Cowboy Wrestling Claims Second Consecutive Big 12 Title

The Pokes took the Big 12 Tournament by storm with four individual Cowboys taking home their own titles.

Oklahoma State's Jax Forrest celebrates as he defeats Iowa's Drake Ayala at 133 pounds during a college wrestling dual between the Oklahoma State University Cowboys (OSU) and the Iowa Hawkeyes at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla., Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cowboy Wrestling has once again added hardware to its ginormous collection. 

The Cowboys made their way to Tulsa for the Big 12 Wrestling Championships this past weekend and got the job done in dominant fashion. The Pokes claimed their second consecutive Big 12 Championship with a score of 176. 

This was the second-highest point total in tournament history, only trailing the Cowboys’ own record of 176.5 in 2017. This conference tournament title is No. 55 all-time for Oklahoma State, and is an important stepping stone in the Cowboys’ journey to the NCAA Championships. 

OSU’s individual wrestlers made it known from the get-go that they were all there to win. After day one, the Cowboys were running away with it by sending eight wrestlers to the finals. 

Entering the finals, the Pokes just needed one win to have the team title secured, and Casey Swiderski made sure Oklahoma State didn’t have to wait for long. The finals opened at 149, and Swiderski would claim his first-ever individual Big 12 title, along with clinching the team title for OSU. 

However, he wouldn’t be the only Cowboy to walk away with individual hardware. Troy Spratley appeared in his third consecutive Big 12 finals match on Saturday night and was looking for a different result, as he had come in second place the last two years. Spratley was down 1-0 heading into the third period, but scored a reversal, a near-fall and riding time to end the bout with a 5-2 win. 

Sergio Vega also added another accolade to his incredible true freshman season. Vega’s tough bout with No. 2 Anthony Echemendia would go into sudden victory as they were tied 1-1 after three periods. Vega would eventually secure the bout in a tiebreaker rideout and give the Cowboys another individual champion. 

However, the man of the night has to be Jax Forrest. Forrest won every match on his way to the finals by technical fall, and practically did the same in the last bout. He would have no problem claiming his first-ever Big 12 Title with a 15-2 major decision victory over No. 2 Stevo Poulin. 

Forrest was also named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler, the third true freshman Cowboy to hold that honor. 

Landon Robideau, Dee Lockett, Alex Facundo and Konner Doucet would all claim second place in their weight classes after tough losses in the finals. However, they will have their shot to prove themselves once again, as all 10 Cowboy wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships. 

This was another show of dominance by Cowboy wrestling, but there is more work to do, and OSU is definitely capable of making some noise at the NCAA Tournament.