Sundays are usually thought of as peaceful, relaxing days but it'll be scene of uproar and pandemonium when the Sooners of Oklahoma & the Cowboys of Oklahoma State go to battle on the mat. The match as it has for quite sometime favors the #11 Cowboys over the U.R. Sooners, but don't kid yourself, this is still going to be a fight. While Daton Fix will make mints meat out of Wyatt Henson, the other nine matches have potential to be quite competitive.
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| 125 lbs #15 Joey Prata Vs #7 Trevor Mastrogiovanni |
In three meetings thus far, Mastrogiovanni has won two 4-1 decisions & Prata has won a 6-4 decision. If the dual starts off at the smallest weight class, it'll put the pressure on both of these lightweights to start it off for their team and get the ball rolling. In a rivalry like this one, momentum can be of utmost importance and while it slightly favors Mastrogiovanni, I'd still call this one a tossup.
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| 141 lbs #27 Mosha Schwartz Vs #21 Carter Young |
Since becoming a Sooner, Mosha Schwartz has yet to have a defining moment while wearing the crimson and cream. This would be as good of a time as any. The Cowboys are expected to win this dual rather handedly & the only reason they won't is if Oklahoma can pull off some upsets. This is one of the upsets they would have to pull off. While the match favors Young, it is not out of Schwartz's ability.
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| 149 lbs #16 Mitch Moore Vs #18 Victor Voinovich |
Now this is a match that I am looking forward to! Poised experience against youthful restlessness. As mentioned, if Oklahoma wants to leave this dual looking respectable against a top 15 team in the nation, they're going to have to pull off some upsets. Equally, at the same time they're going to have to avoid upsets as well. Voinovich has a tremendous gas tank. He's going to come at Mitch Moore hard and fast a full seven minutes. Moore will want to try and slow the pace down. Metaphorically speaking, Voinovich is coming in on a stallion, dead sprint, pistols firing. Moore will protect the Wagons as best he can, perched up like a sniper, looking for the perfect shot.
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| 157 lbs #29 Jacob Butler Vs #10 Kaden Gfeller |
More so than Mastrogiovanni against Prata & even more so than Young against Schwartz, this match heavily favors the Cowboy. However, I wouldn't count out the Sooner quite yet. Butler has two things going for him in this match. First and foremost, he's the type of wrestler that is often up for these big profile matches. He knows how important this dual is in the rivalry between two programs that are older than dirt. He'll go into this mentally and physically prepared. Secondly as good as Gfeller has looked as of late, he's been known to be inconsistent in the past. He wrestles like he did against Brayton Lee of Minnesota, he could very well major Butler. He wrestles like he did at the BIG 12 championships in 2021, it could very well be Butler who stands with his arm raised on the mat.
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| 165 lbs #20 Gerrit Nijenhuis Vs #16 Wyatt Sheets |
Having been watching Oklahoma State wrestling since 1991 & being an amateur historian of collegiate wrestling, it feels so foreign to say this yet again but it's the truth...Wyatt Sheets is yet another Cowboy unpredictable and inconsistent. He's favored over Nijenhuis, but this marks another match where the plausibility of an upset is a real possibility. Nijenhuis gets a lead, he isn't going to let it go. Of all the matches of this dual, I would call this the biggest tossup.
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| 174 lbs #20 Darian Roberts Vs #4 Dustin Plott |
Now this one is going to the Cowboys. Dustin Plott has been looking redhot lately & I'd give Roberts' chance of upsetting him somewhere between slim and none. With that said, looking at this from a team perspective, it is still important for Roberts to keep this match to a decision. He is very capable of doing that. When team scores are added up, 4 points seems to add up a lot faster than 3. Roberts will want to keep this to a decision.
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| 184 lbs #29 Greyden Penner Vs #16 Travis Wittlake |
Similar sentiment to 174 lbs, although I'll give Penner a better shot at Wittlake than Roberts Roberts at Plott. This match still favors the Cowboy, but Wittlake isn't the world class beater at 184 lbs that he was at 165 lbs two seasons ago. He recently dropped a 4-0 decision to Minnesota's Isaiah Salazar, which bodes well for the young Sooner. Oklahoma wins where they're supposed to win, they pull off a few upsets & keep their losses close, they're gonna come out of this feud looking pretty damn good for an unranked team against the #11. It's up to guys like Prenner for that to happen.
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| 197 lbs #26 Keegan Moore Vs #29 Luke Surber |
Here's a match where Oklahoma will want to stay on their toes. This one actually favors the sooners. Moore has been around for a long time & he's also a former Cowboy. He knows what takes place in that Stillwater practice room. Knowledge and experience can go a long way on the wrestling mat. Yet don't care count out Surber. Oklahoma State is going into this a #11 ranked team vs an U.R. team & you can bet your bottom dollar John Smith wants the end of this dual to look like a #11 ranked team just beat an U.R. team. Surber will be looking for the upset.
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| HWT #17 Josh Heindselman Vs #16 Konner Doucet |
I made a promise to Josh Heindselman's father last season that as long as Josh showed class and sportsmanship from now on, I'd refrain from mentioning the two times where he did an Austin DeSanto impersonation. Thus far he's kept his end of the deal & I've kept mine. Here's where it may be a challenge. This dual could very well end on the HWT match and that'd be A-ok with me. The rankings feel that these two are neck n neck and in a lot of ways so do I. The only difference is, the rankings slightly favor Doucet. I slightly favor Heindselman. I see this being a low scoring match, one by a point or two. We'll see both of these guys doing their best to use their size and power to their advantage.
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