Non-Conference Road Tests Await Cowboys

PDF Notes - Edinboro

STILLWATER – The top-ranked and undefeated Oklahoma State wrestling team wraps its regular season road schedule this weekend when it heads north for a pair of road tests against No. 24 Edinboro and Kent State. The Cowboys open the weekend in Edinboro, Pa., for a showdown with the Fighting Scots on Friday night at 7 p.m. ET, before traveling to Kent, Ohio, for a matchup with the Golden Flashes on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.

Watch the Cowboys
Fans can catch Friday's dual with the Fighting Scots on FloWrestling. Saturday's dual will be streamed live on kentstatesports.com/watch.

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 Cowboys
Fans can listen to both duals live on 93.7 KSPI-FM or okstate.com with Rex Holt and Roger Moore on the call.

About the Cowboys
Oklahoma State has proven itself one of the deepest lineups in the country thus far into the 2016-17 campaign. This much was to be expected heading into the season, as head coach John Smith returned 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 also return valuable experience in 2015 All-American Kyle Crutchmer, who has also been a major contributor in the Cowboy lineup as a senior after returning from an injury that cut short his junior season.

While the Cowboy roster certainly boasts its fair share of proven talent, the emergence of "young guns" Kaid Brock, Chandler Rogers, Preston Weigel and Nick Piccininni has been a welcome development for Smith and his staff. Meanwhile, senior heavyweight Austin Schafer has come on well in his final run as a Cowboy, knocking off five ranked opponents on his way to his current 18-1 mark this season.

The Cowboys have started the 2016-17 campaign off strong, opening with an 10-0 record for the first time since 2012-13. OSU enters this weekend looking to build off a pair of routs over Big 12 opponents West Virginia and South Dakota State.

Depth has been a major storyline for the Cowboys this season as the team broke tournament records for team points scored and margin of victory at the Southern Scuffle earlier this month. The win followed up a team win at the Reno Tournament of Champions, despite no Cowboy starters making the trip to Reno.

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 this weekend's tournament ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll and second in the Intermat Tournament Rankings.

Individually, Oklahoma State has all 10 starters ranked in each of the 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. 3), Anthony Collica (149, No. 3), Joe Smith (157, No. 6), Chandler Rogers (165, No. 7), Nolan Boyd (184, No. 6) and Preston Weigel (197, No. 8) and Austin Schafer (HWT, No. 6). At 125 pounds, Nick Piccininni is ranked No. 12, while senior Kyle Crutchmer is ranked ninth at 174.

Series Notes: Edinboro
• Friday's dual will mark only the second meeting in the series between OSU and Edinboro, with the only previous dual between the two programs coming in 2009.
• The Cowboys took that dual, 24-12, at the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va.
• Friday will mark the Cowboys' first dual ever in Edinboro, Pa.

Series Notes: Kent State
• Saturday will mark the third dual in the series between the Cowboys and the Golden Flash, and the second in Kent, Ohio.
• OSU is 2-0 in the previous meetings between the two programs, with the last meeting coming in 2013 in Kent, where the Cowboys won, 34-10.
• The series dates back to 2006, when the Cowboys defeated Kent State, 37-6, at the National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
• John Smith is 2-0 against Kent State in his career.

Last Time Out
The top-ranked Oklahoma State wrestling team took care of business Sunday afternoon, defeating Iowa State, 34-3, at Hilton Coliseum to remain undefeated. The win marked the Cowboys' (10-0, 4-0 Big 12) sixth victory of 30 points or more this season.

The Cowboys came out on top of a number of close bouts in the opening five matches to lead, 15-0, heading into intermission. OSU would close the door on the Cyclones in the second half, using a pair of falls from 165-pounder Chandler Rogers and heavyweight Austin Schafer, along with a top-10 victory from senior Kyle Crutchmer at 174 pounds.

Jan. 29, 2017 | Hilton Coliseum | Ames, Iowa
125: No. 12 Nick Piccininni (OSU) dec. Kyle Larson (ISU) 8-2
133: No. 3 Kaid Brock (OSU) dec. No. 12 Earl Hall (ISU) 7-4
141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. John Meeks (ISU) 8-5
149: No. 2 Anthony Collica (OSU) dec. Gabe Moreno (ISU) 3-0
157: Davey Dolan (OSU) dec. Colston DiBlasi (ISU) 5-2
165: No. 6 Chandler Rogers (OSU) fall Logan Breitenbach (ISU) 1:51
174: No. 8 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) dec. No. 10 Lelund Weatherspoon (ISU) 3-2
184: No. 6 Nolan Boyd (OSU) MD Carson Powell (ISU) 14-2
197: Marcus Harrington (ISU) dec. Derek White (OSU) 3-2
HWT: No. 6 Austin Schafer (OSU) fall Quean Smith (ISU) 3:50

1-2-3 Punch
While the Cowboys' lineup is littered with elite talent from top to bottom, one would have a hard time finding a more devastating stretch for opponents in any lineup than the one-two-three punch packed by Kaid Brock (133), Dean Heil (141) and Anthony Collica (149).

This season, the Cowboy trio has combined for a 50-2 record with a 27-2 mark in duals and a 19-2 mark against ranked opponents. While Brock is in his first full collegiate season, Collica and Heil are highly decorated, combining for an NCAA Championship (Heil), five Big 12 titles and three All-America honors.

We're Going Streaking!
While Oklahoma State finds itself one of two remaining undefeated teams and on a 10-match win streak with 11 consecutive wins at Gallagher-Iba Arena, a handful of Cowboy grapplers are on hot streaks as well.

At 141 pounds, NCAA Champion Dean Heil boasts the longest active win streak among Cowboy starters, having won 28-straight matches dating back to last season.

Heil has been impressive in his junior season, going 19-0 overall and 10-0 in dual matches. The junior has picked up four wins over top-10 opponents, the most recent being an 8-6 decision over ninth-ranked Jaydin Eierman in the Cowboys' victory over Missouri last Friday.

Welcome to the 100 Club
Cowboy senior Nolan Boyd became the program's newest member of the 100-win club last week with an 18-2 technical fall over Martin Mueller of South Dakota State. With the win, Boyd moved to 100-33 for his career (now 102-33), becoming the 40th Cowboy in program history to reach the century mark.

Senior Anthony Collica, who currently owns 99 career wins to go against 20 losses, appears to be on track to join the club as well.

Can't Stop Schafer
After senior heavyweight Austin Schafer pinned South Dakota State's Alex Macki last weekend, head coach John Smith referred to him as "King Kong".

After making the move to heavywight for his senior campaign despite competing at 197 pounds for the previous three years of his career, Schafer has proven himself in the new class. Schafer has racked up a 18-1 record with 12 bonus point wins thus far into his senior season. With a combined 0-9 mark against ranked foes during his first three seasons in Stillwater, the Cowboy heavyweight has also beaten five ranked opponents this year, with three of those wins coming in the top 10.

In an impressive win at the Southern Scuffle, Schafer made the OSU record books when he dropped 11th-ranked Jared Johnson of Chattanooga for a fall in only 18 seconds for the 17th-fastest pin in Cowboy wrestling history.

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Players Mentioned

Nolan Boyd

Kaid Brock

Anthony Collica

Kyle Crutchmer

Davey Dolan

Dean Heil

Nick Piccininni

Chandler Rogers

Austin Schafer

Joe Smith

Preston Weigel

Derek White

Oklahoma State University Athletics