Cowboys Face Top-25 Opponents in Opening Duals

Saturday, November 17

Brookings, SD

6:30 PM

Oklahoma State University

South Dakota State

Image Taken at the Oklahoma State Cowboys vs Minnesota Gophers Wrestling Dual, Sunday, November 19, 2017, Gallagher-Iba Arena, Stillwater, OK. Bruce Waterfield/OSU Athletics

November 16, 2018 | Cowboy Wrestling

South Dakota State Notes

BROOKINGS, S.D. – The Oklahoma State wrestling opens dual season this weekend as it travels north to take on Big 12 opponent No. 22 South Dakota State in Brookings, S.D. The dual is set for Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT at Frost Arena.

On Sunday, the Cowboys will be back on the mat at No. 13 Minnesota at 4:00 p.m. CT.

Watch the Cowboys
Fans can stream Saturday's match against South Dakota State live on FloWrestling.org. The Minnesota bout will be live on BTN Plus and streamed live on Flo.

Live Stats and Play-By-Play
Fans can follow the action online through live results and play-by-play on trackwrestling.com.

In the Polls
The Cowboys' lineup for this week features ranked wrestlers at all 10 weight classes.

Four Cowboys enter this weekend's dual ranked inside the top five, including returning All-Americans Nick Piccininni, Kaid Brock and Boo Lewallen. After falling shy of All-America status in 2018, Derek White is the highest ranked Cowboy at No. 3 in the USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll. Piccininni is ranked as high as No. 2 by American Wrestling News. Two-time All-American Brock is ranked No. 5 by most major publications with a No. 4 coming from WIN Magazine. Lewallen is a lock at No. five for the Cowboys in the major polls, and White's ranking ranges from No. 3 to No. 5.

Newcomer Daton Fix is ranked No. 9 by Intermat. The Cowboy makes his debut in a tough roadtrip facing reigning NCAA champion Seth Gross and 2017 NCAA finalist Ethan Lizak. Edinboro transfers Andrew Shomers and Dakota Geer have made their way into various publications' rankings. Shomers is No. 15 at 157 according to WIN Magazine, and Geer is No. 12 in WIN and The Open Mat. Chandler Rogers has been ranked No. 8 at 174 pounds by Intermat, and Jacobe Smith received a No. 11 bid at 184. Preston Weigel holds steady No. 6 at 197 across all major publications.

The Series: South Dakota State

Saturday's dual will mark the fourth meeting in the series between the Cowboys and Jackrabbits, dating to 2014.
OSU has won each of the previous matchups.
The dual will be the teams' first meeting Jan. 2017, when OSU won in Gallagher-Iba Arena, 31-9.
The Cowboys are undefeated against the Jackrabbits in Brookings.
John Smith is 3-0 against South Dakota State in his head coaching career.

The Series: Minnesota

Sunday's dual will mark the 39th meeting in the series between the Cowboys and Golden Gophers, dating to a 1941 bout in Minnesota that the Cowboys won, 18-6.
OSU has 25 of the previous 39 matchups.
Last year, Smith picked up his 400th career coaching win against Minnesota at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Cowboys are 13-5 against the Gophers in Minneapolis.
John Smith is 18-14 against Minnesota in his head coaching career.

Last Time Out
Oklahoma State completed at the OCU Open in Oklahoma City on Nov. 4, claiming ten titles across the open and freshman/sophomore divisions, with multiple Cowboys placing in certain weight classes.

