Cowboy Wrestling Set for Two Duals in Little Rock

SIUE and Little Rock Notes

STILLWATER - The Oklahoma State wrestling team hits the road for the first time this season as it heads to Little Rock to take on the Trojans and SIU-Edwardsville. The No. 4 Cowboys will square off with the Cougars on Sunday, Jan. 17, at 12:55 p.m., before its dual with Little Rock at 4 p.m.

Dual Details
Dates/Times:
vs. SIU-Edwardsville – Jan. 17, 2021/ 12:55 p.m. CT
Location: Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock, Ark.
Watch: LRtrojans.com
Listen: Hot 93.7 KSPI-FM
Live Stats: Trackwrestling.com

vs. Little Rock – Jan. 17, 2021/4 p.m. CT
Location: Jack Stephens Center, Little Rock, Ark.
Watch: LRtrojans.com
Listen: Hot 93.7 KSPI-FM
Live Stats: Trackwrestling.com

The Basics
The fourth-ranked Oklahoma State wrestling team (2-0 overall; 0-0 Big 12) hits the road for the first time this season to take on SIU-Edwardsville and Little Rock on Jan. 17. The Cowboys wrestle the Cougars first at 12:55 p.m. CT before taking on the Trojans at 4 p.m. CT.

The Series - SIU-Edwardsville
Oklahoma State and the Cougars have met seven times in the programs' histories, with each match ending in favor of the Cowboys. The teams have not wrestled since 1989 when OSU defeated SIUE 46-3. The first meeting between the schools took place in 1978 with the Cowboys winning 38-12.

The Series - Little Rock
A second-year program, Little Rock and Oklahoma State have never met on the mat before. The Trojans traveled to Stillwater last weekend to wrestle in the quad meet hosted by the Cowboys, but only faced Oregon State and Chattanooga. The teams will wrestle for the first time Sunday at 4 p.m. followed by another dual later in the season when OSU hosts Little Rock for a 7 p.m. dual on Feb. 7.

Fast Start for the Freshman
Three true freshman appeared in the starting lineup for the Cowboys in the first dual of the season. The trio combined to go 6-0 with four of those wins coming with bonus points. Trevor Mastrogiovanni kicked things off against Chattanooga with an 8-2 decision over Fabian Gutierrez before defeating Oregon State's Brandon Kaylor 7-4. In a crowded lineup at the 174 and 184 weights, No. 2 overall recruit Dustin Plott impressed the OSU faithful in his home debut. The Tuttle, Okla. native won both his matches in dominating fashion: a 10-2 major decision and 19-4 technical fall. The only recruit ranked higher than Plott in the class of 2020 was his own teammate AJ Ferrari. In his highly-anticipated debut for Oklahoma State, Ferrari picked up two wins via major decision. Earlier in the fall, Ferrari won the UWW Junior Nationals tournament outscoring his opponents 37-1 on his route to the 92 kg championship.

A Pair of Oklahoma State Wins Would...
• Move the Cowboys to 4-0 on the season
• Mark OSU's eighth-consecutive win against SIU-Edwardsville; 1st win against Little Rock
• Advance Smith's head career coaching record to 443-65-6, moving him into third place in all-time Division 1 coaching wins.

Cowboys in the Polls
In this week's polls, Oklahoma State's lineup features nine wrestlers ranked in various preseason polls. Sophomore 133-pounder Daton Fix is the consensus No. 1 wrestler at 133 pounds and is the highest ranked Cowboy. Not far behind Fix are teammates and returning Big 12 individual champions Boo Lewallen and Travis Wittlake. Lewallen (149) ranks No. 4 among all of the polls, while Wittlake (165) is No. 4 in all but one, a No. 5 ranking from FloWrestling. Three freshman appeared in the rankings for the first time in their young careers. Trevor Mastrogiovanni (125), Dustin Plott (174) and AJ Ferrari (197) combined to go 6-0 with four bonus-point wins in the quad meet against Chattanooga and Oregon State. Also appearing across all four rankings is senior Kaid Brock who is looking to get back to his All-America form at 141 pounds after an injury kept him from wrestling last season for the Cowboys. Brock is ranked in the top-10 in each of the rankings and as high as No. 6 by The Open Mat. After missing last week's duals due to injury, Wyatt Sheets remains in the top-10 in three of the four polls at 157 pounds. Senior Dakota Geer is ranked as high as No. 7 and as low as No. 10 at 184 pounds where he was an All-American in 2019 after wrestling at 197 pounds last season. Geer put together a 2-0 day the last time out for OSU, picking up his first ranked win of the season with a 12-3 major decision over No. 14 Matthew Waddell of Chattanooga.

Tune In
The duals with SIU-Edwardsville and Little Rock will air on the radio Sunday with Rex Holt on the call beginning at 12:30 p.m. CT on Hot 93.7 KSPI FM. It will stream on lrtrojans.com with the purchase of an all-day access pass needed to view for $9.99. Live stats can be found for free on TrackWrestling.com.

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

AJ Ferrari

Daton Fix

Boo Lewallen

Trevor Mastrogiovanni

Dustin Plott

Wyatt Sheets

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