Cowboy Wrestling Heads to NYC to Dual Columbia on Sunday

Columbia Dual Notes

The Basics
The No. 13 Oklahoma State wrestling team (5-1 overall; 2-0 Big 12) is set to complete a three-week road stand when it faces Columbia on Sunday, Jan. 15 at 12 p.m. CT in New York City. The Cowboys are coming off of a 20-12 victory over Oregon State that saw OSU close out the dual with four consecutive wins to clinch the victory.

On the Air
Oklahoma State's dual with Columbia will be streamed on ESPN+. The match can also be heard on the radio on Hot 93.7 KSPI-FM beginning at 11:30 a.m. CT with Rex Holt on the call. Live stats for the match can be found on Trackwrestling.com.

The Series - Columbia
Sunday's dual between OSU and Columbia will mark the second meeting ever between the two programs. The Cowboys and Lions met for the first time last season when Columbia made a trip to Stillwater on short notice following the cancellation of a tri-dual with West Virginia. OSU won the dual 35-6 taking eight of 10 matches and earning bonus points in six of them. Oklahoma State is 57-2 all-time against teams from the EIWA conference.

About the Cowboys
No. 13 Oklahoma State is 5-1 on the season and coming off of a 20-12 win over Chris Pendleton and Oregon State in Corvallis. In that dual, OSU won six of 10 bouts, including the last four to rally from a 12-7 deficit to stay undefeated on the road this season. 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 9-2, 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 10-3 start at heavyweight and placed third at the Scuffle. 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 put together an 9-3 record so far 157 pounds, which includes 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.

An Oklahoma State Win Would...
• Move the Cowboys to 6-1 overall; 4-1 in nonconference duals
• Improve OSU's record in road duals to 5-0 on the season.
• Move the all-time series record with Columbia to 2-0

Cowboys in the Polls
Oklahoma State's roster features 10 wrestlers ranked in various polls this week, with two 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 as high as No. 5 at 174 pounds after earning All-America honors for the first time last season with a sixth-place finish. Travis Wittlake and Kaden Gfeller sit just outside the top-10 at 184 and 157 pounds pounds in the majority of the polls. Trevor Mastrogiovanni rose a couple spots to No. 13 in the FloWrestling poll at 125 pounds after a win over Oregon State's Brandon Kaylor. Wyatt Sheets is ranked as high as No. 19 by The Open Mat, while Victor Voinovichh (149) is ranked No. 18 by WIN Magazine. Luke Surber made a jump in the rankings to No. 21, while Konner Doucet lands at No. 26 in the Intermat rankings after both wrestlers recorded third-place finishes at the Southern Scuffle to open 2023. Carter Young is the final Cowboy ranked as he lands at No. 25 in the latest 141-pound Intermat poll.

Two Cowboys Chasing the Century Mark
Cowboy seniors Daton Fix and Wyatt Sheets are both nearing 100 wins in their collegiate careers. The active leaders on Oklahoma State's roster with 83 wins for Fix and 81 for Sheets, the century mark could be within reach toward the end of this season. Sheets elected to return to OSU for his COVID season, while Fix is one of the winningest wrestlers in program history based on winning percentage and still has another year of eligibility he could take advantage of. OSU has had 44 wrestlers reach the 100-win mark in their career, most recently accomplished by Kaid Brock from 2016 to 2021.

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Players Mentioned

Konner Doucet

Daton Fix

Kaden Gfeller

Trevor Mastrogiovanni

Dustin Plott

Wyatt Sheets

Luke Surber

Victor Voinovich

Travis Wittlake

Carter Young

Oklahoma State University Athletics