Oklahoma State Wrestling Opens Dual Season in Pennsylvania

Friday, November 15

Philadelphia, PA

7 PM

Oklahoma State University

Drexel

Image Taken at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship, Day 2 Session 1, Sunday, March 10, 2019, BOK Center, Tulsa, OK. Bruce Waterfield/OSU Athletics

Oklahoma State Wrestling Opens Dual Season in Pennsylvania

November 14, 2019 | Cowboy Wrestling

Drexel Match Notes

STILLWATER – The fourth-ranked Cowboy wrestling team returns to the mat for its first dual since February to take on Drexel and No. 10 Lehigh on the road this weekend. Find all the information regarding the matchups below.

Dual Details
Opponent: Drexel (2-0; 0-0 EIWA)
Date/Time: Nov. 15, 2019/6 p.m.CST
Location: Dasklakis Athletic Center – Philadelphia, PA
Series: OSU leads 1-0
Watch: FloWrestling.org
Listen: Hot 93.7 KSPI-FM
Live Stats: Trackwrestling.com

Opponent: No. 10 Lehigh (0-0; 0-0 EIWA)
Date/Time: Nov. 16, 2019/12 p.m.CST
Location: Stabler Arena – Bethlehem, PA
Series: OSU leads 10-1
Watch: Patriot League Network
Listen: Pete 94.3/KSPI – AM 780
Live Stats: Trackwrestling.com

The Basics
The Oklahoma State wrestling team (0-0 overall; 0-0 Big 12) visits Drexel (2-0 overall; 0-0 EIWA) at 6 p.m. CST on Friday in its 2019-20 regular season opening dual. The following day the Cowboys head to Lehigh to face the 10th-ranked Mountain Hawks at 12 p.m. CST.

Cowboy Quick Hits
The 2019-20 Oklahoma State wrestling lineup boasts returning All-Americans in Nick Piccininni, Dakota Geer, Boo Lewallen and Joe Smith, along with Big 12 champion Kaden Gfeller. The Cowboys are coming off a perfect 15-win dual season. Those wins pushed coach John Smith to sixth place among coaches with the most all-time dual wins at the DI level. At the Big 12 Championships in Tulsa, the Pokes claimed their seventh straight conference title and crowned six individual champions. OSU wrapped up the year in Pittsburgh with a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships and five All-Americans.

About the Cowboys
In 2019, the Cowboys finished with a 15-0 dual mark, completing a perfect season for the 46th time in program history and the seventh in Smith's tenure. It was the first undefeated dual team for the Pokes since 2005

OSU earned nine allocations that the NCAA Championships in Pittsburgh, with Daton Fix (133) and Derek White (HWT) claiming the top seed in their respective weight classes. Both Cowboys made strong title runs and finished as runners up at the event.

Additionally, Preston Weigel made an unprecedented recovery from an injury that sidelined him for the majority of the 2019 season to finish third in Pittsburgh and claim his second All-America bid.

Geer holds his spot in the Cowboy lineup after securing a spot on the podium at NCAAs in 2019. He entered the tournament as the No. 26 wrestler in the first season of fully seeded brackets, only to upset No. 2 Shakur Rasheed (PSU), No. 3 Zach Zavatsky (Va. Tech), No. 7 Nick Reenan (NCSt.) and No. 13 Nino Bonaccorsi (Pitt) en route to a seventh-place finish. He owned the two of the four largest upsets at the event.

Senior staple Nick PIccininni (125) enters the season ranked No. 4 after earning All-America status for the second time in his career in March. He won all but one match in Pittsburgh with bonus points attached after going undefeated through the regular season and leading the Cowboys in numerous statistical categories.

With freestyle World Team member Daton Fix taking an Olympic redshirt and All-American Kaid Brock out with a knee injury, the Cowboys look to fill a serious void at 133 pounds. Boo Lewallen (149) returns to the Cowboy lineup after a serious shoulder injury took him out of competition last season, along with Wyatt Sheets (157) and Kaden Gfeller (141).

Fresh(men) Faces
This season's OSU starting lineup could feature as many as five freshmen or redshirt freshman at any point.

With Daton Fix and Kaid Brock out of the lineup for the fall, redshirt freshmen Conner Wilson and true Reece Witcraft will contend for the spot at 133 pounds. Witcraft, coming off a first-place finish at the OCU Open, came back from a 13-4 deficit in the semifinals to win a 19-16 decision. His other wins at the event include two major decisions and a fall.

Coos Bay, Ore. native Travis Wittlake also looks to see time in the starting lineup at 165 pounds. Wittlake took the title at OCU in his bracket, racking up two tech falls, a pin and win via decision in the finals.

Anthony Montalvo, who had a stellar redshirt season, winning all but one tournament he competed in, looks to enter the lineup for the Cowboys as well. The California Cowboy will contend for a spot among the upper weights along with redshirt freshman Gavin Stika.

Cowboys in the Polls
Entering its weekend contests, Oklahoma State's lineup features seven wrestlers ranked in various polls. Senior 125-pounder Piccininni comes in across Intermat, TOM, WIN Magazine and FloWrestling's ranks at No. 4 and the most consistently highest ranked Cowboy. Not far behind is teammate and returning All-American Geer. Geer boasts as high as a No. 3 ranking with the lowest mark positioning him in sixth at 184 pounds.

Also appearing as high as No. 3 in the ranks for the Cowboys is senior Lewallen at 149 pounds. The Cowboy finished on the podium at NCAAs in 2018 and looks to make a comeback from injury this season to return to AA status. Senior Joseph Smith will look to secure his third All-American season competing for the Pokes at 174 pounds. Smith is ranked anywhere from No 5 to No. 7 in this week's polls.

After falling just shy of his first NCAA bid, Wyatt Sheets returns at 157 pounds for OSU and comes in a couple of polls at No. 20. Redshirt freshman Wittlake appears in his first collegiate rankings at No. 20 in WIN Magazine and FloWrestling polls.

400 and Counting
In 2018, coach John Smith assumed the title of winningest active head coach in NCAA Division I wrestling when the Pokes defeated Minnesota on Nov. 19, inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. Since that time, Smith has added 26 more victories to the record books and now holds sole ownership of the No. 6 spot among all-time winningest DI wrestling coaches. With 426 total wins, Smith resides one win behind Bobby Douglas. Below is a look at the full list.

All-Time Wrestling Coaching Wins*
1.    616     Dale Thomas           Oregon State         1957-90
2. 492    Harold Nichols   Iowa St./Arkansas St. 1948-85
3.   442    Gary Taylor                    Rider             1977-2017
4.   440    J Robinson                 Minnesota        1986-2016
5.   427     Bobby Douglas    Iowa St./Arizona St. 1975-2006
6.    426      John Smith                 Oklahoma State 1992-Pres.
*Includes only DI wins

To follow along with this weekend's action, check out @CowboyWrestling on Twitter and Instagram. For live dual action, tune in on Friday to Hot 93.7 KSPI-FM and Listen: Pete 94.3/KSPI or AM 780 on Saturday. FloWrestling will stream the dual Friday and Saturday's matchup is set to air on the Patriot League Network.