No. 3 Oklahoma State Remains Perfect on the Mat
The Oklahoma State Cowboys pushed their season dual winning streak to eight straight on Sunday with a win over visiting West Virginia. The Cowboys had to battle through a solid West Virginia lineup for the 30-12 win.
The Pokes won their final four matches to close out a 30-12 victory over No. 22 West Virginia before a season-best crowd of 8,257 on Sunday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena. For the second straight week, the Cowboys wrestling program set an attendance record for the year.
Oklahoma State was tested for the first time this season on. Sunday. Although they cruised to a comfortable win over West Virginia, it was the Cowboys’ lowest team score of the season. They had to rely on its big boys at the bottom to close out the match.
“It was a scrap,” coach David Taylor said. “We found ourselves in some tough matches tonight. I think it is good for our team to experience that. We’ve got some tough upcoming matches.”
OSU’s Troy Spratley, ranked No. 4 at 125 pounds, was pinned by No. 17 Jett Strickenberger to open the dual, and West Virginia picked up decisions as favorites at 149 and 165. Oklahoma State was trailing 12-11 and needed a major victory.
Dean Hamiti Jr. reestablished the Cowboys’ control of the dual at 174, where he is undefeated and ranked third. Showing his speed in takedowns, he reeled off six in the match, finishing with a 19-3 technical fall.
The Cowboys got their second straight victory from Carl Hughes who has been filling in at 133. He is in 8-0 on the season for Oklahoma State.
“For Cael, it’s just managing his emotions when he’s out there,” Taylor said. “He got excited, he came out gun-slinging, which is awesome. You love to see that. But how many of those takedowns was in and just wasn’t finishing? Sometimes, you come out guns blazing and maybe you don’t get takedowns and you find yourself like, ‘Oh, shoot, this match is close. I put a lot of output out there and I didn’t finish.”
Sunday’s attendance number moved OSU’s season average over the 7,000 mark, now at 7,073 per dual for the year. The Cowboys have had at least 6,000 at each of their six home duals.
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.