Cowboy Wrestling Closes Regular Season With Rematch Against No. 7 Iowa

Sunday, February 22

Stillwater, Okla.

5 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

Iowa

Tickets From $27 - $150

Cowboy Wrestling Closes Regular Season With Rematch Against No. 7 Iowa

February 18, 2026 | Cowboy Wrestling

11 Iowa

The Basics
The No. 3 Oklahoma State wrestling team hosts No. 7 Iowa to close the regular season Sunday at 5 p.m. on ESPN. The Cowboys come into Sunday's matchup fresh off a tightly contested win at No. 6 Virginia Tech, highlighted by Jax Forrest taking down Aaron Seidel, 10-9, in a battle between two of the premier freshmen in the country. Sergio Vega picked up the lone bonus-point win of the contest, leading the Cowboys to a 19-12 victory on the road.

On the Air
Oklahoma State's dual this weekend can be seen on ESPN. Karsten Melton will serve as the voice of Cowboy Wrestling, and live radio coverage will be carried on 93.7 KSPI-FM. Stats and results can be found on @CowboyWrestling on X, as well as statbroadcast.com. The Cowboys will compete in fron of a national audience for the second time this season, after defeating No. 6 Nebraska, 22-12, on the Big Ten Network. This marks three consecutive seasons in which Oklahoma State will have multiple nationally televised duals.

The Series
The greatest rivalry in college wrestling, the series between the Cowboys and Hawkeyes dates back to February 22, 1954. Oklahoma State took that dual by a score of 24-8, kicking off an intense back-and-forth series that currently leans OSU's way, 29-28-2. The series now returns to Gallagher-Iba Arena, where the last OSU victory came in 2019. Oklahoma State and Iowa are the two most successful programs in college wrestling history, combining for 58 NCAA championships and 228 individual national champions. Those 58 team titles account for more than half of the championships awarded by the NCAA, and the programs hold the top two spots in all-time NCAA team titles, individual champions and All-Americans.

About the Cowboys
The David Taylor era is in full swing after a third-place finish with a pair of individual champions at the NCAA Championships last season. The Cowboys returned six NCAA qualifiers and added three more out of the portal, including Richard Figueroa II, Casey Swiderski and Alex Facundo. Despite losing NCAA champions Wyatt Hendrickson and Dean Hamiti Jr., the Cowboys are primed for another deep run in March.
Affectionately known as "Sparky," Troy Spratley is back and ready for another deep run this season in the Cowboys' leadoff spot. A 2025 national finalist, Spratley holds down the 125-pound slot and is ranked seventh in the nation. Sparkey avenged his Big 12 title bout loss to WVU's Jett Strickenberger on December 14, where he defeated Strickenberger on the road, 6-2.
The Cowboy lineup this season features multiple transfers who have made immediate impacts, including 2024 All-American Casey Swiderski, Alex Facundo and Zack Ryder. Konner Doucet took the reins again at heavyweight after sitting behind Hendrickson in 2025. Swiderski, Facundo, Ryder and Doucet are all currently slotted inside the top 10 in the country at their respective weight classes.
Coach Taylor's first freshman class has already left its mark on the 2025-26 squad. The hometown hero LaDarion "Dee" Lockett has put the country on notice at 165 pounds. Other freshmen who have made an immediate impact are 157-pounder Landon Robideau, 141-pounder Sergio Vega and 133-pounder Jax Forrest. Lockett, Robideau, Forrest and Vega are all ranked in the top six in the country and have a combined record of 49-1.
Redshirt freshman Cody Merrill has also had a dominant 2025-26 campaign so far, sitting at 12-3 and ranked No. 7 in the country.

An Oklahoma State Win Would...
• Improve OSU to 30-28-2 against Iowa.
• Give OSU its first win since 2019 against Iowa.
• Improve OSU's record to 60-6 in its past 66 duals.
• Improve OSU to 13-0 at home under David Taylor.
• Improve OSU to 28-2 in dual matches under David Taylor.
• Give OSU its 13th ranked win this season.
• Give OSU its 12th-straight dual win.
• Give OSU its sixth win over a top-10 team.

The Opening Act

David Taylor's opening season for the Cowboys brought the Cowboy faithful a new hope. Taylor's Cowboys dominated the competition by going 13-1 in dual action, finishing the season unblemished at home in seven matches and winning 10 matches against ranked opponents, including Oregon State, Arizona State, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech, NC State, West Virginia, Northern Iowa, Iowa State, Missouri and Little Rock in dual action. Taylor also led the Cowboys to a Big 12 title for the first time since 2021. On the biggest stage of collegiate wrestling, Oklahoma State had a pair of Cowboys, Wyatt Hendrickson and Dean Hamiti Jr., crowned national champions. It marked the first time since 2016 the Cowboys had multiple NCAA champions in the same season. Taylor's Cowboys never left the top three in the rankings, climbing as high as two in the polls.

