Cowboy Wrestling prepped for home opener - Oklahoma State University Athletics

No. 2 Oklahoma State Cowboys

(0-0, 0-0 Big 12) | Head Coach: David Taylor (Third Season)

vs.

Drexel Dragons | 2 p.m. CT

(0-0, 0-0 EIWA) | Head Coach: Matt Azevedo (16th Season)

Dual 1 | Drexel | Nov. 8, 2026

Venue: Gallagher-Iba Arena

Stream: ESPN+ (J. Carl Guymon & Hardell Moore)

Radio: 93.7 KSPI-FM (Karsten Melton)

Stats: https://okla.st/LiveStatsVsDrexel

Michigan State Open Results: https://okla.st/MSUOpen

Social Media: @CowboyWrestling

The Basics

No. 2 Oklahoma State wrestling opens year three of the David Taylor era with a home-opening bout with the Drexel Dragons. In the 21^st century, the Cowboys have won every home opener, sitting at a perfect 26-0. The Cowboys are coming off a successful inaugural Cowboy Invitational where they took the team title and nine individual titles.

On the Air

The Cowboys host the Dragons at Gallagher-Iba Arena on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT, with the dual streaming on ESPN+. J. Carl Guymon and Hardell Moore will be on the call. On the radio side of things, Karsten Melton is set to begin his first full season as the radio voice of Cowboy Wrestling, with the radio broadcast carried on Hot 93.7 KSPI-FM. Live stats and results can be found on okstate.statbroadcast.com, trackwrestling.com and @CowboyWrestling on X.

Series History

Oklahoma State has never dropped a dual to Drexel in the three contests they've matched up in. Sunday will mark the Dragons' second-ever trip to Stillwater, with the last coming in the Cowboys' 2021 home opener where OSU defeated Drexel in shutout fashion, 45-0. The Cowboys have put up at least 30 team points in every edition of the matchup.

In The Rankings

The Cowboys enter the 2026-27 season ranked No. 2 in the NWCA Coaches Poll. That ranking marks the highest rank to start a season since 2016. Oklahoma State is the highest-ranked team in the Big 12, sitting seven spots ahead of No. 9 Iowa State. On the individual side, three Cowboys (Jax Forrest – 133, Landon Robideau – 157 and Konner Doucet – HWT) rank No. 1 in their respective weight classes, with Sergio Vega at 149 pounds and Cody Merrill at 197 pounds just one spot behind at No. 2, respectively. All other weights feature a Cowboy representative in the top 15.

Native American Heritage

Sunday's dual is the annual Native American Heritage dual. In honor of the event, the Cowboys will rock special turquoise singlets and be led out by the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma. This will be the second year the Cowboys have worn the turquoise, with last year's debut seeing OSU defeat Little Rock, 41-6.

Cowboy Domination

The inaugural Cowboy Invitational saw many fireworks take place, with the Cowboys won the team title at the inaugural Cowboy Invitational, winning 53 of 64 bouts against non-OSU opponents and crowning nine individual champions. Statistically, the Pokes netted eight pins, 21 tech falls and 10 major decision victories. Note that OSU vs. OSU matchups aren't counted, according to the NCAA.

Michigan State Squad

Oklahoma State will send a squadron of six Cowboys up to East Lansing, Michigan, to compete at the Michigan State Open on Saturday, Nov. 7. The depth of the Cowboys will be on full force as LaDarion Lockett (165), Lorenzo Norman (174), No. 10 Bennett Berge (184), Kody Routledge (165), Tagen Jamison (141) and Jordyn Raney (149), will make their way north to compete in their respective fields, all of which have a multitude of ranked opponents sprinkled throughout. The event will be streamed via FloWrestling and live results can be found here.

Funk You Can Feel

Sophomore Jax Forrest is back and looking to build on one of the most impressive freshman campaign's we've seen in recent memory. Forrest left high school last December and hasn't looked back, going 19-0 and winning a national championship at 133 pounds just four months following his departure. The sophomore began his season with a Cowboy Invitational title, pinning two straight to reach the finals before tech falling No. 9 T.K. Davis of Gardner-Webb to claim the title.

Vega Genesis

The only freshman to match Forrest's resume is that of teammate Sergio Vega. The 141-pound national champion didn't surrender a takedown all season, finishing with a staggering 24-0 record. Vega is set to move up to 149 pounds this season and ranks No. 2 entering the 2026 campaign and, just like Forrest, worked his way through the Cowboy Invitational to claim the title in his first collegiate bouts at 149 pounds.

