Cowboys Host Wyoming, Oklahoma to Close Regular Season

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STILLWATER – The top-ranked and undefeated Oklahoma State wrestling team prepares for the final home weekend of the regular season this week, as Wyoming and Oklahoma make their way to Gallagher-Iba Arena for a pair of Big 12 duals. OSU will face Wyoming Friday night at 7:30 p.m., before returning to host the 17th-ranked Sooners on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Watch the Cowboys
Fans can catch Friday's dual with Wyoming on FloWrestling. Sunday's dual will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Southwest.

Live Stats and Play-by-Play
Fans can follow the action online through live results and play-by-play on www.trackwrestling.com. Simply go to the site and the link to live results and play-by-play will be prominently displayed..

Listen to the Dual Live
Fans can listen to both duals live on 93.7 KSPI-FM or okstate.com with Rex Holt and Roger Moore on the call.

About the Cowboys
Oklahoma State has proven itself one of the deepest lineups in the country thus far into the 2016-17 campaign. This much was to be expected heading into the season, as head coach John Smith returned 2016 NCAA Champion at 141 pounds Dean Heil, along with All-Americans Nolan Boyd, Anthony Collica and Joe Smith from an NCAA Runner-Up finish at the NCAA Championships in Madison Square Garden last spring. The Cowboys also return valuable experience in 2015 All-American Kyle Crutchmer, who has also been a major contributor in the Cowboy lineup as a senior after returning from an injury that cut short his junior season.

While the Cowboy roster certainly boasts its fair share of proven talent, the emergence of "young guns" Kaid Brock, Chandler Rogers, Preston Weigel and Nick Piccininni has been a welcome development for Smith and his staff. Meanwhile, senior heavyweight Austin Schafer has come on well in his final run as a Cowboy, knocking off five ranked opponents on his way to his current 18-1 mark this season.

The Cowboys have started the 2016-17 campaign off strong, opening with a 12-0 record for the first time since 2012-13. OSU enters this weekend looking to build off a pair of routs over Big 12 opponents West Virginia and South Dakota State.

Depth has been a major storyline for the Cowboys this season as the team broke tournament records for team points scored and margin of victory at the Southern Scuffle last month. The win followed up a team win at the Reno Tournament of Champions, despite no Cowboy starters making the trip to Reno.

Along with Smith, who is in his 26th season at the helm of the Oklahoma State wrestling program, the Cowboys are led by associate head coaches Eric Guerrero and Zack Esposito, along with volunteer assistant coach Chris Perry.

In the Polls
The Cowboys enter this weekend's tournament ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll and second in the Intermat Tournament Rankings.

Individually, Oklahoma State has all 10 starters ranked in each of the four major national polls. Returning NCAA Champion 141-pounder Dean Heil remains slotted at No. 1 in all four major polls. Aside from Heil,seven other Cowboys received top-eight rankings from Intermat, including Kaid Brock (133, No. 3), Anthony Collica (149, No. 3), Joe Smith (157, No. 6), Chandler Rogers (165, No. 8), Nolan Boyd (184, No. 6) and Preston Weigel (197, No. 8) and Austin Schafer (HWT, No. 6). At 125 pounds, Nick Piccininni is ranked No. 11, while senior Kyle Crutchmer is ranked ninth at 174.

Senior Day
Nine Cowboy seniors will be honored for their contributions to the OSU wrestling program prior to Sunday's Bedlam match. Those Cowboys include:

Nolan Boyd - 184 / Edmond, Okla.
Landry Chappell - 184 / Guthrie, Okla.
Anthony Collica - 149 / Solon, Ohio
Kyle Crutchmer - 174 / Tulsa, Okla.
Davey Dolan - 157 / Berryhill, Okla.
Kyle Garcia - 133 / Edmond, Okla.
Zac Gentzler - 125 / Andover, Kan.
Lincoln Lemon - 133 / Wichita, Kan.
Jordan Rogers - 174 / Spokane, Wash.
Austin Schafer - HWT / Edmond, Okla.

Series Notes: Wyoming
• Friday will mark the 21st dual in the series between OSU and Wyoming.
• OSU is 20-0-1 in the previous meetings between the two programs, with the lone tie in the series coming in 1957 as the two teams tied, 12-12, in Laramie.
• OSU has taken all 10 previous meetings in the series in Stillwater.
• John Smith is 12-0 against Wyoming in his head coaching career.

Series Notes: Oklahoma
• With the series dating all the way back to 1920, Friday's contest will mark the 176th edition of Bedlam wrestling.
• The series has been a lopsided one in the Cowboys' favor, with Oklahoma State leading, 138-27-10.
• Under John Smith, the Pokes are an impressive 47-6-3 against the Sooners.
• Overall, the Cowboys have won six straight and 13 of their last 14 against the Sooners.
• Oklahoma State has swept the season series the last two years, and will look to do the same this season as the Cowboys dropped the Sooners, 33-3, in the first matchup of the year.

Last Time Out
The top-ranked Oklahoma State wrestling team wrapped up its whirlwind road trip with a dominant, 36-6 victory over Kent State on Saturday afternoon. The win moved the Cowboys to 12-0, and came less than 24 hours after the team dropped No. 24 Edinboro on Friday night in Edinboro, Pa.

