Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys to Travel Overseas for Dual with NC State in Italy
September 08, 2023 | Cowboy Wrestling
STILLWATER – The Oklahoma State wrestling team will be traveling to Sicily, Italy, where the Cowboys will take on North Carolina State on December 30, head coach John Smith announced today.
The dual is set to take place just outside of Catania at Naval Air Station Sigonella.
This matchup will mark the second time the Cowboys and Wolfpack have wrestled in Italy. The two programs made history in 2018 after competing in Naples, which was the first NCAA dual to ever be held outside of North America. In a tightly contested matchup of two top-five ranked teams, OSU took the dual by a score of 19-16.
Oklahoma State and NC State have wrestled eight times, with the Cowboys leading the all-time series, 7-1. Including the 2018 matchup in Italy, the last three duals between the Cowboys and Wolfpack have been decided by a total of 15 points. In 2015, the Cowboys traveled to Raleigh and toppled the Wolfpack, 20-12. The following season, NC State returned the favor by picking up their sole victory in the series, 19-15, in Stillwater.
In addition to the close duals, the personal ties of the matchup extend to its head coaches, as John Smith was NC State head coach Pat Popolizio's collegiate head coach at Oklahoma State. As a Cowboy, Popolizio racked up a career record of 88-38 before graduating in 2001.
NC State is coming off its third consecutive top-10 outing at the NCAA Championships after finishing 10th last season and return three 2023 All-Americans in Kai Orine, Ed Scott and Trent Hidlay. Meanwhile, OSU returns four-time All-American Daton Fix at 133 pounds and back-to-back All-American Dustin Plott at 174 pounds. The Cowboys also added a pair of All-Americans in the offseason in Northern Illinois transfer Izzak Olejnik and Sammy Alvarez from Rutgers, who was named a second team member following the cancellation of the NCAA Championships in 2020.
The dual is set to take place just outside of Catania at Naval Air Station Sigonella.
This matchup will mark the second time the Cowboys and Wolfpack have wrestled in Italy. The two programs made history in 2018 after competing in Naples, which was the first NCAA dual to ever be held outside of North America. In a tightly contested matchup of two top-five ranked teams, OSU took the dual by a score of 19-16.
Oklahoma State and NC State have wrestled eight times, with the Cowboys leading the all-time series, 7-1. Including the 2018 matchup in Italy, the last three duals between the Cowboys and Wolfpack have been decided by a total of 15 points. In 2015, the Cowboys traveled to Raleigh and toppled the Wolfpack, 20-12. The following season, NC State returned the favor by picking up their sole victory in the series, 19-15, in Stillwater.
In addition to the close duals, the personal ties of the matchup extend to its head coaches, as John Smith was NC State head coach Pat Popolizio's collegiate head coach at Oklahoma State. As a Cowboy, Popolizio racked up a career record of 88-38 before graduating in 2001.
NC State is coming off its third consecutive top-10 outing at the NCAA Championships after finishing 10th last season and return three 2023 All-Americans in Kai Orine, Ed Scott and Trent Hidlay. Meanwhile, OSU returns four-time All-American Daton Fix at 133 pounds and back-to-back All-American Dustin Plott at 174 pounds. The Cowboys also added a pair of All-Americans in the offseason in Northern Illinois transfer Izzak Olejnik and Sammy Alvarez from Rutgers, who was named a second team member following the cancellation of the NCAA Championships in 2020.
Players Mentioned
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