Wrestling Preview: Oklahoma State

WHAT: Iowa State Wrestling vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys

WHERE: Gallagher-Iba Arena, Stillwater, Oklahoma

WHEN: Sunday January 30th @ 2 PM

HOW TO WATCH: Big 12 on ESPN+

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Iowa State closes their weekend road trip with a top-10 matchup against #3 Oklahoma State. The Cowboys are undefeated so far this season after finishing 3rd in the country last year. They’re 12x defending Big 12 champions. Iowa State hasn’t beaten them since 2010. Dresser’s squad fell 1 point shy in last season’s dual. A road win over American legend John W. Smith and the greatest program in college athletics would be a massive statement as the Cyclones re-emerge as a national power.

Projected Matchups

Individual rankings from FloWrestling. Iowa State listed first.

125: Kysen Terukina (#23) vs Trevor Mastrogiovanni (#5)

• These guys wrestled two WILDLY different matches last season. In the dual, Terukina forced overtime before Mastro got a sudden victory takedown. At the Big 12 tournament, however, the Cowboy won by tech fall. Let’s hope the second was a fluke.

133: Ramazan Attasauov vs Daton Fix (#2)

• Obviously Fix is the huge favorite here. He’s a World Silver Medalist. He’s a 2x NCAA runner-up. I have two questions. Will he be properly hydrated? And can Attasauov slow him down? Against Austin DeSanto the Cyclone used his defense to put him in a position to steal the match late. That may be the best gameplan here as well.

141: Ian Parker (#14) vs Carter Young (#17)

• Young is a highly touted freshman. He became a household name at the 2021 Senior World Team Trials where he took 3rd and beat 2 NCAA champions. He’s shown growing pains since then. This is a chance for Parker to get his first top 20 win of the season.

149: Jarrett Degen (#24) vs Kaden Gfeller (#18)

• These two haven’t met since Gfeller beat Degen 6-5 way back at the 2019 Big 12 tournament. After some up and down seasons for both of them the rematch is finally happening. This is one Iowa State needs to get if they hope to win the meet.

157: David Carr (#1) vs Wyatt Sheets (#13)

• Carr majored Sheets in their first matchup. Since then Sheets has done Stallwater proud keeping the margins closer. Hopefully Carr keeps him from turning this into a snoozer.

165: Isaac Judge or Austin Kraisser vs Travis Wittlake (#6) or Jalin Harper

• All-American Wittlake hasn’t wrestled in three weeks. If he returns Sunday this match will be about damage control. If he’s not.. that creates a huge opportunity for the Clones. Harper has been filling in, but there’s no reason to think Kraisser and Judge won’t win that matchup.

174: Joel Devine (#18) or Julien Broderson vs Dustin Plott (#8)

• Plott comes into this undefeated. He’s a certified dude. Keeping him from getting bonus points would count as a positive for the Cyclones, but don’t write off Devine/Broderson.

184: Marcus Coleman (#8) vs Dakota Geer (#7) *KEY MATCHUP*

• This is a huge swing match in this meet. Dakota Geer is a 2x All-American, something Coleman is yet to accomplish. Geer’s only loss so far this year came in sudden victory to Wyoming’s Tate Samuelson. Coleman beat Samuelson 4-2 just a couple weeks ago. I like the way he’s wrestling and his odds to get the quiet the Cowboy fans.

197: Yonger Bastida (#14) vs Gavin Stika

• Many were hoping to see a rematch between Bastida and reigning national champion AJ Ferrari. That is on hold for this weekend, and possibly the remainder of the season after the Cowboy was injured while “attempting to pass 3 vehicles while cresting a hill... in a no passing zone”. There is no other 197 on the OSU roster, so Gavin Stika will bump up. Joel Devine beat Stika 3-1 last season. Bonus points here would go a long way towards the dual result.

285: Sam Schuyler (#23) vs Luke Surber or Austin Harris

• Heavyweight Sam Schuyler has been on a heater as of late. He’s got an 8 match win streak going that includes 3 wins over national qualifiers. Austin Harris made the bloodround at NCAAs last season, but hasn’t had as much success this year. Surber lost in OT to the OU wrestler Schuyler beat on Friday night. I’ve got Schuyler as the favorite either way, but expect a close match.

Prediction

Iowa State 17, Oklahoma State 16

Every point is going to count in this one from start to finish. Terukina, Degen, and Bastida need to bounce back from Friday’s let downs. The rest of the lineup will need to be tuned in as well. I have the Cyclones favored at 157, 197 and 285. Bonus points will be at a premium. The Cowboys are favored at 125, 133, 165 and 174. Keep them close and see if you can steal one. That leaves 141, 149 and 184 as toss-ups. The Cyclones need at least 2 of these 3. It will be fascinating to see how this one plays out. Duals like this don’t come around often, so be sure not to miss it.