6 Reasons To Watch Oklahoma State vs Wyoming
6 Reasons To Watch Oklahoma State vs Wyoming
Oklahoma State will be favored in their dual with Wyoming, but the boys in brown and gold are within striking distance.
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Oklahoma State will be favored in seven of 10 matches on paper this Saturday night when they take on Wyoming, but Mark Branch's Cowboys have given John Smith's squad headaches in the past, and they have a team that could challenge Oklahoma State in this dual. Here are the biggest reasons to watch this all-Cowboy showdown.
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Saturday, Feb 8 | 8:00 PM ET
1) The Cowboy vs Cowboy History
Two seasons ago, Wyoming hosted Oklahoma State in front of a packed house in Cheyenne. Oklahoma State was favored in nine of the 10 bouts in that dual, but Wyoming pushed the dual to a 5-5 split with four upsets over All-Americans.
At 149, Sam Turner took out Geo Martinez, at 165, Branson Ashworth beat Chandler Rogers for the first time, at 133, Montorie Bridges beat Kaid Brock, and at 141, Bryce Meredith beat two-time NCAA champion Dean Heil.
This history of Wyoming upsets over Oklahoma State wrestlers certainly doesn't mean that upsets will happen again this year, but it does add some intrigue to this dual.
2) #13 Joe Smith vs #12 Hayden Hastings
Wyoming's Hayden Hastings sits one spot ahead of two-time All-American Joe Smith in the rankings. They'll meet in a match that will be important for Big 12 seeding and is probably the most anticipated match of the whole dual.
Smith has wrestled a partial season. His year got off to a rocky start at the Southern Scuffle where he dropped a match to Lorenzo De La Riva, but he has been rounding into form recently. A couple of weeks ago, he knocked off Sammy Colbray who was ranked as high as #5 at 184 before dropping to 174. Most recently, Smith had a gutsy win over Missouri's Connor Flynn.
3) Samuelson has a Win Over #16 Montalvo
Tate Samuelson and Anthony Montalvo met last year at the Reno Tournament of Champions when both were true freshmen. Samuelson won that bout 4-1.
While their previous match went Samuelson's way, Montalvo's season suggests that he may be ready to reverse that result. Montalvo has had solid results the past few weeks racking up wins over #17 Zach Carlson, #24 Marcus Coleman, and #7 Nino Bonaccorsi.
4) Can Witcraft Push Bridges?
Oklahoma State freshman Reece Witcraft has put together a solid opening season with wins over ranked opponents Anthony Madrigal and Todd Small. He'll have a big challenge against 2018 All-American Montorie Bridges on Saturday.
Bridges has looked solid this year and is the favorite at 133 in this dual, but Witcraft could make this a match.
5) Will Brock Martin Make his Debut Against #21 Andrews?
Wyoming's Brian Andrews will be favored on Saturday regardless of who Oklahoma State sends to the mat, but this match could get a lot more interesting if they send out football star Brock Martin.
Martin weighed in for Oklahoma State's dual against Missouri but did not compete as reported by Seth Duckworth. Coach Smith seems to believe that Martin could be his best option for the Big 12 Championships but will only use him on Saturday if he believes Martin is ready to compete.
If Martin doesn't compete, Andrews will face either Austin Harris or Cornelius Putnam, who he has defeated in each of the last two seasons.
6) Jaron Jensen in Dangerous
Boo Lewallen will be one of the biggest favorites of the night when he wrestles Jaron Jensen on Saturday night, but Jensen has shown that he's capable of big-time upsets this year.
In late December, Jensen took out Missouri's Brock Mauller, who was ranked second in the country at the time. Jensen won that bout 6-5 for his biggest upset of the season. Coincidentally, Lewallen just lost to Mauller last week in a match that Lewallen led until late. Jensen and Lewallen have yet to meet in their careers.