Cowboy Wrestling Snags Iowa State All-American in Transfer Portal
The Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestling program has been the hottest ticket in town following its third-place finish in the NCAA National Finals. NCAA champions Dean Hamiti and Wyatt Hendrickson have been busy making their rounds around Stillwater. Head coach David Taylor has apparently been hard at work behind the scenes with the future in mind.
On Wednesday, the Pokes received some recruiting news by way of the transfer portal. Former Iowa State wrestling All-American Casey Swiderski announced he would be taking his talents to Oklahoma State next season. He had spent the previous three years with the Cyclones.
Swiderski burst onto the wrestling scene and was listed as the No. 3 overall prospect in the nation. He won four straight state titles in high school, all of which came in different weight classes. He became Iowa State's first commit of the 2022 class.
He quickly got to work as a true freshman for the Cyclones, finished the season with an overall record of 14-12 and was a 2023 NCAA Qualifier. He was outed in the blood round and finished one match shy of making All-American.
That's how you respond!! 🌪
— Iowa State Wrestling (@CycloneWR) March 10, 2024
Casey Swiderski gets a 19-5 major decision against No. 2 Willie McDougald and will wrestle for third later this session!
🌪🚨🌪 pic.twitter.com/Gg4kRSeLHs
2023 only gave us a brief glimpse of how good Swiderski could truly be. He moved up to the 149 pound weight division and took the sport by storm. He was impressive on the mat and finished the season with an overall record of 24-5. Swiderski advanced to the National Quarterfinals and fell to top-seeded Ridge Lovett. He finished 7th in the National at 149 pounds, earning All-American honors.
He suffered a knee injury a season ago and was forced to miss the entire year. He will now join an Oklahoma State wrestling program that just proved it has become one of the heavy hitters of collegiate wrestling.
The Cowboys have some talent returning in the 149-pound division. Teague Travis qualified for Nationals as a 33 seed, but the early predictions show Tagen Jamison as the favorite to hold down the 149-pound division for the Pokes. One thing is for certain, Taylor will have plenty of talent to choose from moving forward.
Taylor Skieens has been an avid sports journalist with the McCurtain Gazette in Idabel, Oklahoma for seven years. He holds the title of Sports Editor for one of the oldest remaining print publications in the state of Oklahoma. Taylor grew up in the small lumber town of Wright City Oklahoma where he played baseball and basketball for the Lumberjax.