Oklahoma State University Athletics
October 22, 2026 | Cowboy Wrestling
Before the match, Landon Robideau is a different guy. He's a jokester, he's a friend and he's on your side. But when he walks onto the mat, he's not that guy. He becomes something much scarier.
"It's kind of who I am out on the mat," Robideau said. "Before the match and after, I'm laughing with my teammates, but when I need to lock in, I can lock in and be serious and go dominate guys."
That switch is where the Michael Myers persona comes from, the masked horror-movie character who has become Robideau's calling card at Gallagher-Iba Arena. It is also part of what carried him through a true freshman season that ended with a national title.
Robideau, a sophomore 157-pounder from St. Michael, Minnesota, went 21-2 as a freshman. He entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 5 seed, won five straight matches and beat Nebraska's Antrell Taylor, a returning national champion, 4-2 in the final. With that win, Oklahoma State became the first program ever to crown three freshman national champions at the same tournament, alongside Jax Forrest and Sergio Vega.
"Being a national champion as a true freshman means a lot," Robideau said. "Coming in here, the coaches set an expectation of being a true freshman national champ, but it doesn't really come to reality until it happens. So being able to do it, and now going into my second year, it means a lot."
A Fast Start
Robideau said the turning point came in his very first collegiate match. In the season opener against Stanford, he beat No. 4 Daniel Cardenas, an All-American, by major decision. He took Cardenas down twice in the first period and added a final takedown with less than 10 seconds left. The performance earned him Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors.
"It was against a really good opponent," he said. "Then I realized that I'm kind of up there with the top guys and that I can beat them pretty good. I think that was kind of what started everything."
He kept going from there. By mid-December he was 7-0 with six bonus-point wins, three by major decision and three by technical fall. The sixth was a 20-5 technical fall at West Virginia that moved him to No. 2 in the country.
His only two losses all season came in close matches. Taylor beat him 3-2 in tiebreakers during the regular season, and Arizona State's Kaleb Larkin beat him 4-3 in the Big 12 final in Tulsa. That second loss stung and Robideau left the BOK Center with nothing to show for a season that had looked like a title run. He didn't leave Tulsa defeated, he left more motivated than ever.
Settling Old Scores
At the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Robideau drew one of the toughest brackets in the field. He said he was glad to see it.
"I always hope to see the same people, especially if I've lost to them," Robideau said. "I think I'm able to adjust and learn from my losses. I had a tough bracket, but I was super excited because I could prove that I was better than the guys and that I could beat them even if I lost to them earlier in the year."
Larkin was in that bracket, and Robideau got his win back. Then came the semifinal against Penn State's PJ Duke, the tournament's No. 1 seed. Their history goes back to at least 2022, when the two met in the 106-pound final at the 16U freestyle nationals in Fargo.
"He's beaten me a lot before," Robideau said. "It was just really good, because he's a really good opponent, a really tough opponent."
The semifinal went to sudden victory tied 1-1. Duke came close to a winning takedown, but a review showed that he did not score. In the tiebreaker periods, Robideau got a reversal, rode Duke out and won 3-1.
That put him in the final against Taylor, the man who had beaten him in the regular season. In the second period, Taylor chose bottom. Robideau controlled the position and scored near-fall points in a scramble for a 2-0 lead. From there he kept up the pressure, picked up a stall point and riding time, and wrestled through several blood stoppages to win 4-2.
"Going in and avenging my loss against Antrell (Taylor) was really good because he's a national champ," Robideau said. "He's in the top tier of guys, and just being able to have that be my national championship match was really special."
By the end of the tournament, Robideau had avenged every loss from his regular season and the Big 12 final.
Where the Mask Came From
The Michael Myers idea started with an assistant coach, when Tyler Caldwell pointed out Robideau's killer mindset. Then, when the Cowboys were choosing theme songs for a dual, it came up again in a conversation with a teammate.
"We just kind of rode with it ever since," he said.
