Daton Fix Has A Monster Weekend Ahead Of Him
Daton Fix Has A Monster Weekend Ahead Of Him
The first two college duals of Daton Fix's career will be against #1 Seth Gross and #6 Ethan Lizak.
What if I told you Daton Fix is wrestling against both Seth Gross and Ethan Lizak this weekend, is that something you might be interested in?
Daton is already one of the most well known names in the sport. Before ever appearing in a dual for Oklahoma State, he made it to Final X and won five age level medals on the world stage. Now he makes his Cowboy debut against the defending national champ and another NCAA finalist.
Watch Oklahoma State at South Dakota State Live
Sat. Nov. 17th | 6:30 PM Central
On Saturday, Oklahoma State travels to South Dakota State for their first Big 12 dual of the year. That means, just like Kaid Brock once did, Fix will be making his attached debut against the reigning NCAA champion.
For the past two years Seth Gross has been one of the most dominant wrestlers in the country. He's averaging 4.35 team points per match in that time, and has an absurd 82% bonus rate. That'll happen when you can turn just about everyone you wrestle.
His top work propelled him to the title this past March in Cleveland, earning riding time in every match and back points in the both the semis and finals. There's limited high level folkstyle data on Fix these past few years, but he did struggle from bottom at Super 32 in 2015. That year, he was turned in a 9-3 loss to Luke Karam in the semis, and Vito Arujau rode him out for the whole second period in their third place match. I'll let Mike Mal dig into the positional advantage for Gross later this week in his tech notes.
Less than 24 hours after taking on a national champ, Fix will square off with another two-time All-American who has also appeared in the NCAA finals. The Cowboys will bus from Brookings to Minneapolis, where Daton will face #6 Ethan Lizak.
Watch Oklahoma State at Minnesota Live On Flo
Sun. Nov. 18th | 4:00 PM Central
No man in college wrestling has as many nicknames as Lizak: Backpack, Lizard/Lizard King, Sharknado (ok, we might've forced that last one). But no matter what you call him, the Gopher senior is one of the most solid guys in the country.
Racking up 62 wins over the past two years at 125, he earns bonus in well over half of his matches. He's got a very simple claw ride that he can pull just about anyone back into danger with, and he's nearly as tough to gameplan against from bottom as Gross.
After finishing second and fourth at 125 the past two seasons, Lizak should now have a little easier weight cut up at 133. He also has the advantage of only having to make weight once this weekend, while Fix will have to make weight back-to-back days and spend time on a bus.
There's no question that Daton has the talent and coaching to beat each of these guys. But both Gross and Lizak aren't just strong on top, they're excellent scramblers from neutral who can score off their opponent's shot. Fix has shown to be a high level scrambler as well, but he's only got seven college matches under his belt, as opposed to the 130 or so of Lizak and Gross.
One of the most ballyhooed recruits of the past five years, Fix has never backed down from a challenge. It's only fitting that OSU fans get to really watch him for the first time as he is thrown to the wolves in mid-November.