Oklahoma State Wrestling Hosts First Big 12 Dual of 2020

Sunday, January 12

Stillwater, OK

2 PM

Oklahoma State University

Northern Colorado

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January 10, 2020 | Cowboy Wrestling

Northern Colorado Notes

STILLWATER –The No. 11 Cowboy wrestling team (4-1 overall, 1-0 Big 12) opens up the 2020 portion of dual action at home against conference opponent Northern Colorado at 2 p.m. CST on Sunday, Jan. 12, in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Dual Details
Date/Time: Jan. 12, 2020/2 p.m. CST
Location: Gallagher-Iba Arena, Stillwater, Okla.
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Hot 93.7 KSPI-FM
Live Stats: Trackwrestling.com

The Basics
The Bears of Northern Colorado make the trip to Stillwater for the first time since 2011 this weekend. OSU is coming off a first-place finish at the 2020 Southern Scuffle, where Nick Piccininni posted a first-place finish for the second year in a row, leading the team to its first Scuffle championship at the event since 2017.

The Series
Oklahoma State and Northern Colorado have met 14 times for dual competitions in the programs' histories. OSU has won all but one contest, tying with the Bears in Greeley in 1963. Since John Smith took over the program in Stillwater, the Pokes are 6-0 against UNC. In those six meetings the Cowboys have collectively outscored the Bears, 258-10, with an average margin of victory of 41.3 points. The Cowboys lead the series against UNC, 15-0-1 with seven wins coming in Stillwater. John Smith is 6-0 against the Bears.

An Oklahoma State Win Would…
• Move the Cowboys to 5-1 on the season
• Improve coach Smith's record against UNC to 7-0
• Give the Pokes their second conference win on the year
• Mark OSU's 11th consecutive win against Northern Colorado
• Give the Cowboys their 15th straight win in Gallagher-Iba Arena
• Push Smith's career coaching record to 431-63-6.

Cowboys in the Polls
This week, the Oklahoma State lineup features nine wrestlers ranked in various polls at eight different weights. Freshman Travis Wittlake cracked the top 10 among Intermat's 165-pound ranked wrestlers landing at No. 9. Wittlake took third at the Southern Scuffle with wins over No. 11 Jake Wentzel (PITT) and No. 8 Thomas Bullard (NCSt). Senior 125-pounder Piccininni comes in across Intermatand The Open Mat rankings at No. 4 this week. Flo and Winposition the senior at No. 4 as well. Returning All-American Lewallen maintains took over the No. 3 position at 149 pounds across Intermat, Open Mat, Win and Flo. Reece Witcraft (133) remained at No. 16 in the Win rankings after Scuffle along with Cowboy Wyatt Sheets at 157 pounds. Joe Smith (174) and Dakota Geer (197) both come in at No. 11 in the Intermat rankings. Geer took fifth at the tournament, and Smith medically withdrew. Redshirt sophomore Kaden Gfeller made the move to No. 10 this week at 141 pounds in the Intermatpoll after his season debut at the Southern Scuffle. Gfeller came up short of the three-peat but finished as a runner-up to No. 12 Real Woods (STAN). Also finishing on the podium for the Cowboys at 141 pounds was Dusty Hone. Hone took out No. 16 Kyle Shoop (LHU) in the third-place bout and landed a spot in both Flo and Win polls.

Chasing 100
Senior Nick Piccininni is only three wins away from notching his 100th victory in the OSU orange singlet. In 2019 the Cowboy earned 34 victories over the course of the season, including a perfect regular season, and a 10-2 mark against ranked opponents. The milestone would add Piccininni to a list of only 43 wrestlers to reach the milestone including current Poke, Kaid Brock, who has exactly 100 wins to his name.

Winning Wittlake
Cowboy Wittlake leads all Cowboy wrestlers with 15 wins on the season to date. The redshirt freshman finished third at the Southern Scuffle with two ranked wins, topping NC State's Thomas Bullard (No. 8) and Pitt's 11th-ranked Jake Wentzel. The two victories gave him the most wins (3) against ranked opponents of any Cowboy starter this season.

What to Watch
This weekend's contest features a top-20 matchup at 149 pounds when third-ranked Lewallen takes on No. 17 Andrew Alirez. Alirez is 15-1 on the season, and Lewallen is undefeated with nine wins, including two over ranked opponents. Witcraft is set to wrestle No. 19 Mosha Schwartz in the dual at 133 pounds. The true freshman dropped out of the rankings following the Scuffle but could make a strong case to reenter with a second top-20 win.

Fans can follow along with the Cowboys' bout against the Bears via @CowboyWrestling on Twitter or follow the live stats at Trackwrestling.com.