Cowboys Begin Postseason at Big 12 Championships

The Basics
The No. 3 Oklahoma State wrestling team (13-1 overall; 9-0 Big 12) heads up the road to Tulsa for the Big 12 Championships on March 8-9 at the BOK Center. Looking for the 22nd Big 12 title in program history, the Cowboys recently wrapped up a regular season in which they won 13 of 14 duals, beat 10 ranked opponents and went undefeated in conference matchups.

On the Air
Sessions I, II and III of the Big 12 Championships will be available for streaming on ESPN+ with Mike Leslie and Hardell Moore on the call, while Sunday night's championship session is set for an ESPNU broadcast with a crew of Mike Couzens and Rock Harrison. Rex Holt also returns as the voice of Cowboy wrestling to provide live radio coverage, which will be carried on Hot 93.7 KSPI-FM all weekend long. Live results and brackets can be found on trackwrestling.com.

Championship Schedule
The Big 12 Championships are divided into four sessions over a two-day span. Each day will consist of a morning and evening session. A look at the full schedule (all times CT):

Saturday, March 8
Session I: Preliminary & Quarterfinal Matches – 10 a.m. on ESPN+
Session II: Semifinal & Consolations Quarterfinal Matches – 5 p.m. on ESPN+

Sunday, March 9
Session III: Consolation Semifinal & Placement Matches – 12 p.m. on ESPN+
Session IV: Championship Matches – 8 p.m. on ESPNU

Cowboys at the Conference Championships
Just like the national scale, Oklahoma State has dominated at the conference level with 55 team titles and its wrestlers combining for 296 individual championships. Originally beginning in the Southwest Conference over 100 years ago, OSU has tightened its grip against conferences opponents in the Big 12 era, claiming 19 tournament titles and a pair of regular season dual championships. The second-highest championship total in that time is four by Iowa State. Oklahoma State's control over the Big 12 immediately began when the league was formed in 1997, winning eight of the first 10 tournaments. The Cowboys then set a conference record by winning nine consecutive championships from 2013 to 2021, a stretch that featured the three highest point totals ever seen at the tournament. Of OSU's 296 individual conference champions, 121 have come while competing in the Big 12.

About the Cowboys
The 2024 offseason sparked a new era for Oklahoma State as longtime head coach John Smith announced his retirement and wrestling legend David Taylor was hired as the eighth head coach in program history. That momentum has continued to soar into the postseason following OSU's 13-1 run through the dual schedule and dominant performance at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. The Cowboys impressed all throughout the regular season, taking down 10 ranked teams and spending much of the spring semester at the No. 2 spot in the NWCA Coaches Poll. Currently combining for the program's best bonus rate since 1934 at 46.0%, the Cowboy lineup features seven wrestlers ranked in the top six and a representative at every weight class, giving it all the pieces necessary to contend for a team trophy later this month.

First, the Cowboys must turn their attention to the Big 12 Championships, where they'll have the only lineup in the field consisting of nine wrestlers seeded in the top four. Leading the squad is returning national finalist Dustin Plott, who is on the hunt for his third career conference title. The three-time All-American owns a 15-3 record this season and beat Oklahoma's DJ Parker back in December to become the 46th wrestler in program history with 100 career victories. Newcomers Dean Hamiti Jr. and Wyatt Hendrickson have both made an immediate impact in their first year as Cowboys and are slated as No. 1 seeds this weekend. Both wrestlers finished the regular season undefeated and are widely considered two of the biggest bonus-point threats in the entire country, regardless of weight. In the lighter classes, Troy Spratley and Tagen Jamison are both ranked near the top at 125 and 141 pounds, respectively. Jamison has won 17 of 20 matches this season, while Spratley boasts three victories over top-five opponents. Altogether, half of Oklahoma State's starting lineup resides in the top five at their respective weight class.

The rest of the Cowboy lineup is balanced out by several proven veterans who have each qualified for the national tournament at least once. One of the main stories of the year has come at 197 pounds, where Luke Surber's had a bounce-back season and is tied for the team lead in wins with a 19-2 record. He garnered the league's top seed at the weight, while sixth-ranked 165-pounder Cameron Amine is 13-5 on the year and has won seven of his last nine matches. Caleb Fish, the No. 2 seed at 157 pounds, also brings a wealth of experience having wrestled 143 matches in his career, by far the most on the team. Returning to the lineup for the first time since November is Teague Travis, who missed most of the season due to injury and will be looking to clinch his NCAA berth through a top-four finish at 149 pounds.

Seeds and Matchups
125: No. 4 Troy Spratley vs. Gage Walker (MIZZ, 11-9)
133: No. 4 Reece Witcraft* vs. No. 5 Kyle Burwick (NDSU, 21-10) -or- Tommy Maddox (WVU, 7-12)
141: No. 4 Tagen Jamison vs. Carter Nogle (AF, 14-12)
149: Teague Travis vs. No. 6 Paul Kelly (CBU, 16-6)
157: No. 2 Caleb Fish* vs. No. 7 James Conway (MIZZ, 16-13) -or- Michael Kilic (ASU, 5-14)
165: No. 3 Cameron Amine* vs. No. 6 Nicco Ruiz (ASU, 12-5) -or- Logan Fowler (AF, 8-6)
174: No. 1 Dean Hamiti Jr. vs. Carter Schmidt (CBU, 15-10)
184: No. 2 Dustin Plott vs. David Berkovich (CBU, 0-1)
197: No. 1 Luke Surber vs. Tayshaun Glover (NDSU, 6-13)
HWT: No. 1 Wyatt Hendrickson vs. Antonio Ramos (AF, 12-15)
*received a bye into the quarterfinals

Big 12 Allocations (At-Large Spots)
125: 7 (4)
133: 6 (4)
141: 7 (4)
149: 4 (6)
157: 6 (7)
165: 7 (4)
174: 6 (4)
184: 7 (5)
197: 4 (4)
HWT: 4 (4)

The Big 12 received 61 pre-allocations in last week's announcement by the NCAA, the second-most of any conference in the country. That number has slightly decreased to 58, however, due to three allocated wrestlers across the league not entering the tournament field. Those allocations represent the amount of Big 12 Championship placers at each weight that will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. After all of the conference tournaments have concluded, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee will select the remaining 46 at-large qualifiers, which will be announced on March 11.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cameron Amine

Caleb Fish

Dean Hamiti Jr.

Wyatt Hendrickson

Tagen Jamison

Dustin Plott

Troy Spratley

Luke Surber

Teague Travis

Reece Witcraft

Oklahoma State University Athletics