Oklahoma State University Athletics
2010-11 Cowboy Wrestling Season Preview
September 24, 2010 | Cowboy Wrestling
Sept. 24, 2010
Click HERE for the 2010-11 Oklahoma State Wrestling Schedule
There is reason for optimism within the Oklahoma State wrestling program heading into the 2010-11 season. A glimpse at the roster reveals the following:
• The Cowboys return three All-Americans in Jordan Oliver, Clayton Foster and Alan Gelogaev.
• A trio of junior world-level medalists will suit up for Oklahoma State this year in Foster, who won bronze at the 2008 FILA Junior Freestyle World Championships; Oliver, who won bronze in 2009 and Chris Perry, who won bronze in 2010.
• Oklahoma State's roster includes seven individuals who accounted for eight first-team ASICS All-America honors during their respective prep days. That figure does not include Alan Gelogaev, who did not have an opportunity to earn that distinction coming up through the freestyle ranks in Russia.
• The Cowboys have a world-class coaching staff to develop their considerable talent. Five-time NCAA champion coach and reigning Big 12 Coach of the Year John Smith has served as coach of the U.S. senior freestyle team each of the last two years and Eric Guerrero was coach of the U.S. junior freestyle world team in 2009. Smith has coached 23 NCAA individual champions during his time at OSU and no other active coach is even close to that total.
That said, if Oklahoma State is to be in the mix for an NCAA title this year, the Cowboys will have to translate their talent into achievement - something that has not yet happened for several of OSU's probable starters.
A reasonable argument can be made that the Pokes have as much top-to-bottom ability as anyone in the country and a potentially devastating lineup. However, an equally reasonable argument can be made that until the current wave of Cowboys performs their best when their best is what's needed, this group still has much to prove.
"We have some very good wrestlers on our team, but commitment and personal changes is going to be what determines our success this year," Smith said. "We are more well-rounded than we have been the last couple of years, but only time will tell. If we don't make some personal changes, we could be locked in the same struggle we have been. I'm pushing for those changes and I have seen some good things in the preseason."
Smith said the biggest personal changes that need to be made are that wrestling and academics need to be the top priorities for those in his program. He said that has not been the case recently.
"Great teams always put themselves second to the program. We have struggled with that the last couple years," Smith said. "For us to be a great team this year, guys have to put the program ahead of themselves. If guys are living their personal lives in a way that shows wrestling and school are their top priorities, then good things will happen for them as individuals and then for the team as a whole."
There are other things to be ironed out as well. While Oliver, Foster and Gelogaev are returning All-Americans, 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.
"Clayton Foster came in as a freshman at maybe the toughest time for him to come in," Smith said. "He didn't have lot of leadership ahead of him and he had to compete in a very difficult weight class right from the start. I think he has an opportunity to have a very special year as a senior this year. 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" within the OSU program (his middle name is Zelim), Gelogaev moves 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. He was big at 197 pounds last season and had to be very disciplined with his intake. 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."
Beyond the 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. Parks was the No. 2 seed at 141 pounds entering last year's NCAA Championships, but struggled to a bitter 2-2 finish at nationals.
"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 lay 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."
With Parks moving to 149, that becomes Oklahoma State's deepest and most talented weight class. He is joined by junior Albert White and senior Quinten Fuentes. White was the starter last year until sustaining a season-ending injury after the first dual and it would not be a stretch for White to reclaim the starting spot this year. This will be Fuentes' fifth year in the program and he has shown that he is a capable starter.
Parks' move opens a starting spot at 141 pounds, where junior Luke Silver steps in after wrestling at 149 pounds to this point. Silver should not, however, be considered as a lock to be OSU's every day starter, as he will be joined at this weight class by true freshman Josh Kindig, who Smith said will have a very real opportunity to make the lineup as opposed to simply being ticketed for a redshirt season. Kindig was a first-team ASICS All-American wrestling for Blue Mountain HS in Auburn, Pa., last year.
While returning starters Alex Meade (165 pounds) and Mike Benefiel (174 pounds) are both on the roster for 2010-11, both have work to do if they are to earn back their respective starting spots. Meade will not compete at all in the fall semester and there is no promise that he will be in the starting lineup when the spring semester starts. Benefiel will have to maintain a higher level of consistency in his approach to earn back his spot.
With Meade on the sidelines, the likely candidates to start at 165 pounds are redshirt freshman Dallas Bailey and junior Alex Munoz. Bailey was a decorated wrestler at Catoosa HS before battling through some injuries during his redshirt year last season and Munoz saw spot action with the Cowboy varsity as a sophomore in 2009-10. At 174 pounds, the likely starter is Chris McNeil, who has demonstrated a high level of character and work ethic since stepping foot on campus in 2007 and was 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 freshmen Jon Morrison, Ladd Rupp and Tyler Dorrell will all compete for the starting spot at 125 pounds and Chris Perry seems to be set as the starter at 184 pounds. Morrison and Rupp were both strong as redshirts last year, with Rupp going 17-4 and Morrison going 9-1 in open tournaments. Dorrell was 7-7 in open tournaments last year, but has shown enough grit and resolve to earn a chance at the starting spot.
