Oklahoma State Athletics 2023 Year in Review

December 31, 2023 | Cowboy Baseball, Cowgirl Equestrian, Cowboy Football, Cowboy Basketball, Cowboy Golf, Cowboy Tennis, Cowgirl Softball, Cowgirl Basketball, Cowgirl Golf, Cowgirl Soccer, Cowgirl Tennis, Cowboy Wrestling, Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

STILLWATER – A month-by-month look at the very best of 2023 for Oklahoma State Athletics – a year highlighted by an NCAA team title from men's cross country, a momentous Bedlam football win and a fourth consecutive Women's College World Series appearance from Cowgirl Softball.

January
Men's Indoor Track and Field - Fouad Messaoudi breaks school records in the indoor Mile and 3K.

Women's Indoor Track and Field - Bailey Golden breaks school record in the Pentathlon at the Razorback Invitational.

Men's Basketball - Cowboys fight back from a 16-point first half deficit to upset No. 12 Iowa State, 61-59.

Women's Basketball - The Cowgirls logged their first league win under Jacie Hoyt, defeating Texas in GIA.OSU followed with a win at No. 18 Baylor to snap a 14-game losing streak in the series. The win was OSU's first over the Bears since 2015 and its first in Waco since 2008.

Wrestling - Cowboys take first at Southern Scuffle, win four straight and Carter Young wins Big 12 Wrestler of the Week for his 15-7 MD over No. 8 Cael Happel of UNI.

Men's Tennis - The Cowboys opened the season with five-straight wins at home, not allowing a single team point to the opposition.

Women's Tennis - The Cowgirls open the season with back-to-back wins, including a 4-0 blowout of Oregon at home

February
Men's Indoor Track and Field - Cowboy Distance Medley Relay squad of Fouad Messaoudi, DJ McArthur, Hafez Mahadi and Ryan Schoppe broke the unofficial world record and collegiate record with their time of 9:16.60.

Women's Indoor Track and Field - Cowgirl track & field upsets No.1 Texas to claim program's first track & field conference title as four Cowgirls claimed individual Big 12 titles.

Men's Basketball - John-Michael Wright's three-point play with 0.4 seconds remaining gives OSU a thrilling 71-68 victory over Texas Tech at GIA.

Women's Basketball - The Cowgirls opened the month with six consecutive league wins for their first six-game Big 12 winning streak since 2016. Among OSU's victories was a home win over Baylor to give the Cowgirls their first season sweep in the series since 2008. OSU also emerged victorious in Lubbock against Texas Tech in triple overtime. Just the second triple overtime game in school history.

Wrestling - Luke Surber beats top-ranked Rocky Elam of Missouri as OSU upset the No. 8 Tigers inside GIA. The Cowboys also took down No. 6 Michigan at the Bout at the Ballpark and defeated Oklahoma for the 17th straight time on Senior Night.

Equestrian - Went 3-0 to start its spring season. All three wins came against ranked opponents, including a takedown against No. 2 TCU. Sydney North earned Big 12 Fences Rider of the Month for winning all three of her rides and claimed two MOPs.

Baseball - Back-to-back no-hitters vs. Cal Baptist & Loyola Marymount

Softball - Cowgirls go a perfect 5-0 at TaxAct Clearwater Invitational, outscores opponents 55-17 during that stretch.

Men's Tennis - Following ITA Kickoff Weekend, the Pokes grinded out three-straight 4-3 matches over Washington, No. 21 Middle Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Women's Tennis - Cowgirls go 4-2 in February, ending the month on a four-match win streak, including a 4-0 home win over No. 41 South Carolina.

Men's Golf - Charles Howell wins the LIV Golf event in Mayakoba.

Women's Golf - Cowgirls post their best combined score vs. par of the 2022-23 season and its best since October of 2021, carding a 20-under 844 at the ICON Invitational.

March
Men's Indoor Track and Field - Fouad Messaoudi becomes only man to win two NCAA indoor titles in 2023 as he won the 3,000 Meter individual and was the leadoff leg of the DMR national championship squad.

Women's Indoor Track and Field - Taylor Roe finishes third in the 3,000 Meter final at the NCAA Championships for her second All-America honor of the weekend.

Men's Basketball - The Cowboys complete a three-game Bedlam sweep, defeating Oklahoma 57-49 in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.

Women's Basketball - Terryn Milton scored the game-winning basket with 0.1 seconds left to defeat West Virginia in Big 12 Championship action. The Cowgirls earned the 17th NCAA Championship appearance in school history. Hoyt became the first OSU head coach to lead the team to the tournament in year one.

