Cowboys Ride North to Minnesota

Sunday, November 27

Minneapolis, MN

1:00:00 PM

Oklahoma State University

Minnesota

November 25, 2016 | Cowboy Wrestling

PDF Notes

STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State wrestling team heads back on the road this weekend when it travels to Minneapolis, Minn., to take on No. 16 Minnesota at the Minnesota Sports Pavilion Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. CT.

Live Stats and Play-By-Play
Fans can follow the action online through live results and play-by-play on www.trackwrestling.com. Simply go to the site and the link to live results and play-by-play will be prominently displayed.

Listen to the Dual Live
Fans can listen to the dual live on 93.7 KSPI-FM or okstate.com with Rex Holt and Roger Moore on the call.

About the Cowboys
Facing the challenge of replacing three starters from last season's squad, including three-time NCAA Champion Alex Dieringer and two-time All-American Austin Marsden, the 2016-17 Oklahoma State wrestling team is up to the task of chasing the program's 35th team championship.

There is reason for optimism, as the Pokes' roster boasts plenty of wrestlers that can make an impact this season. Head coach John Smith returns 2016 NCAA Champion at 141 pounds Dean Heil, along with All-Americans Nolan Boyd, Anthony Collica and Joe Smith from an NCAA Runner-Up finish at the NCAA Championships in Madison Square Garden last spring.

The Cowboys are coming off a dominant performance in their season opener earlier this month, dealing a 36-3 loss to Bucknell in Miami, Okla., to move to 1-0 on the season.

Along with Smith, who enters his 26th season at the helm of the Oklahoma State wrestling program, the Cowboys are led by associate head coaches Eric Guerrero and Zack Esposito, along with volunteer assistant coach Chris Perry.

In the Polls
The Cowboys enter Sunday's showdown with the Golden Gophers ranked No. 1 in both the USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll and the Intermat Tournament Rankings. Minnesota is ranked No. 16 in the Coaches Poll, while coming in at No. 14 in the Intermat Tournament Rankings

Individually, Oklahoma State has nine potential starters ranked in all four major national polls. Returning NCAA Champion 141-pounder Dean Heil remains slotted at No. 1 in all four major polls. Aside from Heil, seven other Cowboys received top-eight rankings from Intermat, including Kaid Brock (133, No. 6), Anthony Collica (149, No. 3), Joe Smith (157, No. 3), Chandler Rogers (165, No. 4), Kyle Crutchmer (174, No. 4), Nolan Boyd (184, No. 5) and Preston Weigel (197, No. 6).

Minnesota's lineup boasts three ranked wrestlers in No. 2 Brett Pfarr (197), No. 5 Michael Kroells (HWT) and No. 14 Nick Wanzek (174).

The Series
In the 37 previous meetings between the Cowboys and Golden Gophers, Oklahoma State has racked up 23 wins to Minnesota's 14.

The Cowboys took the last match between the two schools, 20-17, last season in Gallagher-Iba Arena. The win snapped a three-match Minnesota win streak. OSU holds the longest win streak in the series, however, as the Pokes took the first eight matches in the series.

Overall, Oklahoma State is 9-6 in Stillwater, while holding a 13-4 record over Minnesota in Minneapolis. Minnesota holds a 4-1 advantage in neutral-site matches. John Smith is 15-14 in his head coaching career against the Gophers.

Last Time Out
The Oklahoma State wrestling team proved worthy of its No. 1 ranking in its season opener earlier this month, dominating Bucknell in a 36-3 dual victory behind five bonus-point wins at NEO Fieldhouse.

Kyle Crutchmer highlighted the day with a first-period fall in the 174-pound bout, while Nick Piccininni and Jonce Blaylock recorded technical falls and Kaid Brock and Chandler Rogers added major decisions. Dean Heil was also victorious at 141 pounds in the only match that featured two ranked wrestlers.

Senior Nolan Boyd (184), redshirt sophomore Preston Weigel (197) and senior Austin Schafer (285) each recorded decisions to close out the match, giving the Cowboys their first triumph of the season.

Know the Foe
The Minnesota Golden Gophers head into Sunday's bout with the Cowboys at 1-0 on the young season after an 18-17 narrow victory over South Dakota State in Minneapolis last weekend.

Minnesota's young lineup, filled with a number of redshirt freshmen and sophomores that are set to compete for starting jobs this season, fielded a fierce comeback against the Jackrabbits, bouncing back from dropping five of the dual's first six matches to eke out the win, thanks in part to a wild finish in the heavyweight match that pushed the Gophers on top.

