 saw veteran 125 pounder Troy Spratley ranked No. 2 in the country at 125 pounds score a technical fall over Cardinal freshman Adam Martin.

The disappointments on the night came at 133 pounds where Richard Figueroa II lost in his Oklahoma State debut after transferring from Arizona State. No. 6 Tyler Knox beat the former NCAA champion at 125 pounds (2024) 13-9.

The only other loss for the Cowboys came at 149 pounds where No. 2-ranked Casey Swiderski went down by a 13-3 major decision to No. 18 Aden Valencia.

Alex Facundo at 174 pounds and redshiort freshman Casey Merrill at 197 both won their matches.

The other huge bright spot on the night belonged to heavyweight Konner Doucet. The veteran wrestler last year served a one year apprenticeship as a workout partner with NCAA heavyweight champ and eventual Team USA World Championship team member Wyatt Hendrickson. Doucet learned his lessons well. It showed with a new, more athletic, and aggressive style. He scored six takedowns in his match with Stanford’s Jackson Mankowski. And it showed with the technical fall that included nine takedowns.

“We’ve got a room full of dogs. Coach Jimmy (Kennedy) said it the other day, we’ve got 15 guys that he thinks can win the nationals. This has been hard. It was a reality check (year off). I think I can be the best and this made me better. The year sitting behind Wyatt, I learned a lot and it made me better. I knew it was in me and this was the place I wanted to be to let it out.”

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Think the new trimmer, more athletic Doucet wasn’t fired up for this.

Doucet’s victory may have been the one match that Cowboys head coach David Taylor was the most proud of.

“That is a great step and last year he wrestled the Air Force dual and I remember telling him to cut his opponent, and he acted like he didn’t hear me,” Taylor explained. “I said, ‘dude, you heard me.’ he said, ‘I thought you said don’t cut him.’ I would never say, don’t cut him. Tonight after his first takedown, he looked over at me real quick. No, ride him out here. I’m so proud of him. It takes courage to wrestle like that. The easy thing is to ride it out. It’s not easy to keep scoring and wrestle that way. I’m proud of him.”

The fifth-ranked Cowboys, now 1-0 on the season, will work this week to get ready for the first-time event at the BOK Center in Tulsa on Saturday and Sunday, November 15 and 16, with the National Duals Invitational. Oklahoma State will open with Cornell on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. as the No. 3 seed in the event.

No. 5 Oklahoma State 33, No. 19 Stanford 7
Nov. 7, 2025 | Gallagher-Iba Arena | Stillwater, Okla.
Attendance: 7,618
125: No. 2 Troy Spratley (OSU) TF Adam Mattin (STAN), 20-5, 5:21
133: No. 6 Tyler Knox (STAN) dec. No. 8 Richard Figueroa II (OSU), 13-9
141: Sergio Vega (OSU) TF Jack Consiglio (STAN), 16-1, 06:21
149: No. 18 Aden Valencia (STAN) MD No. 2 Casey Swiderski (OSU), 13-3
157: Landon Robideau (OSU) MD. No. 4 Daniel Cardenas (STAN), 11-2
165: Dee Lockett (OSU) dec. No. 4 Hunter Garvin (STAN), 2-1
174: Alex Facundo (OSU) TF Collin Guffey (STAN), 19-3, 6:06
184: No. 4 Zach Ryder (OSU) dec. Abraham Wojcikiewicz (STAN), 4-2
197: No. 9 Cody Merrill (OSU) dec. Angelo Posada (STAN), 5-3
HWT: No. 9 Konner Doucet (OSU) TF Jackson Mankowski (STAN), 19-4, 5:41