No. 1 for a Reason

All eight of last year's All-Americans return to Stillwater and they get to blend in with the No. 1-ranked recruiting class of 2026, according to MatScouts. The class has the likes of Dreshaun Ross, the top-class of 2026 heavyweight and a Fort Dodge, Iowa, native who went 146-2 in high school, only dropping two matches his freshman year and winning via tech fall or pin in every match his senior year. Ross is joined by the Raney brothers, Jayden and Jordyn, a pair of brothers who combined for a staggering 11 Kentucky state titles and both rank in the top 10 for the class of 2026, winning three total state titles while still in middle school. Blue chip recruit Rocklin Zinkin joins the class and has already made noise, winning four straight at the Cowboy Invitational to take the 125-pound title. Joining Zinkin, Michael "Mikey" White started wrestling just four years ago and has already claimed an Indiana state title and, in his first work as a Cowboy, took the throne at 184 pounds on Nov. 1 at the Cowboy Invitational.

Pokes Gone Global

Oklahoma State is no stranger to success on the global stage, and this summer was no different. Former NCAA champion Wyatt Hendrickson returned to the Senior World Championships for the second straight year and claimed a bronze medal at 125kg for Team USA in Astana, Kazakhstan. At the U20 World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, incoming freshman Dreshaun Ross and returning NCAA champion Landon Robideau brought home medals for Team USA, with Ross winning silver at 125kg and Robideau taking bronze at 70kg.

New on the Mic

Karsten Melton is the new radio voice of Cowboy Wrestling. A Stillwater native, Melton has been attending OSU Athletics events since he was four years old. He graduated from Stillwater High School in 2019 and then graduated from OSU in 2023 from its prestigious sports media program. Since graduating, Melton has been a high school broadcaster, calling Perry High School football, basketball, and wrestling. He also assisted with broadcasting home OSU wrestling duals last season. The past two years Melton has been working and continues to work with Edmond Santa Fe High School and with high school streaming service, KREF Sports. When needed, Melton has filled in for a variety of OSU sports, including softball, baseball, soccer and wrestling. He also produces the Eric Morris and Steve Lutz radio shows.

Wrestling's House of Horror's

No venue in America has a richer wrestling tradition than Gallagher-Iba Arena, home of the Oklahoma State wrestling program since 1939. In its beginning as Gallagher Hall, the gymnasium was named for Ed Gallagher, but when renovations were completed in January 1988, it was renamed Gallagher-Iba Arena to honor the late Mr. Henry P. Iba, Oklahoma State's legendary basketball coach. Alongside 54 NCAA championship banners, Gallagher and Iba's names have looked over Oklahoma State's historic venue for nearly 40 years.

Since 1939, Oklahoma State has captured 25 NCAA team titles, completed 45 perfect campaigns at home and won more than 90% of its duals inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. The building's opening coincided with the longest home unbeaten streak in program history, as the Pokes won their first 37 duals inside GIA as part of a 67-dual unbeaten streak at home. That stretch still stands as the program's longest home unbeaten streak, as OSU never suffered defeat from 1933 to February 1951.

Oklahoma State's next-longest home unbeaten streak occurred from the 1959 finale to the middle of the 1967 season, going undefeated for 57 duals in a row. Not far behind, the Cowboys won 51 consecutive duals inside Gallagher-Iba Arena from 1986-1993, good for the third-longest such streak in program history. More recently, John Smith guided the Cowboys to a 26-dual home winning streak from 2018-2022. Not long after the streak was snapped, Oklahoma State defeated South Dakota State on February 4, 2022, for the program's 500th victory inside the venue.

An Oklahoma State Win Would…

Improve its record to 1-0
Make it 27 straight home opener victories
Improve its record against Drexel to 4-0
Improve its home winning streak to 14 duals
Improve OSU to 14-0 at home under David Taylor
Improve OSU's dual record to 29-2 under David Taylor
Improve OSU's record to 59-8 in its past 67 duals
Improve OSU to 2-0 all-time when wearing turquoise singlets
Improve OSU's record in the month of November to 18-1 since 2020

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Bennett Berge

Konner Doucet

Jax Forrest

Tagen Jamison

LaDarion Lockett

Cody Merrill

Lorenzo Norman

Jordyn Raney

Landon Robideau

Dreshaun Ross

Kody Routledge

Sergio Vega

Rocklin Zinkin

Oklahoma State University Athletics