The Gophers are led by a couple of All-Americans at 197 and 285 pounds. 2016 All-American Brett Pfarr enters Sunday's contest ranked second in the nation at 197 with a 4-0 overall record. He went 3-0 in a sweep of the Journeymen/ASICS Collegiate Classic. A two-time All-American, heavyweight Michael Kroells is 6-2 on the season, ranked No. 5.

One of the major storylines for Minnesota this season is long-time assistant coach Brandon Eggum assuming the reins of the program on the heels of former coach J Robinson stepping down after leading the Gophers for nearly 30 seasons. Eggum is assisted by head assistant Luke Becker, along with assistant coach Dustin Schlatter and volunteer assistant Zach Sanders.

Creeping Up on 100
Oklahoma State seniors Anthony Collica and Nolan Boyd each find themselves within 15 wins of joining the program's 100-win club. The exclusive club currently features 39 former Cowboy greats, led by John Smith, who wrapped up his career with 152 wins.

Collica currently owns 86 career wins to go against 29 losses, putting him only 14 wins away. With a 92-30 overall record for his career, Boyd is only eight wins away from breaking onto the list.

No current Cowboy wrestlers are on the list as it stands now; however, all four members of the OSU coaching staff are part of the club.

Back in the Saddle
The Cowboys will get a couple of wrestlers back in the lineup whose 2015-16 campaigns were cut short due to injury, including 2015 All-American Kyle Crutchmer, a 174-pound senior, and 133-pound redshirt freshman Kaid Brock, who made noise in his first dual match when he pinned defending national champion Cody Brewer of Oklahoma shortly before his season-ending injury.

Jacobe Smith Named Big 12 Co-Wrestler of the Week
Oklahoma State junior wrestler Jacobe Smith has been named Big 12 Co-Wrestler of the Week for his efforts at Saturday's Lindenwood Joe Parisi Open.

Wrestling unattached, Jacobe Smith had the highlight of the day, pinning No. 7 Zac Brunson of Illinois in the third period of the quarterfinals on his way to claiming the top spot at 174. That was the second of two falls on the day for the Muskogee, Okla., native, who went 4-0 to claim his third open title in as many tries since arriving in Stillwater.

Smith has been impressive since joining the Cowboys this fall, boasting a 12-0 overall record in his redshirt season with seven of those victories coming by fall and another by technical fall.

Collica Victorious at NWCA All-Star Classic
Oklahoma State wrestling senior Anthony Collica recorded a 7-5 decision over No. 3 Lavion Mayes of Missouri in the 149-pound match at the National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic Saturday night at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center.

Mayes attacked early, scoring a takedown in the opening 10 seconds of the match to take an early 2-0 lead. After a Collica escape, the Cowboy trailed 2-1 after the first period. Collica would answer in the second, however, and a late takedown inside of 25 seconds gave the senior a 5-4 lead after two frames.

Collica opened the third period on top, but Mayes recorded an escape early on to tie the match at five apiece. With under a minute left, Collica made his move, scoring a takedown with 45 seconds left to take a 7-5 advantage that he would retain for the decision.

Oklahoma State is "Wrestling U"
Earlier this month, Dan Lobdell and Andrew Spey of FloWrestling have highlighted the best schools at each weight class over the last 15 years. The 10-part series goes weight class by weight class, using an algorithm that factors in a school's NCAA qualifiers, All-Americans and national champions over that time span to name one school the best at each class.

Oklahoma State took top honors in four weight classes (133, 149, 165 and 174), while finishing second at heavyweight. Not only were the Cowboys one of two schools to take multiple weight classes, but OSU was the only program to take more than two.

All in the Family
This season's squad features two sets of brothers and a father-son combo, along with a handful of Cowboys whose family members formerly wrestled at Oklahoma State.

Dalton and Tristan Moran are originally from Arizona. Dalton transferred to OSU two seasons ago from South Dakota State, Tristan is a sophomore this year. The Rogers brothers, Chandler and Jordan, round out the group of brothers.

Coach John Smith and son Joe, who is a sophomore and returning All-American for the Pokes, make up an exciting father-son duo.

The 2016-17 roster also features freshman Wyatt Sheets, whose father is two-time national champion 167-pounder Mike Sheets. Senior Kyle Crutchmer and redshirt freshman Andrew Marsden's brothers Brian and Austin both wrestled for OSU last season.

