Oklahoma State Wrestling Set to Open New Year at Southern Scuffle

Southern Scuffle Notes
Brackets

The Basics
The No. 12 Oklahoma State wrestling team (4-1 overall; 2-0 Big 12) travels to Chattanooga, Tenn., to begin the 2023 calendar year at the Southern Scuffle, Jan. 1-2. This season marks the first time since 2020 in which the Pokes have sent their full starting lineup to the event. In total, 22 Cowboys will be competing at the two-day tournament.

On the Air
The Cowboys' New Year's Day tournament is set to stream all day both days on FloWrestling.org. Live stats will be accessible on FloArena through both days of competition.

The Scuffle
This year's field consists of 22 NCAA Division I programs, including 10 lineups or partial lineups from top-25 tournament teams (Intermat). The first day of the event will consist of championship rounds through the quarterfinals as well as consolation rounds. On Monday, wrestling will begin at 11 a.m. CT, with the championship semifinals starting at 1 p.m. and the finals at 7 p.m.

About the Cowboys
No. 12 Oklahoma State is 4-1 on the season and 2-0 in conference duals as it prepares to enter the 2023 calendar year. The Pokes return four All-Americans who have earned All-America honors a total of eight times, headlined by three-time NCAA finalist Daton Fix. Wyatt Sheets and Travis Wittlake are both two-time All-Americans for OSU, while Dustin Plott is coming off of his first appearance on the podium last season. The OSU lineup has seen some movement from a season ago with weight changes from past starters opening opportunities at 165 pounds and heavyweight. Wittlake moved up two weight classes to 184 pounds in the offseason where he has started 4-1, while Luke Surber dropped down a weight to 197 pounds. In their places, Wyatt Sheets has filled the void at 165 pounds, while redshirt sophomore Konner Doucet is off to a 3-2 start at heavyweight. Trevor Mastrogiovanni is in his third season in the lineup at 125 pounds as he looks to make the jump that Plott did a year ago to All-America status for the first time. Carter Young looks to keep the momentum gained after knocking off No. 3 Jake Bergeland of Minnesota, while talented freshman Victor Voinovich has started every dual at 149 pounds. Big 12 champion Kaden Gfeller decided to return to Oklahoma State for his final season in August and has moved into the top 10 at 157 pounds after collecting a 2-0 win over No. 2 Brayton Lee of Minnesota. With Sheets and Gfeller back for their COVID seasons, the middleweights could see some different looks throughout the course of the season. Those two and Jalin Harper will be challenged by a group of Cowboys looking to break into the starting lineup for the first time, including Chance McLane, Travis Mastrogiovanni, Luke Mechler and talented freshman Jordan Williams.

Cowboys at the Scuffle
• This year marks the first time the Cowboys have sent a full lineup to the Scuffle since 2020 when the Cowboys won the event
• Cowboy Wrestling has sent at least a partial lineup to the event every year the event was held since 2013
• In 2021 Victor Voinovich's third-place finish was the highest among the Cowboys, while three others finished on the podium
• The Cowboys best finish at the Scuffle came in 2017 when the team set a tournament record with 198 points to finish in first place
• Kaden Gfeller will look to win his third Southern Scuffle title and become the first three-time Scuffle champion at three different weights since Kyle Dake in 2012, while Daton Fix aims for his second title.

Cowboys in the Polls
Oklahoma State's roster features 10 wrestlers ranked in various polls this week, with four holding spots inside the top-10. Senior 133-pounder Daton Fix is the consensus No. 2 wrestler at his weight and is the highest ranked Cowboy as the reigning Big 12 champion and a national finalist the last two seasons. Following Fix, Dustin Plott appears at No. 4 at 174 pounds after earning All-America honors for the first time last season with a sixth-place finish. Also making appearances in the top 10 of their respective weight classes are Trevor Mastrogiovanni and Kaden Gfeller. Mastrogiovanni holds down the No. 10 spot in The Open Mat's rankings after posting an 8-2 record in the fall. At 4-1 with his only loss coming to Lehigh's Josh Humpries in the season opener, Kaden Gfeller is ranked as high as No. 5 and appears in the top 10 of each poll at 157 pounds. Travis Wittlake sits just outside the top-10 at 184 pounds in the majority of the polls with a 4-1 record to start the season, while Wyatt Sheets is ranked as high as No. 19 by FloWrestling. Victor Voinovich (149) is ranked No. 21 by Intermat, while Carter Young holds down the No. 20 spot in FloWrestling's 141-pound poll. Luke Surber is ranked as high as No. 20 by WIN Magazine at 197 pounds, while Konner Doucet lands at No. 24 in the Intermat rankings after posting a 3-2 record through five duals this season.

Oklahoma State Wrestling Set to Open New Year at Southern Scuffle

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Players Mentioned

Konner Doucet

Daton Fix

Kaden Gfeller

Jalin Harper

Travis Mastrogiovanni

Trevor Mastrogiovanni

Chance McLane

Luke Mechler

Dustin Plott

Wyatt Sheets

Luke Surber

Victor Voinovich

Jordan Williams

Travis Wittlake

Carter Young

Oklahoma State University Athletics