Cowboys Open 2018 in Italy with No. 5 NC State

Full PDF Notes | Watch: OSU vs. NC State

STILLWATER – The third-ranked Oklahoma State wrestling team travels overseas this week to Naples, Italy, for a top-five battle with No. 5 North Carolina State, which is set for Friday, Jan. 5 at the Naples Naval Base. The dual, dubbed "Tussle for the Troops", is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. GMT/12:30 p.m. CST, and will be the first collegiate dual wrestled outside of North America.

Another handful of Cowboys will be in Chattanooga, Tenn., to compete at the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1-2.

Watch the Cowboys
Fans can watch the Cowboys compete in both Italy and Chattanooga live on FloWrestling.org.

In the Polls
The Cowboys enter Monday's dual with eight wrestlers ranked at their respective weights.

Four Cowboys enter this weekend's dual ranked inside the top five after All-American performances a season ago. Two-time NCAA Champion Dean Heil is ranked as high as No. 2 by FloWrestling, while Nick Piccininni is ranked as high as No. 2 (Amateur Wrestling News) as well. At 133 pounds, Kaid Brock is ranked No. 4 by Trackwrestling and Amateur Wrestling News, and 197-pounder Preston Weigel is ranked No. 4. Returning All-American Chandler Rogers is ranked No. 7 by The Open Mat.

A couple of newcomers to the OSU lineup currently hold rankings as well. Heavyweight Derek White is slotted at No. 8 by Intermat and FloWrestling. Geo Martinez is also ranked as high as No. 10 at 149 pounds (FloWrestling and Amateur Wrestling News). Meanwhile, Jacobe Smith comes in at No. 10 at 174, according to Intermat.

Cowboy Connections
With a coaching tree as widespread as John Smith's, it isn't uncommon to run into familiar faces during the course of a season. Once again, this is true with the Cowboys' upcoming dual against NC State, as the Wolfpack's coaching staff includes Oklahoma State alums Pat Popolizio and Obe Blanc.

Now entering his sixth year at the helm of the NC State program, Popolizio had a successful collegiate wrestling career in Stillwater from 1998-2002. Helping lead the Cowboys to top-five finishes in each of his four seasons, the former Poke was a three-time NCAA qualifier and two-time Big 12 runner-up, racking up over 90 wins over the course of his career. Popolizio graduated in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education. He was a two-time Big 12 All Academic selection and five-time recipient of the Oklahoma State Student-Athlete Award.

Blanc earned his undergraduate degree in Sports Administration from Lock Haven in 2008, and then received a Masters in International Business from Oklahoma State in 2010. Only wrestling one season at OSU, he fell one win shy of earning All-America status at the 2009 NCAA Championships. For his collegiate career, Blanc compiled a 118-41 record with 25 pins.

The Series: NC State
:: This week's dual will be the eighth meeting in the series between the Cowboys and Wolfpack, with Oklahoma State taking six of the first seven matchups.
:: OSU took the first six meetings in the series, but NC State claimed victory in the last collision between the programs by way of a 19-15 win at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
:: The series dates back to 1990, with OSU taking a 29-5 win.
:: John Smith is 5-1 in his head coaching career against the Wolfpack. In the two bouts since Pat Popolizio has taken over in Raleigh, the two programs have split with one win apiece.
:: The Cowboys are 1-0 against the Wolfpack at neutral sites.

400 and Counting
With the retirement of former Rider head coach Gary Taylor during the offseason, Oklahoma State head coach John Smith assumed the title of winningest active head coach in NCAA Division I wrestling.

After last month's win over Minnesota, Smith reached dual win No. 400 for his career, becoming the seventh head coach in DI history to reach that benchmark. He is also only the fifth coach to win all of his duals at the same school. Currently sitting at 403 career wins, Smith is 18 wins away from tying Jack Childs and T.J. Kerr for fifth on the list. Impressively, of his 403 wins, 140 have come over top-10 teams.

A look at the full list:

All-Time Wrestling Coaching Wins* (400+)
1.             616         Dale Thomas        Oregon State                                        1957-90
2.             493         Harold Nichols     Iowa State /Arkansas St.                    1948-85
3.             442         Gary Taylor           Rider                                                      1977-2017
3.             440         J Robinson            Minnesota                                             1986-2016
4.             424         Bobby Douglas     Iowa St./Arizona St.                             1975-2006
5.             421         Jack Childs           Drexel                                                    1975-2010
                                T.J. Kerr                 CSU-Bakersfield/San Jose State      1984-2013
7.             403         John Smith          Oklahoma State                                 1992-Pres.
* Includes only DI wins

Let's Scuffle
Coming off their first team title at the Southern Scuffle last season, the Cowboys will send a handful of reserves and redshirts to Chattanooga this year. At last year's event, the Pokes claimed four individual champions on the way to a tournament record 198 points, also finishing 72 points ahead of second-place Missouri to shatter the record for margin of victory as well. Cowboys Kaid Brock, Dean Heil, Anthony Collica and Chandler Rogers each took home individual championships to set a program record for titles won at the Scuffle. Eight other Cowboys placed.

Oklahoma State has tallied 16 champs all-time at the event, competing each of the last five seasons and finishing third at worst each year.

