Oklahoma State University Athletics
No. 2 Cowboys Open Season At Central Missouri Open
November 09, 2007 | Cowboy Wrestling
The Basics
No. 2 Oklahoma State opens the 2007-08 season when it competes Sunday at the Central Missouri Open at the University of Central Missouri Multipurpose Building in Warrensburg, Mo. The all-day event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
Ticket Information
Admission is $7 for adults and $3 for youths 10 years and younger. Contact the Central Missouri ticket office at (660) 543-4063 for more information.
What's At Stake
There are several spots in the lineup that are open for competition within the team, and the Central Missouri Open will be a pivotal event for many Cowboy wrestlers. Coach John Smith has said as many as five freshmen have a chance of being in the starting lineup this year and the Central Missouri Open will provide members of the freshman class with a prime opportunity to prove themselves worthy of starting spots.
OSU appears to be set at 133 pounds with three-time All-American Coleman Scott ranked No. 1 in the nation by every major preseason publication. Two-time All-American and three-time Big 12 champion Nathan Morgan should contend for an individual national title at 141 pounds, with 2007 All-American Brandon Mason holding down the spot at 174 pounds. 2007 NCAA qualifier Jared Rosholt will start at heavyweight, but beyond those four spots, the Cowboys are wide open.
Who To Watch at the Central Missouri Open
Redshirt freshmen Neil Erisman (157 pounds), Quinten Fuentes (149 pounds) and Cody Hill (187 pounds) along with true freshmen Luke Ashmore (141 pounds) Luke Silver (149 pounds) and Clayton Foster (197 pounds) join redshirt freshman Ben Ashmore (125 pounds) as being freshmen who have a legitimate chance to crack into the starting lineup with strong performances at the Central Missouri Open.
Recapping The Orange and Black Ranking Matches
Oklahoma State held its annual Orange and Black Ranking Matches at Gallagher-Iba Arena on Nov. 8, with Quinten Fuentes (149 pounds), Newly McSpadden (157 pounds), Kyle Griffin (165 pounds) and Jared Shelton (197 pounds) winning key matches at weight classes that are up for grabs.
Fuentes rallied from a 5-1 deficit early in the second period to knock off Luke Silver, 12-6. McSpadden controlled his match against Neil Erisman, claiming a comfortable 6-2 win. With Jake Dieffenbach still recovering from an injury, Griffin picked up a 6-3 win over Kevin Wainscott by recording an escape and a takedown in the third period. Shelton controlled his match against highly-regarded freshman Clayton Foster, handing the youngster a 10-3 setback.
Oklahoma State From A Distance
Now in his 17th year as head coach of his alma mater, John Smith welcomes back three All-Americans, seven NCAA qualifiers and eight starters from last year's team that finished the season with a 14-5 dual record and took fifth at the NCAA Championships.
Top Returners
Three-time All-American Coleman Scott is the preseason No. 1-ranked wrestler in the nation at 133 pounds, with fellow senior and two-time All-American Nathan Morgan ranked third in the nation at 141 pounds and 2007 All-American Brandon Mason ranked third in the nation at 174 pounds.
Senior Jack Jensen (184 pounds), junior Newly McSpadden (157 pounds) and sophomores Tyler Shinn (133 pounds) and Jared Rosholt (heavyweight) also return with NCAA Championships experience to their credit.
New Faces To Keep An Eye On
Redshirt freshman Ben Ashmore is Oklahoma State's starter at 125 pounds after compiling a 12-3 record in open tournaments last year. Sophomore Dakotah Simpson is one of a host of strong contenders for the starting spot at 149 after compiling an 8-4 record as a true freshman a year ago. Redshirt freshman Neil Erisman could likely see a good deal of action at 157 pounds after going 11-3 in open tournaments in 2006-07 and enjoying a productive off-season Two-time NAIA champion Jake Dieffenbach steps in as the starter at 165. A three-time NAIA finalist while at Lindenwood University, Dieffenbach graduated from Lindenwood with a year of eligibility remaining. He is enrolled in graduate school at OSU. Redshirt freshman Cody Hill will challenge for a starting spot at 184, as will true freshman Clayton Foster, who comes to OSU after a decorated high school career that made him one of the most sought-after recruits in the nation last year.
Strength of Schedule
Year in and year out, John Smith signs his Oklahoma State team up for one of the most grueling schedules in the nation, and the trend continues in 2007-08 as the Cowboys host defending NCAA champion and preseason No. 1 team Minnesota and last year's NCAA runner-up and preseason No. 3 Iowa State and travel to Iowa City to face consensus preseason top-five team Iowa.
The Cowboys travel to Columbia to face No. 7 Missouri, host No. 11 Penn State, square off against No. 14 Nebraska at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City and have their yearly Bedlam Series home-and-home with No. 19 Oklahoma.
All tolled, the Cowboys face nine opponents ranked among the nation's top 20 in the preseason.
NCAA Championships Set For St. Louis
The Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo., is the site for the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships, which will be held from March 20-22. All-session tickets to the 2008 Championships are on sale now. To order tickets, call 866-646-8849 (toll free) or 314-241-1888 (in St. Louis) or log on to www.ticketmaster.com.
Fans can reserve hotel rooms for the Championships in St. Louis by calling the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission at 888-882-5569.
For more information on the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships, visit www.stlsports.org/wrestling.
About The OSU Wrestling Program
No program at any school in America has enjoyed as much success through the years at the wrestling program at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys have won 34 NCAA team championships, have crowned 132 individual NCAA champions and 418 All-Americans. OSU has 45 undefeated seasons to its credit and has produced 36 Olympic wrestlers.
2007-08 marks the 89th season of Cowboy wrestling and the 66th season in which Oklahoma State has called Gallagher-Iba Arena home. The Cowboys enter the 2007-08 season with a 411-31-5 record duals wrestled at Gallagher-Iba (92.5 winning percentage).
Cowboy Up Book Documents Record-Setting 2005 Season
Oklahoma State's unforgettable run to the 2005 NCAA Wrestling Championship has been immortalized in author Kim Parrish's new book, Cowboy Up, which is now available for purchase online at www.okstate.com, at cowboyupbook.org and at OSU wrestling duals at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Cowboy Up, which includes a foreward written by OSU Head Coach John Smith, provides readers with an insider's glimpse into every aspect of the Cowboy wrestling program. Parrish followed the team into the wrestling room, on road trips and in every other way imaginable.
“This is the most in-depth account of our run to the 2005 NCAA title and Judge Kim Parrish has done an excellent job of capturing a season of training and hard work and all the struggles that went into the success that team enjoyed,” Smith said. “This isn't just a book about Oklahoma State wrestling. It's a book about a group of young men that came together with a purpose and made the sacrifices needed to achieve a larger goal.”
The Cowboys of 2004-05 matched an NCAA record with five individual national champions and won the NCAA team title by 70 points over second-place Michigan in one of the most dominating runs in the history of the NCAA Championships.
Led on the mat by NCAA individual champions Zack Esposito, Johny Hendricks, Chris Pendleton, Jake Rosholt and Steve Mocco, the Cowboys compiled a perfect 21-0 record in dual matches and romped to wins over rivals Iowa, Minnesota and Oklahoma before storming to the 2005 Big 12 Championship and eventually the NCAA crown.
