Two More Chances to See Jax Forrest Wrestle in Gallagher-Iba as UNI and Iowa State Visit
STILLWATER – This weekend won’t be the one featuring the biggest wrestling rival for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, but it will represent the biggest back-to-back challenge in dual competition for David Taylor’s No. 5-ranked squad. I’m sorry that I tend to now disregard the presence of Ronnie Ramirez’ name at 133 pounds, but I’m a firm believer that you cannot stuff Pandora back in her box and you can’t convince Oklahoma State fans and the wrestling world that mid-year arrival Jax Forrest is not just one of the best college wrestlers as a true and new freshman, but he is one of the best in the world. David Taylor has been calm about Forrest since the Bedlam debut, but you can read through his comments.
“Anytime you get a chance to wrestle here, it’s awesome,” Taylor said of the back-to-back duals with top 15 teams. “He’s (Jax Forrest) a very fun and entertaining wrestler to watch, to coach, he makes adjustments fairly quick and easy. He’s a great competitor and he has competed at a high level his entire life. That was a fun experience with Bedlam and we got him some road experiences last weekend. He’s already matured a lot in the way he goes into his matches. He is wrestling with a lot of control while still scoring a lot of points.”
He’s been fantastic and his tech fall last week over Missouri’s Gage Walker (16-1) was more impressive than his Bedlam pin over unranked and backup for OU in carter Schmidt.
Forrest will see the best competition he has seen this season, probably in both duals. No. 25 Julian Farber of UNI is 12-4 and then it ramps up a bunch on Sunday at 2 p.m. with No. 3 Iowa State and for Forrest at 133 pounds No. 3 Evan Frost, who is 13-1, and his only loss was a 4-2 decision to No. 2 Ben Davino of Ohio State.
| Weight | No. 5 Oklahoma State (10-1/5-0) Head Coach: David Taylor | No. 13 Northern Iowa (9-4/3-0) Head Coach: Doug Schwab | No.. 3 Iowa State (8-1/4-0) Head Coach: Kevin Dresser |
| 125 | No. 7 Troy Spratley (9-2) | No. 32 Trever Anderson (10-6) | No. 13 Steve Poulin (8-5) |
| 133 | No. 12 Jax Forrest (6-0) or Ronnie Ramirez (6-3) | No. 25 Julian Farber (12-4) | No. 3 Evan Frost (13-1) |
| 141 | No. 2 Sergio Vega (10-0) | Max Brady (17-7) | No. 3 Anthony Echemendia (12-1) |
| 149 | No. 12 Casey Swiderski (8-5) | No. 32 Caleb Rathjen (4-3) or Ethan Basile (11-5) | No. 6 Jacob Frost (11-3) |
| 157 | No. 6 Landon Robideau (9-1) | Cael Rahnavardi (6-7) or R.J. Weston (9-6) | No. 8 Vinny Zerban (10-2) or Kane Naatgeboren (13-6) |
| 165 | No. 2 Dee Lockett (9-0) | No. 6 Ryder Downey (14-2) or Jack Thomsen (9-6) | No. 16 Connor Euton (12-3) |
| 174 | No. 7 Alex Facundo (10-4) | No. 12 Jared Simma (10-3) | No. 13 M.J. Gaitan (10-2) |
| 184 | No. 8 Zack Ryder (9-5) | Nick Fox (5-1) | No. 12 Isaac Dean (14-4) |
| 197 | No. 7 Cody Merrill (10-1) | John Gunderson (6-6) or Carson Babcock (2-2) | No. 2 Rocky Elam (11-0) or C.J. Carter (10-5) |
| Hwt. | No. 6 Konner Doucet (10-1) | Adam Ahrendsen (6-5) or Grant Stromberg (9-7) | No. 1 Younger Bastida (16-0) |
The wrestling should be great and some matches that deserve extra attention or hype would include Dee Lockett and UNI’s Ryder Downey at 165 on Friday night. Then on Sunday, just about every weight, but especially Forrest and Frost at 133, Sergio Vega and Iowa State’s Anthony Echemendia at 141, Landon Robideau and No. 8 Vinny Zerban at 157.
Then I’m really fired up to see No. 6 Konner Doucet of the Cowboys try his new style and mental approach against No. 1 heavyweight Younger Bastida.