Despite being down three starters for the second dual this weekend, the Cowboys tallied six bonus-point victories, along with six points from a forfeit at 133 pounds. OSU turned in four major decisions on the day to go along with a pin from Anthony Collica at 149 pounds and a technical fall from Nick Piccininni at 125.

Feb. 4, 2017 | M.A.C. Center | Kent, Ohio
125: No. 12 Nick Piccininni (OSU) TF Cory Simpson (KSU) 20-5
133: No. 3 Kaid Brock wins by forfeit
141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) MD Chance Dricoll (KSU) 16-5
149: No. 3 Anthony Collica (OSU) fall Tim Rooney (KSU) 4:52
157: No. 30 Casey Sparkman (KSU) dec. Davey Dolan (OSU) 11-5
165: No. 7 Chandler Rogers (OSU) MD Isaac Bast (KSU) 20-7
174: No. 9 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) MD Jared Walker (KSU) 19-6
184: No. 6 Nolan Boyd (OSU) dec. Shane Mast (KSU) 7-0
197: Stephen Suglio (KSU) dec. Derek White (OSU) 4-2
HWT: Tanner Allen (OSU) MD Devin Nye (KSU) 10-2

GIA to Host NWCA Bowl Series
Next Sunday, Feb. 19, Gallagher-Iba Arena will play host to the National Wrestling Coaches Association Bowl Series. Stillwater is one of six host sites selected prior to the beginning of the season, and will host "Bowls" based on ranking and conference affiliation. Two "Non-Big Ten"' Schools will be selected based on the "NWCA Final Coaches Poll Ranking." The top two ranked Big Ten teams would be paired with host schools according to the process approved by the NWCA DI Leadership Committee. The highest ranked Big Ten team will be paired with the highest ranked "non-Big Ten" team, etc. Matchups for the event are scheduled to be released on Sunday, Feb. 12.

1-2-3 Punch
While the Cowboys' lineup is littered with elite talent from top to bottom, one would have a hard time finding a more devastating stretch for opponents in any lineup than the one-two-three punch packed by Kaid Brock (133), Dean Heil (141) and Anthony Collica (149).

This season, the Cowboy trio has combined for a 56-2 record with a 33-2 mark in duals and a 21-2 mark against ranked opponents. While Brock is in his first full collegiate season, Collica and Heil are highly decorated, combining for an NCAA Championship (Heil), five Big 12 titles and three All-America honors.

Wyoming Connections
The Wyoming coaching staff features a couple of familiar faces for Oklahoma State fans. A closer look:

Mark Branch          Oklahoma State, 1994-97
Head Coach          Two-time NCAA Champion (1994, 1997)
                              Four-time NCAA Finalist (1994-97)

Ethan Kyle             Oklahoma State, 2004-07
Assistant Coach    40-31 overall record

We're Going Streaking
While Oklahoma State finds itself one of two remaining undefeated teams and on an 11-match win streak with 11 consecutive wins at Gallagher-Iba Arena, a handful of Cowboy grapplers are on hot streaks as well.

At 141 pounds, NCAA Champion Dean Heil boasts the longest active win streak among Cowboy starters, having won 30-straight matches dating back to last season.

Heil has been impressive in his junior season, going 21-0 overall and 12-0 in dual matches. The junior has picked up four wins over top-10 opponents, the most recent being an 8-6 decision over ninth-ranked Jaydin Eierman in the Cowboys' victory over Missouri last month.

Welcome to the 100 Club
Cowboy seniors Nolan Boyd and Anthony Collica became the program's newest members of the 100-win club this season. Boyd notched his 100th win last month with an 18-2 technical fall over Martin Mueller of South Dakota State. With the win, Boyd moved to 100-33 for his career, becoming the 40th Cowboy in program history to reach the century mark. Boyd is now tied for 32nd on the program all-time wins list with a 104-33 record.

Collica picked up his 100th win last night against Edinboro in a 4-1 decision over No. 11 Patricio Lugo to become the 41st Cowboy to reach the century mark. With 101 wins, Collica is now tied for 37th on the all-time program wins list.

Can't Stop Schafer
After senior heavyweight Austin Schafer pinned South Dakota State's Alex Macki last weekend, head coach John Smith referred to him as "King Kong".

After making the move to heavyweight for his senior campaign despite competing at 197 pounds for the previous three years of his career, Schafer has proven himself in the new class. Schafer has racked up a 18-1 record with 12 bonus point wins thus far into his senior season. With a combined 0-9 mark against ranked foes during his first three seasons in Stillwater, the Cowboy heavyweight has also beaten five ranked opponents this year, with three of those wins coming in the top 10.

In an impressive win at the Southern Scuffle, Schafer made the OSU record books when he dropped 11th-ranked Jared Johnson of Chattanooga for a fall in only 18 seconds for the 17th-fastest pin in Cowboy wrestling history.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tanner Allen

Nolan Boyd

Kaid Brock

Landry Chappell

Anthony Collica

Kyle Crutchmer

Davey Dolan

Kyle Garcia

Zac Gentzler

Dean Heil

Lincoln Lemon

Nick Piccininni

Chandler Rogers

Jordan Rogers

Austin Schafer

Joe Smith

Preston Weigel

Derek White

Oklahoma State University Athletics