Fans have joined in. At home duals, a fan in a Michael Myers mask sits in the stands, completely still, as Robideau wrestles. Robideau said he catches the crowd when he walks out, though he tunes it out once the whistle blows.
"I notice right when I go out. I don't notice them too much during the match," he said. "But I definitely like seeing kids and people kind of buy into it and get excited for it. It's really cool."
The image fits the way he wrestles: steady and relentless pressure that wears opponents down over seven minutes. It also contrasts with the version of Robideau his teammates know, the one cracking jokes in the tunnel minutes before he takes the mat.
A Summer Overseas
In August, Robideau won a bronze medal for Team USA at 70 kilograms at the U20 World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. He had earned the spot by winning the U20 World Team Trials.
He won four of his five matches in Slovakia. His only loss came in a narrow semifinal, and he came back in the bronze-medal match to beat Kyrgyzstan's Zalkarbek Tabaldiev 3-1. Tabaldiev led 1-0 after the first period on a pair of passivity calls, and Robideau did all the scoring in the second.
Incoming Cowboy Dreshaun Ross joined Robideau on the podium, taking silver at 125 kilograms.
"It's kind of like a lot of tournaments. It's just really hard competition, which is exciting," Robideau said. "But I think the most fun was just having Dreshaun there, another teammate. Being able to wrestle hard with him and both win medals was fun."
He said this offseason has felt different from the last one.
"Last summer, obviously, you're a freshman, a little bit more nerves and maybe anxiety or trying to get super excited," he said. "This year I've just been through it a little bit. So just understanding it's going to be a long season, but being excited for it. I can't wait to wrestle in front of all our fans at Gallagher and then go to National Duals and whoop up on some other teams."
The Cowboys finished second as a team at last year's NCAA Championships, their best finish since 2016. Robideau said the goal this year is to finish first.
"We had a really good team last year," he said. "But I think this year we have even more new guys, and it's an even more exciting team."
Minnesota Tough
Robideau's mom, Jennifer, got him into wrestling when he was 2 or 3 years old. He said she has been by his side the whole way and is still the biggest influence on his career.
"Even though I'm a national champ, she's making sure I'm not skipping stuff," he said. "Always looking to go to the things, going to the U.S. Open, going to try to make senior world teams. Always pushing me to do better."
He has two younger brothers. He grew up wrestling the youngest, who is now a high school junior, and coaching him has sharpened his own wrestling.
"Just being able to coach him and see how they developed over the years," Robideau said, "I think it's helped me even further my wrestling."
The results at home were hard to argue with. Robideau went 283-6 at St. Michael-Albertville and won four Minnesota state titles. He won a state-record 188 straight matches and set a national record with 605 takedowns in a single season. He also won titles at Fargo, Who's Number One and the Super 32 Challenge, and in 2025 he received the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award as Minnesota's representative.
He and teammate Bennett Berge are now both Minnesotans in Stillwater, and Robideau said his home state doesn't always get the credit it deserves.
"Minnesota's a really good (wrestling) state, but sometimes I feel like people kind of forget about them," he said. "You kind of see it now with me and Bennett, wrestling at, the top school in the nation. Being able to have guys from Minnesota both on the team together is cool."
The place itself had something to do with it, too.
"Just growing up tough. Minnesota, it's harsh winters. It's long days," he said. "I think that's kind of helped me in my wrestling career."
Off Season, Open Season
Away from the mat, Robideau said a lot of people already know about the team's bowling habit. He also hunts and fishes. In Oklahoma he goes after bass, and he just finished a dove hunt.
"Just whatever season's open," he said. "Dove, pigs, deer, anything."
Back home in Minnesota, he hunts deer and pheasants with his grandfather, plus ducks and anything else in season. Otherwise, he said, he mostly hangs out with friends and teammates.
His favorite wrestling memory isn't his own title. It came a few minutes later, after Forrest won the 133-pound final and the Cowboys had three freshman champions.
"We just had all our teammates together. We're all cheering together, congratulating each other," Robideau said. "Just being around each other in an atmosphere like that was really cool."
