Cowboys Open New Year with Top-Five Test at NC State

The Basics
The Oklahoma State wrestling team (4-0 overall; 2-0 Big 12) opens the 2024 calendar year with its third straight road test, this time against a top-five opponent in NC State on Friday, January 5. The Cowboys enter 2024 with momentum after going 3-0 in the month of December, highlighted by a pair of wins over ranked opponents. The Wolfpack, who are ranked fourth in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll, will undoubtedly serve as Oklahoma State's toughest challenge thus far. The Cowboys' difficult schedule does not stop in Raleigh, however, as they're slated to take on ranked foes in Pittsburgh and West Virginia the following weekend.

On the Air
Oklahoma State's dual with NC State on Friday will be aired on ESPNU. It marks OSU's first time on national television this season. The dual can also be heard on the radio as Rex Holt provides coverage on Hot 93.7 KSPI-FM. Live results from Friday's action will be provided on TrackWrestling.com. With their season finale against Iowa set to air on FS1, the Cowboys are scheduled to compete in front of a national audience in two duals this season. The NCAA Championships will also be broadcasted on ESPN.

The Series
Oklahoma State and NC State have only met eight times over the years, with OSU holding a 7-1 advantage in the series. The two programs have wrestled three times since former Cowboy Pat Popolizio took over as head coach at NC State, but this is their first meeting since 2018. In that showdown, OSU and NC State made history, competing in Naples, Italy, for the first-ever NCAA wrestling dual held overseas. Each team entered the trip ranked in the top-five, but OSU took the dual, 19-16. The first contest in the series took place at a neutral site in 1990, where OSU toppled the Wolfpack, 29-5. Oklahoma State took each of the first six matchups in the series, holding NC State to single digit points each time until 2015, when the Cowboys narrowly picked up a road win, 20-12. The series now returns to Raleigh, where Oklahoma State has won both meetings, including a dominant 40-0 showing in 1999.

OSU alum Pat Popolizio is 1-6 against his former school between his time at Binghamton and NC State. His lone win against the Cowboys came in December of 2015, as the Wolfpack stormed into Gallagher-Iba Arena and handed John Smith his only loss ever to a former wrestler turned head coach. Smith holds an impressive 24-1 record in head-to-head matchups against his former wrestlers, with the latest win coming against Mark Branch and Wyoming in OSU's most recent dual on December 19.

About the Cowboys
Oklahoma State sits at No. 9 in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll, but has skyrocketed up to fifth in the country according to Intermat's Tournament Rankings, just behind NC State at No. 4. The Cowboys moved to 4-0 on the season after defeating Wyoming, 31-9, to close the fall semester. OSU also picked up ranked wins over No. 18 Oklahoma and No. 20 Lehigh in December.

Returning All-Americans and Big 12 champions Daton Fix and Dustin Plott lead the Cowboy lineup alongside Izzak Olejnik, who was an All-American at 165 pounds last season at Northern Illinois. Daton Fix is a four-time All-American, while Dustin Plott has earned the honor in each of the past two seasons. The OSU lineup has seen some movement from a year ago due to departures and weight changes from past starters, opening opportunities for a number of talented newcomers. Izzak Olejnik has competed his way into the national spotlight after winning a the loaded 165-pound bracket at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and moving up to No. 2 in the nation in multiple polls. He, along with Fix and Plott, are all ranked in the top-3 of their respective weight classes. Minnesota transfers Troy Spratley and Tagen Jamison have impressed early in their Cowboy careers. Spratley is 10-3 on the year with a pair of ranked wins, while Jamison's strong showing in Las Vegas has him ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation at 141 pounds. Dustin Plott's weight change allows room for standout freshman Brayden Thompson to move into the 174-pound role, who has won three straight matches following a slow start to the season. Jordan Williams picked up his first ranked win of the season against Wyoming and looks to have secured the 149-pound job after redshirting a season ago. Sammy Alvarez, a Second Team All-American at Rutgers in 2020, also looks to jump into the mix at 141 pounds after compiling a 13-3 record in open tournaments throughout the fall. At the backend of the lineup, 197-pounder Luke Surber and heavyweight Konner Doucet round out the squad for the second straight season. Both wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2023 and are each hovering right around the top-10 mark in various polls. Surber has missed each of the past three duals due to an injury sustained at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, while Doucet is up to No. 11 in the nation according to Intermat. In the Bedlam dual, Doucet posted the first top-10 win of his career, defeating 10th-ranked Josh Heindselman in tiebreakers.

An Oklahoma State Win Would...
• Make OSU 5-0 overall; 3-0 on the road; 3-0 against ranked opponents
• Give John Smith 481 wins as head coach, 11 shy of Harold Nichols for second-most all-time
• Improve OSU's record against NC State to 8-1 and 3-0 in Raleigh
• Improve John Smith's coaching record in head-to-head matchups with former wrestlers to 25-1
• Make OSU 10-1 in its last 11 duals
• Improve John Smith's record to 31-2 in duals to open the new calendar year
• Improve OSU's record to 3-1 in its last four duals against top-10 opponents
• Give OSU its first top-five win since Feb. 24, 2019, against No. 3 Iowa

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sammy Alvarez

Konner Doucet

Daton Fix

Tagen Jamison

Izzak Olejnik

Dustin Plott

Troy Spratley

Luke Surber

Brayden Thompson

Jordan Williams

Oklahoma State University Athletics