Oklahoma State Wrestling Weekend Shrinks from Two Duals to One Due to Weather
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State is on the way to Missouri as we write this story and the No. 5 Cowboys will be back on the mat as a team for the first time since the 37-0 shutout in Bedlam on Jan. 11. Some Cowboys, including new freshman superstar and current U.S. Senior Open champion and fifth-place Senior World Championships finisher Jax Forrest, wrestled in the Cyclones Open last weekend in Ames, Iowa. We’ll get to that, but first No. 18 Missouri inside the Hearnes Center in Columbia on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. and televised on ESPN+. With the impending weather forecast for a major winter storm across the midlands and southwest. Oklahoma State could have a long excursion to get back to Stillwater. That is okay because Thursday afternoon the Big 12 Conference postponed the scheduled Sunday dual at Gallagher-Iba Arena with Utah Valley.
From the Big 12: The Big 12 wrestling match between Utah Valley and Oklahoma State, scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 25, has been cancelled due to inclement weather forecasted for the Stillwater area. Both programs will look to reschedule the match later this season.
We wrote postponed, while the Big 12 used the term cancelled. I think it is postponed since the team will look to reschedule later this season.
As for Missouri, Oklahoma State head coach David Taylor in typical David Taylor fashion made the No. 18 Tigers sound like a challenge.
“Missouri has a good team, matches that we are getting ready for,” Taylor said. “Everywhere we go we have to match the intensity level of our opponents. There is no real opportunity to take anythign for granted or assume something is going to be harder or easier than it is. We’ve talked about how hard it is to prepare our team and get ready.”
I understand the approach, but Oklahoma State is in a good position with a lot of high-ranking wrestlers and all of the team is ranked in the top 14. Most of the team is currently ranked in a spot that would presume they have a solid chance to be an All-American come March in Cleveland at the NCAA Championships.
Here is a look at the Missouri match-up:
| Weight | No. 5 Oklahoma State Cowboys (9-1/4-0) | vs. | No. 18 Missouri Tigers (7-6/1-1) |
| 125 | No. 7 Troy Spratley (7-2) | vs. | No. 24 Mack Mauger (17-8) or Hank Benter (3-7) |
| 133 | No. 14 Jax Forrest (5-0) or Ronnie Ramirez (6-3) | vs. | No. 26 Gage Walker (1-1) or Boogie Harris (2-6) |
| 141 | No. 2 Sergio Vega (9-0) | vs. | Easton Hilton (12-8) or Owen Uhls (10-8) or Zeke Seitzer (11-9) |
| 149 | No. 12 Casey Swiderski (7-5) | vs. | Josh Edmond (18-3) or Seth Mendoza (13-4) |
| 157 | No. 6 Landon Robideau (8-1) | vs. | No. 15 Travis Teague (4-2) or David Gleason (11-7) |
| 165 | No. 2 Dee Lockett (8-0) | vs. | J. Conway (14-7) or Joel Mylin (5-10) |
| 174 | No. 7 Alex Facundo (9-4) | vs. | No. 10 Cam Steed (6-4) or Peyton Westpfahl (6-6) |
| 184 | No. 8 Zack Ryder (9-4) | vs. | No. 3 Aeoden Sinclair (20-1) |
| 197 | No. 7 Cody Merrill (9-1) | vs. | No. 12 Evan Bates (19-4) or Logan Cole (13-7) |
| Hwt. | No. 6 Konner Doucet (9-1) | vs. | No. 26 Jarrett Stoner (17-10) or Sampson Stillwell (1-4) |
I like the Cowboys at every weight except Zack Ryder at 184 pounds where he will be major challenged by Aeoden Sinclair. On either side of Ryder with Alex Facundo at 174 and Cody Merrill at 197, each has an opponent that can give them a challenge, but I believe Facundo is really improving match-by-match. I believe that Merrill, while cutting it close has his plan down and executes it to the letter.
Okay, now for the Jax Forrest story where it is obvious that Forrest enrolled at mid-year and midseason with the thought he would take over at 133 pounds and go win his first NCAA individual championship in Cleveland and near his home in Pennsylvania. Ronnie Ramirez had that position in the line-up and was doing well with it as he had passed transfer and one-time 125 pound NCAA champion Richard Figueroa II.
Forrest started his Cowboy career with rare air and a 47 second fall in Bedlam. Last week he went to the Cyclone Open and he wrestled as a Cowboy, not unattached. That counted as one and he made it count with two technical falls including 17-1 over Illinois wrestler Joey Ruzic. He beat Iowa State backup Osmany Siversent with a fall at 1:20 and then won the championship over Cuban wrestler Reineri Andreu Ortega 4-0. Oretga is a Cuban national freestyle wrestler suiing the NCAA over eligibility at Iowa State. He is a legit wrestler.
“He looked good,” Taylor said. “He was able to just get a couple more matches. Obviously, you have his electric one here, and not every time you wrestle is going to be like that. Just trying to get him a well-rounded opportunity to kind of see what it’s like and still go to wrestle the Ortega kid in the finals. He’s pretty good. He’s a couple-time U23 world champion. Really good on his feet, so the kid was a good match for Jax. Just demonstrated some really good patience, and then his scrambling ability was a difference maker. There wasn’t a lot of mat wrestling. Show some patience and figured it out, and scored a lot of points in the other matches.”
I’m sorry, I would say Forrest wrestles the rest of the season. He’s the best guy and that is what Taylor harps on, wrestling the best guy at each weight.
“You got five dates, and you just want to give him a well-rounded experience,” Taylor said. “You got home matches, you got away matches, you got a tournament to go wrestle. We just gotta keep kind of figuring that stuff out. When we have a decision (whether Forrest will redshirt), we’ll let you guys know, but it’s still something that we’re working through.”
Coach, I’ve worked through it. I believe Forrest goes to Tulsa and wins the Big 12, then to Cleveland and wins the NCAA. Just a prediction.