Wrestling - Daton Fix and Dustin Plott each took home Big 12 titles before earning All-America honors at the NCAA Championships.

April
Men's Outdoor Track and Field - Fouad Messaoudi breaks school record in the 1,500 Meters as he sets fourth fastest time in NCAA history.

Women's Outdoor Track and Field - Bailey Golden becomes fifth Cowgirl ever to be named Big 12 track & field Athlete of the Week with her school record score of 5,805 points in the Heptathlon at the Jim Click Shootout in Arizona.

Wrestling - Incoming freshman Christian Carroll wins U20 national title at the U.S. Open.
Equestrian - Fifteen Cowgirls were named Academic All-Big 12 teams.

Baseball - Walk-off win in series finale vs. Texas to clinch series; 19-8 win over OU.

Softball - Rachel Becker sets a program record with her two-out single in the seventh inning against TTU that extended her on-base streak to 49 games, passing Vanessa Shippy's previous record.

Men's Tennis - After a six-match skid to end the regular season, OSU pulled off an upset over third-seeded Texas Tech, to advance to the Big 12 Semifinals.

Women's Tennis - Cowgirls finish their conference schedule at 7-2 and get an opening-round win over No. 36 Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship.

Men's Golf - Talor Gooch goes back-to-back with LIV Golf wins in Adelaide and Singapore. The Cowboys won their first event of the year at the Mountaineer Invitational. Jonas Baumgartner captures medalist honors for the first time as a Cowboy as well at the event.

Women's Golf - At the Big 12 Championships, the Cowgirls entered the final round holding a two-stroke lead. With the competition closing in, Clemence Martin sank a clutch birdie on hole 16 to help drive the Cowgirls to its 11th Big 12 title, it's second in the last three years, while Maddison Hinson-Tolchard was crowned individual champion by a single stroke. With Hinson-Tolchard netting the individual title, the Cowgirls also swept conference titles for its seventh title in program history.

May
Men's Outdoor Track and Field - Victor Shitsama and Fouad Messaoudi each win Big 12 titles in the Steeplechase and 1,500 Meters, respectively.

Women's Outdoor Track and Field - Gabija Galvydyte and Billah Jepkirui each win Big 12 titles in the 800 and 1,500 Meters, respectively. The pair plus Molly Born and Bailey Golden punched their tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Equestrian - Jojo Roberson capped her illustrious Cowgirl career as the Big 12 Equestrian Scholar-Athlete of the Year. She was the fifth Cowgirl to earn it since its establishment in 2012-13.

Baseball – Nolan Schubart goes 3-for-3 with three HR & 10 RBIs in series finale vs. East Tennessee State - tied program records for HR and RBI in a game and Big 12 record with two grand slams in game; series win over Kansas State; series win over OU in Norman to clinch share of Big 12 regular season championship, the second regular season title in program history; advanced to final of Big 12 Championship – Aidan Meola walk-off HR vs. Texas Tech, Brennan Phillips pitching performance vs. Texas Tech.

Softball - The Cowgirls sweep through NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals to earn a spot in their fourth consecutive WCWS; In Super Regionals, Kiley Naomi hits the 47th home run of her career to match the OSU career home run record.

Men's Tennis - In the NCAA tournament, the Cowboys upset No. 20 Florida, 4-2, at the Tucson regional. The win marked the first NCAA tournament victory in the Dustin Taylor era.

Women's Tennis - Cowgirls make their 11th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, defeating No. 47 Denver in the first round.

Men's Golf - Wyndham Clark wins the PGA Tour's Wells Fargo Championship. Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Jonas Baumgartner earn all-region honors.

Women's Golf - Cowgirls punch ticket to the NCAA Championships for their third-consecutive season after finishing tied for third at the San Antonio Regional. In Scottsdale, OSU set the program record for lowest round at the NCAA Championships with an opening round of 8-under 280, finishing tied for 11th. Maddison Hinson-Tolchard also carded an 8-under 280 to finish fourth, marking the best individual finish by a Cowgirl in 13 years.

June
Men's Outdoor Track and Field - Isai Rodriguez, Victor Shitsama and Mehdi Yanouri each collect first team All-America honors as Yanouri breaks 800 Meter school record multiple times.

Women's Outdoor Track and Field - Gabija Galvydyte and Billah Jepkirui earn first team All-America honors in the 800 and 1,500 Meters, respectively. Galvydyte later breaks school record in the 800 Meters at the European Team Championships as she helps Lithuania get promoted to Europe's top flight.

Men's Basketball - After a grueling three-day tryout, incoming freshman Eric Dailey Jr. is selected to compete for Team USA at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Hungary.

Wrestling - Jimmy Jackson is inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Dustin Plott wins back-to-back national titles to secure his spot on U23 Team USA.