OCU Open Tournament
Nov. 17, 2018  |  Abe Lemons Arena  |  Oklahoma City, Okla.
Open Division
125: Nick Piccininni (1st)
133: Daton Fix (1st), Andrew Nieman (2nd)
141: Kaden Gfeller (1st), Mike Magaldo (2nd)
149: Boo Lewallen (1st)
157: Jonce Blaylock (1st), Wyatt Sheets (2nd)
174: Chandler Rogers (1st), Christian Bahl (4th) Zalin Edwards (DNP)
184: Dakota Geer (1st), Bear Hughes (3rd)
197: Preston Weigel (1st), Andrew Marsden (2nd), Austin Harris (4th)

Freshman/Sophomore Division
141: Cole VanVleet (DNP), Conner Wilson (DNP), Bennett Sherrer (DNP)
157: Hanyu Qiu (DNP)
165: Colton Denney (1st), Gavin Stika (2nd), Wes Ahrberg (DNP)
174: Travis Wittlake (1st), JaQuan Jackson (DNP)
184: Anthony Montalvo (3rd)

400 and Counting
Last season, Oklahoma State head coach John Smith assumed the title of winningest active head coach in NCAA Division I wrestling.

After the Cowboys' win over Minnesota in November, Smith reached dual win No. 400 for his career, becoming the seventh head coach in DI history to reach that benchmark. He is also only the fifth coach to win all of his duals at the same school. Currently sitting at 411 career wins, Smith is 10 wins away from tying Jack Childs and T.J. Kerr for fifth on the list. Impressively, of his 411 wins, 142 have come over top-10 teams.
A look at the full list:

All-Time Wrestling Coaching Wins* (400+)
1.             616         Dale Thomas        Oregon State                                        1957-90
2.             493         Harold Nichols     Iowa State /Arkansas St.                    1948-85
3.             442         Gary Taylor           Rider                                                      1977-2017
3.             440         J Robinson            Minnesota                                             1986-2016
4.             424         Bobby Douglas     Iowa St./Arizona St.                             1975-2006
5.             421         Jack Childs           Drexel                                                    1975-2010
                                T.J. Kerr                 CSU-Bakersfield/San Jose State      1984-2013
7.             411         John Smith          Oklahoma State                                 1992-Pres.
* Includes only DI wins

Get Your Fix
Oklahoma State redshirt freshman Daton Fix spent 2017-18 competing internationally as a member of the USA Junior World team.

Fix took gold at the 2017 Junior World Championships in August 2017, outscoring his five opponents by a combined score of 53-1 and leading the United States to its first team title since 1984. With the win, Fix became the first Cowboy wrestler to take gold at the event since Alan Fried in 1991.

After blazing through the 2018 Senior World Team Trials, the Sand Springs native fell to world bronze medalist Thomas Gilman at Final X. Fix then participated in a special wrestle-off with Brandon Courtney of Arizona State. The Cowboy outscored Courtney 21-0 in the two matches, sealing a spot on his third-straight World Team.

After storming through the first two rounds in Trnava, Slovakia, Fix lost to Asia Junior Championships runner-up Naveen Naveen, 5-4, in the semifinals. He returned to the mat to collect his third technical fall of the tournament over Kyrgyzstan's Bekbolot Myrzanazar Uulu and bring home a third-place finish.

The win marked his fourth-consecutive top-three finish in world competition.

In his first weekend donning the orange singlet, he is set to wrestle defending NCAA Champion Seth Gross at South Dakota State and turns around Sunday to face Minnesota's No. 6 Ethan Lizak.

White Upsets No. 3 Hemida at NWCA All-Star Classic
Oklahoma State wrestling redshirt senior Derek White knocked off No. 3 Youssif Hemida of Maryland in the heavyweight bout at the 2018 National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic in Denver. White upended the 2018 All-American 7-5 in sudden victory after trailing by as many as three in the second period.

The NWCA All-Star Classic is an exhibition dual that matches up two of the best from around the nation in each weight class. Although the result doesn't count for either wrestler's record, the win provides a good bit of confidence for White, who is coming off an unprecedented season that saw the Edmond, Okla. native go 25-4 overall on the way to his first career Big 12 title.

OSU Statistical Leaders
Overall Wins: 3, six wrestlers
Dual Wins: None
Ranked Wins: None
Bonus Point Wins: 3, three wrestlers
Wins by Fall: 3, Chandler Rogers
Wins by Technical Fall: 2, three wrestlers
Wins by Major Decision: 1, six wrestlers
Dual Takedowns: None
Dual Nearfalls: None
* Does not include redshirt athletes