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. The Cowboys open the season the next morning at Gallagher-Iba Arena, and the man in the mask will be waiting.
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"It's kind of who I am out on the mat," Robideau said. "Before the match and after, I'm laughing with my teammates, but when I need to lock in, I can lock in and be serious and go dominate guys."
That switch is where the Michael Myers persona comes from, the masked horror-movie character who has become Robideau's calling card at Gallagher-Iba Arena. It is also part of what carried him through a true freshman season that ended with a national title.
Robideau, a sophomore 157-pounder from St. Michael, Minnesota, went 21-2 as a freshman. He entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 5 seed, won five straight matches and beat Nebraska's Antrell Taylor, a returning national champion, 4-2 in the final. With that win, Oklahoma State became the first program ever to crown three freshman national champions at the same tournament, alongside Jax Forrest and Sergio Vega.
"Being a national champion as a true freshman means a lot," Robideau said. "Coming in here, the coaches set an expectation of being a true freshman national champ, but it doesn't really come to reality until it happens. So being able to do it, and now going into my second year, it means a lot."
A Fast Start
Robideau said the turning point came in his very first collegiate match. In the season opener against Stanford, he beat No. 4 Daniel Cardenas, an All-American, by major decision. He took Cardenas down twice in the first period and added a final takedown with less than 10 seconds left. The performance earned him Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors.
"It was against a really good opponent," he said. "Then I realized that I'm kind of up there with the top guys and that I can beat them pretty good. I think that was kind of what started everything."
He kept going from there. By mid-December he was 7-0 with six bonus-point wins, three by major decision and three by technical fall. The sixth was a 20-5 technical fall at West Virginia that moved him to No. 2 in the country.
His only two losses all season came in close matches. Taylor beat him 3-2 in tiebreakers during the regular season, and Arizona State's Kaleb Larkin beat him 4-3 in the Big 12 final in Tulsa. That second loss stung and Robideau left the BOK Center with nothing to show for a season that had looked like a title run. He didn't leave Tulsa defeated, he left more motivated than ever.
Settling Old Scores
At the NCAA Championships in Cleveland, Robideau drew one of the toughest brackets in the field. He said he was glad to see it.
"I always hope to see the same people, especially if I've lost to them," Robideau said. "I think I'm able to adjust and learn from my losses. I had a tough bracket, but I was super excited because I could prove that I was better than the guys and that I could beat them even if I lost to them earlier in the year."
Larkin was in that bracket, and Robideau got his win back. Then came the semifinal against Penn State's PJ Duke, the tournament's No. 1 seed. Their history goes back to at least 2022, when the two met in the 106-pound final at the 16U freestyle nationals in Fargo.
"He's beaten me a lot before," Robideau said. "It was just really good, because he's a really good opponent, a really tough opponent."
The semifinal went to sudden victory tied 1-1. Duke came close to a winning takedown, but a review showed that he did not score. In the tiebreaker periods, Robideau got a reversal, rode Duke out and won 3-1.
That put him in the final against Taylor, the man who had beaten him in the regular season. In the second period, Taylor chose bottom. Robideau controlled the position and scored near-fall points in a scramble for a 2-0 lead. From there he kept up the pressure, picked up a stall point and riding time, and wrestled through several blood stoppages to win 4-2.
"Going in and avenging my loss against Antrell (Taylor) was really good because he's a national champ," Robideau said. "He's in the top tier of guys, and just being able to have that be my national championship match was really special."
By the end of the tournament, Robideau had avenged every loss from his regular season and the Big 12 final.
Where the Mask Came From
The Michael Myers idea started with an assistant coach, when Tyler Caldwell pointed out Robideau's killer mindset. Then, when the Cowboys were choosing theme songs for a dual, it came up again in a conversation with a teammate.
"We just kind of rode with it ever since," he said.
Fans have joined in. At home duals, a fan in a Michael Myers mask sits in the stands, completely still, as Robideau wrestles. Robideau said he catches the crowd when he walks out, though he tunes it out once the whistle blows.
