Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Wrestling Has Plenty of Reasons for Optimism
November 16, 2010 | Cowboy Wrestling
Nov. 16, 2010
By Jordie Lindley
OSU Media Relations
There is reason for optimism within the Oklahoma State wrestling program heading into the 2010-11 season. With several returning All-Americans and starters, the Cowboys have high expectations.
The Cowboys return three All-Americans in Jordan Oliver, Clayton, Foster and Alan Gelogaev. Foster and Gelogaev will both start the season at new weight classes and it isn't a reach to think that Oliver may also find himself wrestling at a different weight class by season's end.
“I think he has an opportunity to have a very special year as a senior,” Smith said. “His experience has been that nothing is easy. You don't typically see a guy wrestle at 197 his first two years, then cut down to 184 as a junior then back to 197 as a senior, but Clayton just wants to be on a great team and he's going to do whatever it takes for us to have our best team. Our best team is with him at 197 pounds this year.”
Known simply as “Z” because of his middle name, Zelim, Gelogaev is moving from 197 pounds to heavyweight, where he will be substantially lighter than many of his competitors.
“I don't picture Z having an easy transition,” Smith said. “He will have to be more aggressive with his takedowns because he's going to be wrestling guys who are bigger than him. His focus needs to be scoring from his feet. The challenge is to get his weight to 235-240 pounds and maintain it. It was not hard for him to gain weight after nationals, but he now has to make sure that he's eating three and four meals a day and eating the right things.”
Oliver's weight was a popular topic for chatter in some circles last season, but Smith praised him with his approach to weight management this offseason.
“Jordan is doing much better with his weight than he had been. His commitment to wrestling at 133 pounds is strong,” Smith said. “My choice was to move him to 141 pounds, but he is committed to 133. He made the decision and he wants to do it. I would not let him if he didn't show me that he is genuinely committed, and he has done just that so we're moving forward with him at 133 pounds.”
Along with the three returning All-Americans, there is another significant change involving weight. Junior Jamal Parks is moving up from 141 pounds to 149 pounds following an off-season in which Smith praised Parks' mindset.
“It's been a journey for Jamal to this point. He has not yet had the maturity to fulfill a complete season,” Smith said. “One thing about not having the success you want is you can either lie down or fight back. The reason he has struggled to finish strong is a lack of knowledge and wrestling poor in certain positions. He has shown a fighting attitude to fix those problems and I like the spirit he has about him this year.”
Also competing at 149, junior Albert White and senior Quinten Fuentes will be competing for that starting spot. This will be Fuentes' fifth year in the program and he has shown that he is a capable starter.
At 141 pounds, junior Luke Silver will step in after wrestling at 149 pounds to this point. Silver will be joined by another possible starter in true freshman Josh Kindig, who was a first-team ASICS All-American.
The likely candidate to start at 165 pounds is redshirt freshman Dallas Bailey. Bailey was a decorated wrestler at Catoosa HS before battling through some injuries during his redshirt year last season. At 174 pounds, the likely starter is Chris McNeill, a 2009 NCAA qualifier. He will be backed up by Zach White, who is making the pull down from 197 pounds after redshirting there a year ago.
Should Bailey earn the starting spot at 165, he would be one of three freshmen expected to start for OSU in 2010-11, as fellow freshman Jon Morrison, Ladd Rupp and Tyler Dorrell will all compete for the starting spot at 125 pounds.
Chris Perry seems to be set as the starter at 184 pounds. The 2009 Junior Hodge Trophy winner as America's top high school wrestler, Perry went 15-1 in open tournaments last year. Perry went on to win the U.S. junior freestyle national championship and secure the bronze medal at the FILA junior freestyle world championships in the summer of 2010.
“Chris is a young guy who has a good spirit and good potential to be a team leader at an early age,” Smith said. “That needs to be developed. He can be a great influence because he is so focused. He's far from a finished product, but he loves to win and he hates to lose.”
