Cowboys on the Short List of Top Prep Wrestler Bo Bassett
If the Oklahoma State football fans are still reeling from a lackluster season on the gridiron, all they need to do is turn their attention to the wrestling mats. Oklahoma State wrestling head coach David Taylor has the Pokes rolling this season. The Cowboys have won four straight matches and have scored over 30 team points in all three contests.
With Taylor fresh off of a bronze medal at the World Championships, the interest around Oklahoma State wrestling has grown leaps and bounds. Taylor has become a beacon of light not only for Cowboy fans but also for some of the top high school recruits in the country.
O-State has landed some monster prep names already on the recruiting trail. Taylor and the Cowboys program have flipped commitments of five of the best wrestlers in the nation. In early November, the Cowboys were visited by the top two wrestlers in the nation. Bo Bassett and Jax Forrest have both been ranked as the top wrestler by Flowrestling. The No. 1 spot has flipped numerous times this season, but one thing is for certain, the top spot will always belong to Bassett or Forrest.
Great visit to Oklahoma State. Stillwater loves wrestling-
— Bo Bassett WC (@BoBassett06) November 25, 2024
If you climb in the saddle, be ready for the ride. Cowboy is a breed tougher than nails and strong as steel.
Proverbs 3:5-6#MachineGunMindset #DreamBIG @OSUAthletics @CowboyWrestling @magicman_osu @FloWrestling pic.twitter.com/epFQegcppL
Bassett could become the biggest wrestling name landed this season by the Cowboys. He initially listed his top 80 college programs but narrowed that list to 11 following the Thanksgiving Holiday. The list contains some of the powerhouse programs of NCAA wrestling with the likes of Penn State, Iowa and Cornell. But with the recent addition of Taylor at Oklahoma State along with a tremendous resurgence of the Cowboys RTC, OSU made Bassett’s list.
In a recent interview Bassett had this to say following a visit to Oklahoma State, “Coach Taylor’s vision for the program was exciting and he is definitely not there just to place or be top four.”
Bo Bassett scored 3️⃣ takedowns en route to a 12-6 win over Daniel Zepeda. The home crowd was ELECTRIC ⚡️⚡️
— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) September 30, 2024
Presented by @CKAwrestling pic.twitter.com/aOGFOaj35W
He also mentioned how impressed he was with the Cowboys’ locker room and OSU’s Regional Training Center (RTC). “His staff is very hungry, excited, and going all in. I also love the direction of where their RTC is going. Most colleges use the RTC to help with their college program. I feel their RTC, and college programs are completely different.”
The Cowboys are currently ranked third in the nation, only behind Penn State and Iowa. If Oklahoma State can continue to land big-time recruits, the Cowboys will be well on their way to being the best in all the land.
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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.