As for Perry, he has the physical abilities and the mindset of a winner and has excelled within the sport for some time. The 2009 Junior Hodge Trophy winner as America's top high school wrestler, Perry went 15-1 in open tournaments last year, with his lone loss coming at the hands of All-American teammate Clayton Foster. 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."
Smith said one of the things that excites him most about this year's team is the fact that he was able to keep wrestlers such as Perry, Oliver, Bailey, Morrison and Rupp in redshirt for a full year as opposed to having to pull them into the lineup immediately, which has now given this group the ability to form a foundation within the program.
"We had the option to bring some of those guys out of redshirt in the last couple years and it probably would have helped us have better teams and finish higher at NCAAs, but the end result now becomes that these guys get to wrestle together as a complete group for two and three years," Smith said. "We have worked hard to put ourselves into this kind of position, and now we have to make sure these guys buy in and believe in where we are taking them as a staff. I get the sense from these guys that they all want to be part of a great team, but great teams are earned, not given. For us to move into that, it takes more than a few guys to make that commitment."
Weight Class Breakdown
125 pounds: Probable Starter - Jon Morrison, Ladd Rupp or Tyler Dorrell
John Smith says: "We're looking at three freshmen at 125 pounds in Jon Morrison, Ladd Rupp and Tyler Dorrell. All three are coming off a redshirt year. Morrison and Rupp had pretty good years last year. Tyler closed the gap. The good thing is that we have three young guys there that we're going to have here for a long time."
133 pounds: Probable Starter - Jordan Oliver
John Smith says: "Jordan is obviously a returning All-American and we could see him bump up at times to 141 pounds. We'll just see how it goes. Right now we have every intention of starting him at 133 and he is committed to winning there."
141 pounds: Probable Starter - Luke Silver
Keep an eye on - Josh Kindig
John Smith says: "Luke Silver has probably got the nod there at this time with Jamal Parks making a move up to 149. With Silver will be one of our freshmen we brought in this year in Josh Kindig. Josh can be very comfortable at this weight. We also are looking at Josh at 133 pounds. He'll be certified to wrestle at 133. If we ever send him out there at 133 is probably a long shot, but we do have that option."
149 pounds: Probable Starter - Jamal Parks or Albert White
Keep an eye on - Quinten Fuentes
John Smith says: "Jamal Parks is moving up here. We also have Albert White, who was the starter before getting injured last year and senior Quinten Fuentes has a lot of experience at the weight and has wrestled a lot. 149 for us appears to have great depth. I really like what I saw in Jamal Parks' training this summer and Albert White, too. Both of those guys put in a wonderful summer."
157 pounds: Probable Starter - Neil Erisman
Keep an eye on - Stephen Swan
John Smith says: "Neil Erisman is one of our seniors and he needs to make his mark this year. Redshirt freshman Stephen Swan had a good summer and is really an impressive kid as far as his training habits. He needs to get a little more disciplined outside the room, but he has shown me that he loves to wrestle and he loves to train."
165 pounds: Probable Starter - Dallas Bailey or Alex Munoz
Keep an eye on - Alex Meade
John Smith says: "At 165 pounds, I expect to see Dallas Bailey or possibly Alex Munoz stepping in the lineup right away. Alex Meade will not have the opportunity to make the lineup at the start of the season, but could be given that opportunity at a later date."
174 pounds: Probable Starter - Chris McNeil
Keep an eye on - Zach White, Mike Benefiel
John Smith says: "Chris McNeil and Zach White are the guys here right now. Chris has some experience, but still needs to grow and be solid in match competition. He has worked very hard to try and earn that along with Zach White, who is making the pull down from 197 pounds. Controlling his weight is going to be the greatest factor he has in his success at this weight class. Mike Benefiel has not shown enough consistency at this point in his personal life for me to really count on him. Hopefully that will change."
184 pounds: Probable Starter - Chris Perry
Keep an eye on - Elliott Hellwege
John Smith says: "Coming off a good summer and a good redshirt year, I'm excited to see Chris Perry step in the lineup. Elliott Hellwege could attempt to move down to 174, but that could be too big of a challenge for him. 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."
197 pounds: Probable Starter - Clayton Foster
Keep an eye on - Blake Rosholt
John Smith says: "Clayton is a returning All-American and this could be a special year for him. Blake Rosholt could see some time at 197 or at heavyweight. He is kind of caught in between. He reminds me of his older brother Jared in that way. It appears that he will make the commitment to go to 197."
285 pounds: Probable Starter - Alan Gelogaev
Keep an eye on - Tyson Yoder
John Smith says: "We like what Z brings us and he has a solid backup in Tyson Yoder. I don't picture Z having an easy transition. 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. I feel comfortable that he will continue to develop quickly. The challenge is to get his weight to 235-240 pounds and keep it there. He was big at 197 pounds last season and had to be very disciplined with his intake. It was not hard for him to quickly increase his 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."
