Three Takeaways as Oklahoma State Wrestling Defeats Nebraska in Top 3 Showdown

The Oklahoma State Cowboys showed just how good they could be this season as they handled the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 27-6, in a Friday night dual at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

The No. 2 Cowboys (2-0) and the No. 3 Huskers (1-1) put their best wrestlers on the floor and Oklahoma State had the far better night. OSU won its first six matches of the night before transfer Lorenzo Norman lost in the 174-pound class, ending OSU’s 16-match winning streak in duals to start the season.

For those expecting a close dual, well, it wasn’t that close.

Here are three takeaways from Oklahoma State’s second straight win.

The Chasm Between Ranked Teams

Bada Bing, Bada Boom 🕺

GIA is Funky yet again! pic.twitter.com/Pps3Hg9uKE
— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) November 14, 2026

Going into the dual, the Cowboys were ranked No. 2 in the country, and the Cornhuskers were ranked No. 3 in the country. In most sports, that implies an even match-up. That is not what the Cowboys and Cornhuskers gave the sellout crowd at GIA.

Sure, it was compelling wrestling. But the Cowboys dominated the Huskers. In truth this rivalry has always been dominated by Oklahoma State, as it holds a 54-4-1 record over Nebraska, including a 26-1 record in Stillwater.

But this was a matchup of two of the three best teams in the country. Oklahoma State won eight of the 10 matches. Last weekend in Big 12 football two Top 10 teams played each other, Utah and BYU. That game was decided by less than a touchdown.

Friday exposed the chasm between Oklahoma State and other highly ranked programs in the country. These Cowboys are deep and they're talented and at home they're nearly impossible to beat — even for a program like Nebraska that has two previous national champions on the roster.

All three of OSU’s defending national champions won — Jax Forrest, Sergio Vega and Landon Robideau.

Freshmen Go 3-1

ROCKLIN ZINKIN pic.twitter.com/mol8dY0fkC
— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) November 14, 2026

OSU head coach David Taylor went with several freshmen again on Friday, including Rocklin Zinkin at 123 pounds, Jayden Raney at 141 pounds, Mikey White at 184 pounds and Dreshaun Ross at heavyweight.

The quartet cruised against Drexel. Zinkin need a decision after tiebreaker rounds to win his match, 2-1. Raney won a on major decision and White won on a decision. But Ross suffered his first loss of the campaign, dropping 4-1 decision to Nebraska’s Cade Ziola.

Ziola, a second-year collegiate, went 16-3 last year with a 2-1 dual record, one pin and nine tech falls. He won his match last week and was the No. 14 wrestler in the country going into the Wyoming dual.

It was as close as the score indicates. Ziola had a 1-0 lead after two periods and Ross tied it with an escape out of the bottom position to score a point a second into the third period. But Ziola scored a takedown with two seconds left to win the match.

Collegiate experience won the day for Ziola. But Ross will be able to hang with any heavyweight in the country, especially as he accumulates more college experience.

Score One for Scheduling

Heaven on Earth. pic.twitter.com/gFsOrBZecb
— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) November 14, 2026

The Cowboys lined the scheduling of this dual intentionally. Oklahoma State opted to host Nebraska on a Friday night, a night before the Cowboys football team was scheduled to host Texas Tech in a game that many Cowboys fans had their fingers crossed would mean something.

Well, with a late kickoff on Saturday there was little excuse for fans to not hit the dual on Friday night. In fact, there was tailgating before the matches outside GIA. The scheduling had the desired effect.

The dual was OSU’s first sellout of the season and former Cowboys quarterback Brandon Weeden led the wrestlers out before the matches began. The matches were also on ESPNU with a Georgetown basketball game as a lead-in.

The Cowboys have one of the best atmospheres in college wrestling and it translates whether you're there in person or whether you're watching it on TV. Not only can they put on a show, but they can win big matches doing it.

Results

Weight	Winner	Loser	Result
125	Rocklin Zinkin (OSU)	Vincent Robinson (NEB)	2-1 Dec.
133	Jax Forrest (OSU)	Jacob Van Dee (NEB)	21-6 TF (6:00)
141	Jayden Raney (OSU)	Lincoln Sledzianowski (NEB)	10-2 MD
149	Sergio Vega (OSU)	Anthony Echemendia (NEB)	4-2 Dec.
157	Landon Robideau (OSU)	Antrell Taylor (NEB)	3-1 Dec.
165	Casey Swiderski (OSU)	Meyer Shapiro (NEB)	4-2 Dec.
174	Christopher Minto (NEB)	Lorenzo Norman (OSU)	5-1 Dec.
184	Michael White (OSU	Lucas Cochran (NEB)	9-5 Dec.
197	Cody Merrill (OSU	Camden McDaniel (NEB)	4-1 Dec. (SV)
HWT	Cade Ziola (NEB)	Dreshaun Ross (OSU	4-1 Dec.

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