Baseball - No. 1 seed and Regional host for second consecutive year.

Softball - OSU collects first-ever WCWS run-rule victory, sets program record for most runs in WCWS game with 8-0 victory over Utah.

Men's Golf - Viktor Hovland wins The Memorial. Wyndham Clark becomes the second Cowboy to win a major with his victory at the U.S. Open. Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Jonas Baumgartner earn All-America status as well as all-league recognition.

Women's Golf - Head coach Greg Robertson and junior Maddison Hinson-Tolchard received Big 12 Coach of the Year and Big 12 Player of the Year honors, respectively. Robertson earned the conference award for his second time after doing so in 2021, while Hinson-Tolchard earned the honor for back-to-back seasons, becoming the fifth two-time winner in conference history.

July
Wrestling - Daton Fix wins a gold medal at Waclaw Ziolkowski Memorial in Poland.

Men's Golf - Rickie Fowler wins the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Talor Gooch wins for the third time with his LIV Golf win at Andalucia Dillon Stewart captures the Colorado Amateur title.

Women's Golf - Maddison Hinson-Tolchard concludes her major debut at the 78th U.S. Women's Open.

August
Soccer - Cowgirls go 4-1 and outscore opponents 19-2; Hannah Chance has hat trick in 8-0 win over Little Rock.

Women's Track and Field - Chase Ealey wins her second consecutive gold medal in the Shot Put at the World Athletics Championships representing the United States.

Men's Basketball - OSU defeats the Cape Verde senior national team during a 10-day exhibition tour of Spain.

Women's Basketball - The Cowgirls embarked on a tour of Italy and Greece, making stops in Rome, Sorrento and Athens. OSU went 3-0 during the tour.

Wrestling - Christian Carroll picks up a 14-2 tech fall in his first match at the U20 World Championships.

Men's Golf - Viktor Hovland wins the BMW Championship and the TOUR Championship. Hazen Newman and Jonas Baumgertner were named GCAA All-America Scholars.

September
Soccer - Cowgirls go 7-1 and start Big 12 play 4-0, including a win over #19 UCF.

Men's Cross Country - Cowboys dominated at the Cowboy Jamboree as Denis Kipngetich defeated the field by over 20 seconds. For his performance, he was named Big 12 Runner of the Week for the first time in his career.

Women's Cross Country - Cowgirls won the Cowboy Jamboree with near-perfect score of 16. Billah Jepkirui won by 14 seconds and was named Big 12 Runner of the Week.

Women's Tennis - Lucia Peyre opens her fall season with a doubles title at the Battle of the Bay in San Francisco; Safiya Carrington and Raquel Gonzalez reach the doubles semifinals of the USTA Intercollegiate Championships.

Men's Golf - Wyndham Clark, Rickie Fowler and Viktor Hovland represent OSU at the Ryder Cup in Rome. Fowler is inducted into the OSU Hall of Honor.

Women's Golf - Maddison Hinson-Tolchard ties the program record for the lowest 18-score in round two of the Schooner Fall Classic with a 6-under 64. She joined Jayde Panos (2011-12) and Amy Ruengmatakhun (2011-12) in the record book.

October
Football - Cowboys go 4-0 in October with wins over KSU, KU, WVU and UC. Ollie Gordon turns in historic performances against KU, WVU and UC.

Soccer - Bedlam win over OU in front of second-largest crown in Neal Patterson Stadium history of 3,016; won 1-0 on Alex Morris goal.

Men's Cross Country - Cowboys claimed their fourth straight Big 12 title as they defeated No. 3 BYU by 30 points overall. Brian Musau won the Big 12 individual title with a course and school record 8K time of 22:46.6.

Women's Cross Country - Taylor Roe became the program's first-ever Big 12 cross country champion as her and teammate Billah Jepkirui finished 1-2 at the conference meet.

Women's Basketball - Lior Garzon was named to the Cheryl Miller Award watch list. She was also named a preseason all-league honorable mention pick.

Wrestling - Dustin Plott and Sammy Alvarez travel to Albania and compete at the U23 World Championships. Associate head coach Coleman Scott and former Cowboy wrestler Tadaaki Hatta are named to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2024.

Baseball - Andrew Heaney wins World Series as member of Texas Rangers, is winning pitcher in game four to become second former Cowboy to win a WS game; fourth Cowboy alum to win the World Series.

Women's Tennis - Ange Oby Kajuru defeats teammate Anastasiya Komar in the singles final of the ITA Central Regional Championships; Ayumi Miyamoto wins the ITF Jackson 15k pro circuit singles title.