Home, Sweet 'Homa
The 2016-17 Cowboy wrestling roster features more of a local taste than usual with 22 of its 39 total wrestlers hailing from Oklahoma. Aside from the five Stillwater Cowboys (Kaid Brock, Tristan Moran, Andrew Nieman, Chandler Rogers and Joe Smith), the OSU roster features wrestlers from Blackwell, Tulsa, Edmond, McAlester, Guthrie, Berryhill, Miami, Collinsville, Tahlequah, Yukon, Welling, Stilwell and Muskogee.

Champs in the Classroom
Oklahoma State landed five wrestlers onto the 2016 Academic All-Big 12 first team last year. OSU's first-team honorees included Nolan Boyd, Anthony Collica, Gary Wayne Harding, Dean Heil and Preston Weigel. The selections marks the second-straight first-team selection for Collica and Heil.

John Smith Wraps 25th Year as OSU Head Coach
Not only did John Smith leave his legacy on Oklahoma State wrestling as a competitor, Smith continues to do so as he wrapped up his 25th year as the head coach of the Cowboy wrestling team last season. In 1992, John Smith, along with Kenny Monday, took over as co-head coaches for the squad, and Smith took over on his own in 1993. Since taking over, Smith has led his squad to fiv ne NCAA team championships and 18 conference championships. He leads all active coaches in NCAA champions coached (31), and has also seen his wrestlers earn All-American honors 117 times. After the Cowboys' win over Bucknell earlier this month, he is the Cowboys' winningest coach with a 385-59-6 record as he begins his 26th season.

Live From Rio
After bringing home two Olympic gold medals as a wrestler and coaching Team USA at the Olympics three times, Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith took on a different role this year at the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, serving as an analyst for NBC Sports' coverage of Olympic wrestling.

Smith Signs Four Oklahomans to NLI's
The Oklahoma State wrestling team has signed four Oklahomans to National Letters of Intent, head coach John Smith announced Wednesday. Daton Fix, Christian Bahl, Jet Taylor and Kaden Gfeller will join the Cowboys in the fall of 2017.

Sand Springs native Daton Fix enters his senior season looking for his fourth state championship at Sand Springs High School. Coming off a 46-0 junior season, his overall high school record stands at a perfect 119-0. Fix was a 2015 Fargo National Freestyle Champion at 120 pounds and earned the bronze medal at the 2016 Junior World Championships earlier this year.

Jet Taylor of Sallisaw High School signs with the Cowboys after winning his second-straight Oklahoma 4A State Championship at 120 pounds. With the win, Taylor was named the Outstanding Wrestler for the state tournament and became Sallisaw's 11th multiple-time state champion. This summer he also earned Fargo All-American status, finishing third in Greco-Roman and sixth in freestyle at the FargoDome.

Hailing from Oklahoma City where he attends Heritage Hall, Kaden Gfeller is a three-time Oklahoma state champion, coming off a 132-pound 3A state title in February. Gfeller is a multiple-time Fargo All-American, most recently placing third at the 2015 Junior Men's Freestyle Nationals.

Stillwater High School product Christian Bahl is coming off an Oklahoma 6A State Championship at 160 pounds last February. He's racked up a 163-24 career record in high school, and is a three-time state placer while earning five all-conference honors. Bahl, who is a three-time national team member for both Oklahoma and Minnesota, has also excelled in football where he was a varsity starter all four years of his high school career.

2015-16 Wrap-Up
Oklahoma State celebrated 100 years of wrestling history as well as 25 years of John Smith at the helm of the program, ending the season with a second-place finish at NCAAs, a 50th team conference championship, six All-Americans, two NCAA individual champions, a Hodge Trophy recipient and a 13-3 dual record.

Held at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri the Big 12 Championships were hosted at a neutral site for the first time. It also featured six new teams as Big 12 affiliates for a 10-man bracket at each weight. OSU sent nine wrestlers to the finals and clinched the team title before day one had concluded. Seven Cowboys claimed Big 12 titles and just weeks later, all 10 Pokes stepped onto the mat in the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, in New York City.

Aside from All-Americans Nolan Boyd, Joe Smith, Austin Marsen and Anthony Collica, the Pokes brought home two national champions, increasing Oklahoma State wrestling's total to 141 NCAA champions.