Fab Freshmen

The freshmen on the OSU roster have been the story of the 2025-26 season. 141-pounder Sergio Vega and 165-pounder Dee Lockett are 14-0 and 13-0, respectively, and ranked No. 2 in the country at their respective weight classes, while 157-pounder Landon Robideau is 13-1 and ranked No. 7 in the country. Cowboy newcomer Jax Forrest has inserted himself into the Oklahoma State lineup nicely, making his collegiate debut in Bedlam with a pin, and followed it up with a 133-pound Cyclone Open title, where he beat a two-time U23 World Champion in the title bout. He s now 9-0 on the year ranked No. 6. Other true freshman Ronnie Ramirez is 7-3 with a Cougar Clash title in the 133-pound division. Other freshmen making an immediate impact are 184-pounder Zack Ryder and 197-pounder Cody Merrill. Ryder started his season with an impressive win at the NWCA All-Star Classic. Ryder currently ranks eighth in the country with a 9-6 record, while Merrill is 12-3 on the year and is ranked seventh.

Hey Now, You're an All-Star

On November 1, Zack Ryder and Casey Swiderski competed in the NWCA All-Star Classic. Casey Swiderski led off the night for the Cowboys by facing Michigan's three-time All-American Lachlan McNeil. Swiderski controlled the match and nabbed the lone takedown of the bout to win, 4-2. The win vaulted Swiderski up to No. 2 in the poll at 149 pounds. Ryder dominated what was considered the match of the weekend, as he took down Maryland's Jaxon Smith at 184 pounds. Ryder collected the only bonus-point win of the event with his major decision over Smith, 14-4. He took down Smith four times and did not allow a takedown. Smith, a three-time national qualifier, had only given up bonus points twice in his career - once to Carter Starocci and the other to Aaron Brooks, who have nine national titles between them. Ryder's win turned heads around the country, and it was seen in the polls as he climbed to fourth at 184 pounds.

The Spark

The Cowboys have one of the most vaunted lead-off man in the country in Troy Spratley. Spratley, a returning NCAA finalist from last season, now ranks seventh in the latest poll. The 125-pounder is 11-3 on the season. Spratley's incredible season in 2024-25 included five wins over top-five opponents, gaining bonus points for the Cowboys in over half of his matches as the leadoff man.

New Kids On the Block

David Taylor took the recruiting world by storm, as he brought in the second ranked recruiting class in the country entering his second season at the helm. The Cowboys led the nation with eight signees ranked inside FloWrestling's Top 100 Big Board. The group is spearheaded by blue-chip prospects LaDarion "Dee" Lockett, Landon Robideau and Sergio Vega, who make up half of the top six overall spots. Of the 10 wrestlers in the class, six are in-state products while the others hail from Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Arizona and California. The full list includes Kruz Goff, Ishmael Guerrero, Beau Hickman, Austin Johnson, Lockett, Ronnie Ramirez, Robideau, Kody Routledge, Ethan Teague, and Vega. Then they added Jax Forrest who was ranked No. 1 overall in the class of 2026 before reclassifying to 2025.

The Douce(t) is loose

A familiar face for Cowboy fans, Konner Doucet is back in the lineup for the 2025 season after sitting behind Hodge Trophy winner Wyatt Hendrickson last season. Doucet started the season ranked ninth and has now climbed to seventh. The two-time NCAA qualifier hasn't looked back since re-gaining the reins, collecting the most dual points on the team so far this season with 57.

Serg-ical

True freshman Sergio Vega has been sensational for the Cowboys eight bouts into his career. The Cowboy's 141 pounder has eight ranked wins, tied for the most on the team. Vega has yet to give up a takedown in his collegiate career. At the National Duals Invitational back in November, Vega had arguably the most impressive weekend of anyone. The true freshman went 4-0 with wins over All-Americans in three of those bouts. The most impressive of those wins came over three-time All-American and NCAA finalist Brock Hardy. Vega picked up a 13-2 major decision over Hardy, who did not give up bonus points in any of his 31 contests last season. In his other three matches on the weekend, Vega took down All-Americans Nassir Bailey and Ryan Jack, and NCAA qualifier Josh Saunders. One month after Vega's standout weekend at the National Duals, the freshman pinned No. 3 Brock Hardy on the road in Lincoln, marking the first time in Hardy's collegiate career he'd been pinned.

Made for the Moment

True freshman Landon Robideau and Dee Lockett made their Cowboy debuts on November 7 against Stanford, both facing All-Americans in Daniel Cardenas and Hunter Garvin. Unafraid of the moment, Robideau picked up a major decision victory and Lockett used a gutsy second period ride out to pick up a 2-1 win. Other true freshman Sergio Vega was incredible in his debut as well, picking up a technical fall win. Of the Cowboys' 33 points in last Friday's opener, the true freshman accounted for 12 of them. The trio is now a combined 40-1 and are all ranked inside the top seven in the country.