Men's Golf - Talor Gooch finishes atop the LIV Golf individual standings. Jonas Baumgartner represents Germany at the World Amateur Team Championship. Rayhan Thomas wins the Shocker Invitational individual title.

Women's Golf - Senior Angelica Pfefferkorn, who had only started once in her career going into the fall, closes the fall with a 6-under 66 in round three of the Jim West Challenge. Clemence Martin also posted her first bogey-free round with the Cowgirls in San Marcos.

November
Football - Cowboys win last scheduled Bedlam game 27-24; defeat BYU in double overtime to earn spot in Big 12 Championship. Mike Gundy voted Big 12 Coach of the Year, Ollie Gordon II voted Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.

Men's Cross Country - Cowboy Cross Country took home program's fifth NCAA title with 49 points overall, the third lowest score at the NCAA Championships since 2000 with all five scoring Cowboys finishing in the top 15. Cowboys also took home NCAA Midwest Regional title with region-record 19 points. Dave Smith named National, Midwest Region and Big 12 Coach of the Year. Brian Musau named Big 12 Runner of the Year. Denis Kipngetich named Midwest Region Athlete of the Year and Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

Women's Cross Country - Cowgirl Cross Country earned highest-ever finish at national championships with third-place overall. Billah Jepkirui, Molly Born and Taylor Roe each earned All-America honors. Cowgirls also took home NCAA Midwest Regional title with 30 points overall as Jepkirui took home the individual victory. Jepkirui was named Midwest Region and Big 12 Runner of the Year as Dave Smith was named Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year.

Men's Basketball - Bryce Thompson and Javon Small sink four three-pointers each to help the Cowboys tie a school record with 17 treys in an 85-70 win over Sam Houston on Nov. 10.

Wrestling - At one of wrestling's biggest showcases, Izzak Olejnik upsets No. 4 Dean Hamiti of Wisconsin, 8-2, at the NWCA All-Star Classic after losing his previous three matchups with Hamiti. Daton Fix and Dustin Plott each pin their opponent as Oklahoma State dominates Bucknell, 38-6, in the first dual of the season.

Equestrian - Cowgirls score big in final home meet of the 2023-24 fall season against Fresno State. OSU swept the board in the MOP race, with Ella Reinauer's 91 in Flat leading the charge. Maddie Fussell and Quincee Clark became multi-MOP riders this season, with Fussell's happening in back-to-back meets. Additionally, Claire McDowall earned NCEA's Horsemanship Rider of the Month and Big 12 Horsemanship Rider of the Month for efforts in November. She posted a 3-0 record and two MOPs on the road in back-to-back days. Likewise, Emma Filiatreau earned her first monthly recognition as the Big 12 Reining Rider of the Month. The freshman also went 3-0 and scored the most points in the event against Fresno State.

Women's Tennis - Ange Oby Kajuru is ranked as the No. 2 singles player in the country, making her the highest-ranked player in program history. Kajuru and Anastasiya Komar reach ITA Fall National Championship Doubles final, while Kajuru reaches the singles semifinals. Lucia Peyre claims the singles and doubles titles at the ITF Norman 15k pro circuit with partner Kristina Novak.

Women's Golf - Former Cowgirl golfer Patty McGraw-Coatney was named to the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame's Class of 2024. As a four-year starter from 1978 to 1982, she helped guide the Cowgirls to three Big 8 titles in 1979, 1980 and 1982 while being named an All Big-8 performer in 1980 and 1982.

December
Football - Cowboys play in second Big 12 Championship in past three seasons. Ollie Gordon II wins the Doak Walker Award presented to the nation's top running back and earns unanimous All-America honors. Cowboys defeat Texas A&M in Texas Bowl.

Men's Indoor Track and Field - Brian Musau breaks school record in indoor 3K as he runs the fourth fastest 3K in NCAA history. Ryan Schoppe runs seventh fastest 3K in NCAA history in same race.

Women's Indoor Track and Field - Billah Jepkirui breaks school record in the 3K as she runs the tenth fastest time in NCAA history.

Men's Basketball - Javon Small adds his name to the OSU record books with a run of 28 consecutive free throw makes. The streak -- which stretched from Nov. 17-Dec. 10 -- is the longest by a Cowboy in eight years and one of the 10-longest in school history.

Wrestling - Izzak Olejnik puts on a show at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, going 6-0 to win the 165-pound title. He beat a pair of top-7 ranked opponents and two falls. In the semifinals, Olejnik got a takedown against third-ranked Cameron Amine (Michigan) with three seconds on the clock to take the lead and win the match. In the Round of 16, Olejnik pinned Purdue's Stoney Buell to reach 100 career victories.