OSU at the Southern Scuffle

Team Results
2013           Second Place      158 points, 3 champs
2014           Second Place 164.5 points, 3 champs
2015           Third Place       135.5 points, 3 champs
2016           Second Place      158 points, 3 champs
2017           First Place           198 points, 4 champs

Individual Champions
2013
Jon Morrison (133)
Jordan Oliver (149)
Chris Perry (174)

2014
Jon Morrison (133)
Alex Dieringer (157)
Chris Perry (174)

2015
Josh Kindig (149)
Alex Dieringer (165)
Austin Marsden (285)

2016
Dean Heil (141)
Alex Dieringer (165)
Austin Marsden (285)

2017
Kaid Brock (133)
Dean Heil (141)
Anthony Collica (149)
Chandler Rogers (165)

Last Time Out
The third-ranked Oklahoma State wrestling team overcame a nine-point deficit to open Tuesday's dual against Big 12 foe Wyoming to come away with the 20-15 win and remain undefeated on the season.

OSU (5-0, 3-0 Big 12) took the win at a raucous Storey Gym despite upsets of Geo Martinez, Chandler Rogers, Kaid Brock and Dean Heil, and thanks especially to bonus point wins from Preston Weigel, Derek White and Nick Piccininni.

No. 3 Oklahoma State 20, Wyoming 15
Dec. 19, 2017 | Storey Gymnasium | Cheyenne, Wyo.
149: Sam Turner (WYO) dec. No. 8 Geo Martinez (OSU) 4-3
157: No. 17 Archie Colgan (WYO) dec. Jonce Blaylock (OSU) 3-1
165: No. 15 Branson Ashworth (WYO) dec. No. 5 Chandler Rogers (OSU) 5-2
174: No. 12 Jacobe Smith (OSU) dec. Kyle Pope (WYO), 8-7
184: Keegan Moore (OSU) dec. Chaz Polson (WYO) 8-7
197: No. 4 Preston Weigel (OSU) TF Cody Vigoren (WYO) 15-0
285: No. 8 Derek White (OSU) TF Hunter Mullins (WYO) 17-2
125: No. 3 Nick Piccininni (OSU) MD Drake Foster (WYO) 15-1
133: No. 20 Montorie Bridges (WYO) dec. No. 3 Kaid Brock (OSU) 11-10
141: No. 4 Bryce Meredith (WYO) dec. No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) 2-1, TB1

1-2-3 Punch
While the Cowboys' lineup is littered with elite talent from top to bottom, one would have a hard time finding many more devastating stretches for opponents in any lineup than the one-two-three punch packed by Nick Piccininni (125), Kaid Brock (133) and Dean Heil (141).

The three Cowboys not only combine for two NCAA Championships, five All-America honors and four Big 12 titles, but also a 203-28 career record. This season, the trio has combined to go 39-4 overall thus far.

Weigel's Return
2017 All-American Preston Weigel made his return to the OSU lineup on the Cowboys' last road trip to Wyoming and Northern Colorado earlier this month. Weigel was impressive in his first weekend back, defeating Cody Vigoren and Jacob Seeley by a combined score of 22-0.

Dual Threats
With 1,097 dual wins to its credit, and over 38 wins more than the second-winningest team, the Oklahoma State wrestling program by far has the most dual wins of any DI wrestling program. The Cowboys are one of three programs that have surpassed 1,000 total victories, with the others being Iowa State (1,059) and Oregon State (1,030).

A look at the top five:

All-Time Dual Wins Leaders
1.             Oklahoma State 1,097-126-23
2.             Iowa State             1,059-320-20
3.             Oregon State        1,030-341-28
4.             Iowa                       994-228-31
5.             Minnesota             953-444-24
*As of matches on Dec. 28, 2017

OSU Statistical Leaders
Overall Wins: 17, Boo Lewallen
Dual Wins: 5, Derek White
Ranked Wins: 2, four wrestlers
Bonus Point Wins: 11, Andrew Marsden
Wins by Fall: 11, Ethan Andersen
Wins by Technical Fall: 7, Boo Lewallen
Wins by Major Decision: 5, Derek White
Dual Takedowns: 19, Derek White
Dual Nearfalls: 7, Nick Piccininni
* Does not include redshirt athletes

HeavyWHITE
Moving up from 197 pounds this season, Derek White has proven himself a formidable answer for the Cowboys at heavyweight for the 2017-18 campaign.

White is 11-1 so far for his redshirt junior season to go along with five dual wins, three tech falls and a team-leading five major decisons. He has already racked up a couple of top-20 wins as well. Last month at the Journeymen Collegiate Classic, White notched a 12-1 major decision over No. 9 Thomas Haines of Lock Haven and a 3-2 decision over No. 20 Jordan Wood of Lehigh. In fact, the Edmond, Okla., product's only loss came in a 1-0 decision to No. 11 Mike Hughes of Hofstra.

Heil's Streak Snapped at 55
Senior Dean Heil suffered his first loss since February of 2016 earlier this month to Bryce Meredith in the Cowboys' 20-15 win at Wyoming. The loss snapped the two-time defending national champion's win streak at 55 matches, which ties him at eighth all-time in program history with Johny Hendricks.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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