True Freshmen Headline OSU's Opening Dual

It might be a new year, but Oklahoma State didn’t miss a beat with its season opener on the mat.

The No. 5 Cowboys opened their wrestling season Friday night, as they welcomed No. 19 Stanford into Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Cowboy wrestling program is known for its dominance, as they have 34 NCAA Championships and has produced 145 individual national champions.

The Cowboys continued this trend last season as they took home the Big 12 title and two individual national champions in Wyatt Hendrickson and Dean Hamiti Jr. The question was looming if the Cowboys could continue this dominance this year with their young squad, and after Friday, they proved there’s no need to worry. 

OSU took care of Stanford, winning 33-7, with the Cowboys only losing two of the ten bouts. The Cowboys' big names in Troy Spratley and Konner Doucet took care of business as they both won by technical fall. However, the story of the night wasn’t the big names but the young guns who started making a name for themselves. 

The Cowboys had three true freshmen in their lineup against Stanford, and all three of them took home a win. Landon Robideau at 157 made his debut against the No.4 wrestler in the division in Daniel Cardenas. The rankings didn’t matter to Robideau as he won by major decision 11-2. 

It was the same story for true freshman LaDarion Lockett at 165. He took on the No.4 wrestler in Hunter Garvin, but yet again, the rankings meant nothing. Lockett gave Garvin a hard-fought bout and would end up winning by decision 2-1. 

The last true freshman was Sergio Vega at 141. Vega took on Jack Consiglio and humiliated him. Vega won by technical fall at a score of 16-1, in a match that left no room for question.

This is a positive sign for the Cowboys, not only this year, but for years to come. The Pokes always have a great wrestling recruiting class, and if these three can continue to grow in their skills and turn into the leaders of the future, the Cowboys will continue to be dominant. 

Coach David Taylor and his squad are shaping up to have a great season, and they’ll head up to Tulsa next for the National Duels Invitational. OSU hopes to continue its dominance there, and hopes to dominate there at the end of the season as they search for another Big 12 title.