"I notice right when I go out. I don't notice them too much during the match," he said. "But I definitely like seeing kids and people kind of buy into it and get excited for it. It's really cool."
The image fits the way he wrestles: steady and relentless pressure that wears opponents down over seven minutes. It also contrasts with the version of Robideau his teammates know, the one cracking jokes in the tunnel minutes before he takes the mat.
A Summer Overseas
In August, Robideau won a bronze medal for Team USA at 70 kilograms at the U20 World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. He had earned the spot by winning the U20 World Team Trials.
He won four of his five matches in Slovakia. His only loss came in a narrow semifinal, and he came back in the bronze-medal match to beat Kyrgyzstan's Zalkarbek Tabaldiev 3-1. Tabaldiev led 1-0 after the first period on a pair of passivity calls, and Robideau did all the scoring in the second.
Incoming Cowboy Dreshaun Ross joined Robideau on the podium, taking silver at 125 kilograms.
"It's kind of like a lot of tournaments. It's just really hard competition, which is exciting," Robideau said. "But I think the most fun was just having Dreshaun there, another teammate. Being able to wrestle hard with him and both win medals was fun."
He said this offseason has felt different from the last one.
"Last summer, obviously, you're a freshman, a little bit more nerves and maybe anxiety or trying to get super excited," he said. "This year I've just been through it a little bit. So just understanding it's going to be a long season, but being excited for it. I can't wait to wrestle in front of all our fans at Gallagher and then go to National Duals and whoop up on some other teams."
The Cowboys finished second as a team at last year's NCAA Championships, their best finish since 2016. Robideau said the goal this year is to finish first.
"We had a really good team last year," he said. "But I think this year we have even more new guys, and it's an even more exciting team."
Minnesota Tough
Robideau's mom, Jennifer, got him into wrestling when he was 2 or 3 years old. He said she has been by his side the whole way and is still the biggest influence on his career.
"Even though I'm a national champ, she's making sure I'm not skipping stuff," he said. "Always looking to go to the things, going to the U.S. Open, going to try to make senior world teams. Always pushing me to do better."
He has two younger brothers. He grew up wrestling the youngest, who is now a high school junior, and coaching him has sharpened his own wrestling.
"Just being able to coach him and see how they developed over the years," Robideau said, "I think it's helped me even further my wrestling."
The results at home were hard to argue with. Robideau went 283-6 at St. Michael-Albertville and won four Minnesota state titles. He won a state-record 188 straight matches and set a national record with 605 takedowns in a single season. He also won titles at Fargo, Who's Number One and the Super 32 Challenge, and in 2025 he received the Dave Schultz High School Excellence Award as Minnesota's representative.
He and teammate Bennett Berge are now both Minnesotans in Stillwater, and Robideau said his home state doesn't always get the credit it deserves.
"Minnesota's a really good (wrestling) state, but sometimes I feel like people kind of forget about them," he said. "You kind of see it now with me and Bennett, wrestling at, the top school in the nation. Being able to have guys from Minnesota both on the team together is cool."
The place itself had something to do with it, too.
"Just growing up tough. Minnesota, it's harsh winters. It's long days," he said. "I think that's kind of helped me in my wrestling career."
Off Season, Open Season
Away from the mat, Robideau said a lot of people already know about the team's bowling habit. He also hunts and fishes. In Oklahoma he goes after bass, and he just finished a dove hunt.
"Just whatever season's open," he said. "Dove, pigs, deer, anything."
Back home in Minnesota, he hunts deer and pheasants with his grandfather, plus ducks and anything else in season. Otherwise, he said, he mostly hangs out with friends and teammates.
His favorite wrestling memory isn't his own title. It came a few minutes later, after Forrest won the 133-pound final and the Cowboys had three freshman champions.
"We just had all our teammates together. We're all cheering together, congratulating each other," Robideau said. "Just being around each other in an atmosphere like that was really cool."
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year. The Cowboys open the season the next morning at Gallagher-Iba Arena, and the man in the mask will be waiting.
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