Dean Heil, a sophomore for the Cowboys, put up a 32-1 record on the season, dominating the 141-pound weight class. He entered the season ranked No. 1 and maintained the ranking despite suffering a sudden-victory loss to Joey Ward of UNC at home in February. He avenged the loss in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, controlling No. 8 Ward, 8-3. Another 8-3 win in the semifinals sent him to the championship bout, where he faced new Big 12 rival Bryce Meredith of Wyoming. The Cowboy edged out Meredith with a 4-3 effort. He finished the season an NCAA champ, a two-time All-American and a two-time Big 12 champion.

Alex Dieringer lived up to the country's expectations, winning his third NCAA championship. The Cowboy senior served up a 33-0 record last season, recording bonus points in all but six matches. His 27 bonus-point wins included 12 falls—10 of which came in the first period—eight major decisions and seven technical falls. He proved his dominance even more as he allowed only one takedown last season and just three takedowns the past two seasons.

Cowboy Wrestling Tradition
Oklahoma State wrestling celebrated 100 years of history last season. The Cowboys, then known as the Oklahoma A&M Tigers and led by A.M. Colville, wrestled their first match in 1915 against the University of Texas. It was a rough start for OSU as it fell to the Longhorns in its lone dual of the season. But the Cowboys pulled through and went on to win 34 NCAA team championships (the most by any school in any sport), 141 individual champions and 450 All-Americans. Overall, the Cowboys hold an incredibly impressive 1,079-125-23 overall record.

Wrestling's House of Horrors
No venue in America has a richer wrestling tradition than Gallagher-Iba Arena, home of Oklahoma State wrestling since 1939. In its beginning as Gallagher Hall, the gymnasium was named for Edward Clark Gallagher, the Oklahoma A&M wrestling mentor who never wrestled competitively but became the greatest coach of his time.

Since wrestling began in Gallagher-Iba Arena, the Cowboys have won 25 NCAA titles and have had 40 unbeaten and untied campaigns at home. One of their longest winning streaks ran with the arena's opening in 1939 and lasted until Feb. 16, 1951. During that period, Oklahoma State won 37 straight home duals, including no ties.

Gallagher-Iba Arena has proved to be one of the most difficult venues for opponents to win in across all of college sports, as the Cowboy wrestling program boasts an impressive 475-39-6 overall record in the arena.

From the final dual of 1959 through the first five home duals of the 1967 season, Oklahoma State wrestled 67 duals without a loss, finishing with an impressive 60-0-1 record before the streak was broken by Oklahoma, 19-13.

OSU's latest home winning streak of 50 consecutive duals was the second-longest such streak without a loss or tie, as it began near the end of the 1986 season and lasted until Jan. 30, 1993.

ASICS All-Americans Live Here
There are three different wrestlers on this year's Oklahoma State roster who were ASICS first-team All-Americans during their prep days:

Jordan Rogers      2012
Nick Piccininni       2014 and 2015

Fargo Champs, Too
There are three different wrestlers on this year's Oklahoma State wrestling roster who won titles at the ASICS Junior Freestyle National Championships in Fargo, N.D., during their prep days:

Jordan Rogers      2011
Anthony Collica     2012 and 2013
Joe Smith              2015

Coached by the Best
When you come to wrestle at Oklahoma State, you are coached by the best. Members of the Oklahoma State wrestling staff combine for six world championships and two Olympic gold medals. They also combine for eight NCAA championships and 14 All-America honors. The breakdown:

Olympic Medalists
John Smith            1988 and 1992 Gold

Senior World Championships Medalists
John Smith            1987, 1989, 1990 and 1991 Gold

NCAA Individual Championships
John Smith            1987, 1988
Eric Guerrero        1997, 1998, 1999
Zack Esposito        2005
Chris Perry            2013, 2014

Big 12 Expansion
Last year the Big 12 conference added six new affiliate members for wrestling, bringing the conference to a total of 10 teams. Joining the Big 12 is Air Force, North Dakota State, Northern Colorado, South Dakota State, Utah Valley and Wyoming.

With the addition of the new members, the Big 12 Championships will now serve as a qualifying tournament for the 2016 NCAA Championships.

Follow Cowboy Wrestling
Stay up to date with the Oklahoma State wrestling team on the following social media:
               Twitter: @CowboyWrestling
               Facebook: facebook.com/cowboywrestling
               Instagram: @CowboyWrestling
               Snapchat: OSUathletics
               YouTube: youtube.com/osuathletics