Famous Forrest

FloWrestling's top pound-for-pound recruit in the 2026 class, Jax Forrest, has taken the wrestling world by storm after he pinned Oklahoma's Carter Schmidt in the first period of his collegiate debut. The next weekend, Forrest went on to claim the 133-pound Cyclone Open title, with a signature win over 28-year-old Reineri Andreu Ortega. Ortega is a two-time U23 World Champion and Pan-American gold medalist. Forrest is now 9-0 in his young career after his win against No. 6 Aaron Seidel at Virginia Tech.. While it is still unclear if Forrest will redshirt this season or compete for the Cowboys at 133 pounds come postseason time, there's no doubt Forrest will be a staple of the Oklahoma State roster for years to come.

The Power of the Pivot

The Cowboys brought in transfers Casey Swiderski, Alex Facundo, Zack Ryder and Gary Steen to bolster the lineup this season, and if last year's transfers are any indication of what they can do in David Taylor's program, the sky is the limit for those five. Last year's transfers that started for the Cowboys were Caleb Fish, Cam Amine, Dean Hamiti Jr. and Wyatt Hendrickson. All four of them earned All-America status and two of them went on to win national titles.

Triple Threat

With the addition of Jax Forrest to the Cowboy lineup, the Cowboys now have one of, if not the, most dominant top of the lineups in the country. Spratley leads off this trio at 125 pounds. The returning NCAA finalist from last season is 11-3 with seven ranked wins. Forrest has put the country on notice just eight bouts into his young career. FloWrestling's top pound-for-pound recruit in the 2026 class has seven bonus-point wins in his nine bouts. At 141 pounds, Vega has been one of the most dominant wrestlers in the country. going 13-0 with a team-leading seven ranked wins.

Wrestling's House of Horrors

No venue in America has a richer wrestling tradition than Gallagher-Iba Arena, home of the Oklahoma State wrestling program since 1939. In its beginning as Gallagher Hall, the gymnasium was named for Ed Gallagher, but when renovations were completed in January 1988, it was renamed Gallagher-Iba Arena to honor the late Mr. Henry P. Iba, Oklahoma State's legendary basketball coach. Alongside 54 NCAA championship banners, Gallagher and Iba's names have looked over Oklahoma State's historic venue for nearly 40 years.

Since 1939, Oklahoma State has captured 25 NCAA team titles, completed 45 perfect campaigns at home and won more than 90% of its duals inside Gallagher-Iba Arena. The building's opening coincided with the longest home unbeaten streak in program history, as the Pokes won their first 37 duals inside GIA as part of a 67-dual unbeaten streak at home. That stretch still stands as the program's longest home unbeaten streak, as OSU never suffered defeat from 1933 to February 1951.

Oklahoma State's next-longest home unbeaten streak occurred from the 1959 finale to the middle of the 1967 season, going undefeated for 57 duals in a row. Not far behind, the Cowboys won 51 consecutive duals inside Gallagher-Iba Arena from 1986-1993, good for the third-longest such streak in program history. More recently, John Smith guided the Cowboys to a 26-dual home winning streak from 2018-2022. Not long after the streak was snapped, Oklahoma State defeated South Dakota State on February 4, 2022, for the program's 500th victory inside the venue.

The Home of Wrestling

Oklahoma State is the gold standard in the college wrestling world. On the national level, the Cowboys have won 34 NCAA team titles, crowned 145 NCAA individual champions and earned 492 All-America honors. No other program comes close to those astounding numbers. It's a similar story on the conference level, with OSU winning 56 team titles and Cowboy wrestlers combining for 297 individual championships.

From an individual perspective, any list of the greatest wrestlers in NCAA history must include Oklahoma State's Yojiro Uetake, who was a perfect 57-0 with three NCAA titles, and Pat Smith, the first four-time NCAA champion in history. Pat's older brother, John Smith, was a two-time NCAA champion for the Cowboys and went on to win six straight world gold medals from 1987-92. His OSU teammate, Kenny Monday, also won gold in 1988 and 1989 as part of his four world medals. That group is just part of Oklahoma State's consistent representation on the Olympic stage every four years. Since 1924, 32 Oklahoma State wrestlers have fought their way to Olympic team membership a total of 41 times, with nine athletes winning 11 gold medals.

All told, 40 members of the Cowboy wrestling family have been inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, the most in the country.

NCAA Team Championships

1. Oklahoma State 34

2. Iowa 24

3. Penn State 13

NCAA Individual Champions

1. Oklahoma State 145

2. Iowa 85

3. Iowa State 71

NCAA All-Americans

1. Oklahoma State 492

2. Iowa 367