3 takeaways from No. 9 Oklahoma State wrestling’s 22-12 dual win over No. 4 NC State

Friday night was a night for intensity inside Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh as No. 9 Oklahoma State wrestling fought past No. 4 NC State behind bonus-point performances from All-Americans Daton Fix and Dustin Plott as well as upset wins from underclassmen Troy Spratley and Teague Travis.

Oklahoma State coach John Smith outscored his former athlete Pat Popolizio’s team 22-12 to remain undefeated on the year, while the Pack, ranked as high as No. 2 in the country earlier this year, took their second consecutive loss after dropping a 21-20 dual to Ohio State last month.

Here’s are three takeaways from this electric dual performance as both teams regroup and prepare for their dual schedules.

Oklahoma State’s young stars shined bright

This year’s Oklahoma State team looks a lot different than the squad that struggled through last year’s NCAA tournament and settled for 17th place. This is a trophy-contending team now, in large part due to the energy and fight coming from the current class of redshirt freshman. Those freshman (plus a standout sophomore) carried their team with three huge wins, and they’ll now be names to watch as point-scoring contenders heading into March.

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Freshman Troy Spratley kicked things off for the Cowboys at 125 pounds when he overpowered NC State’s Jakob Camacho, someone who has ranked No. 1 earlier in the season, 7-2, quieting the rowdy fans. Spratley came out fighting off the first whistle and wrestled tough in all three positions to outscore the Wolfpack veteran. The win over No. 17 Camacho should move No. 20 Spratley up a few spots in the rankings, while Camacho’s loss, his fourth of the season, will likely have a more significant impact on his standing, given the unpredictability of the weight class as a whole.

Sophomore Teague Travis delivered another blow to the Wolfpack up at 157 pounds when he narrowly topped All-American No. 5 Ed Scott, 7-6, in a performance that should skyrocket him into the top 15. Travis, who spent last year wrestling behind 141-pounder Carter Young, is now 10-1 on the year, though the Scott win is unquestionably his biggest accolade so far this season.

Travis had the biggest win of the night, but the Cowboys notched another notable performance from underclassmen on Friday: Brayden Thompson’s critical victory at 174. Thompson, who is 4-3 on the year with a ranked win over Tate Picklo of Oklahoma, was in a coin-flip bout against NC State’s No. 31 Alex Faison through three periods of regulation and two rounds of sudden victory before the Cowboy found his edge in tiebreakers and rode out Faison for the 3-2 win. The significance of this performance, though, was not in the ranked individual win but in the team score. Thompson’s victory gave the Cowboys their third consecutive win in the dual and extended the lead to 16-7, making the comeback that much more difficult for the Pack. 

Both teams have at least six All-American contenders

The Oklahoma State freshmen and sophomores overall stepped up and stepped up big, but the dual brought the heat across all 10 weights.

At 184 pounds, Oklahoma State had one of its best veteran performances of the night as two-time All-American Dustin Plott picked up a major against NC State freshman star No. 5 Dylan Fishback to put the dual nearly out of reach. Plott’s consistency continues to make him a valuable staple in this lineup.

Currently 13-1 with an 81.25% bonus rate, Plott is ranked No. 3 in the country behind NCAA finalist Parker Keckeisen and No. 2 Bernie Truax, though with Truax’s loss to Oregon State’s Trey Munoz and Plott’s win, the Cowboy might find himself moving up again. Given the landscape of 184 pounds, Plott has to be someone eying an opportunity to compete on Saturday night in March.

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Another Cowboy wrestler chasing the bright lights of the national finals is four-time All-American and three-time NCAA finalist Daton Fix, and, like Plott, Fix also put up bonus against a top-five NC State opponent. The veteran 133-pounder majored NC State’s No. 5 All-American Kai Orine, 11-3, for his third win of the year, showing that he’s still one of the best in the country at the weight.

Fix, Orine, Plott and Fishback all belong in the All-American conversation. Three of these four athletes — Fix, Orine and Plott — have finished in the top eight before, and Fishback, despite his loss to Plott, has shown flashes of All-American talent. He has a win over All-American Munoz of Oregon State, and he wrestles tough. He’ll be the favorite to win the ACC tournament, but he’ll have another top-10 test against Chris Foca of Cornell before March.

Oklahoma State’s big portal pickup, Izzak Olejnik, is also a top All-American contender, and someone who has been outstanding all year. In his match against NC State’s AJ Kovacs at 165 pounds, Olejnik picked up an 8-3 win but left the match frustrated after being just seconds away from the takedown that would have earned him the major decision. Olejnik will have the chance to see plenty of high-level competition before NCAAs, however, as he’ll likely dual Iowa State’s David Carr and Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole in the next month, both winners of NCAA titles. Based on Olejnik performances so far this year, though, expect him to battle and battle well against both of those athletes. Can he beat Carr and O’Toole to become a title contender? That remains to be seen, but Olejnik has jumped levels this year, and his future remains bright.

Between picking up Olejnik in the transfer portal and the success of Oklahoma’s State young stars, particularly Teague Travis, the Cowboys are looking strong. They should be expecting podium finishes from all four of those guys, a result that would double their podium finishes from the year before. This total doesn’t even include heavyweight No. 11 Konner Doucet, who picked up a top-20 win against No. 16 Owen Trephan, and No. 7 Tagen Jamison, who stayed within one takedown of NC State’s Ryan Jack in his 6-4 loss at 141 pounds. If Oklahoma State can string together the right series of performances at NCAAs, over half its lineup could come home with hardware.

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NC State is in a similar position with depth, despite the loss. Orine and Fishback, as previously mentioned, are podium contenders, as is No. 4 Jack, and No. 5 Scott, even with after dropping to Travis. The Pack also earned big points (and can expect to continue earning big points) from Jackson Arrington, the No. 3-ranked athlete in the country at 149 pounds. Arrington built on Jack’s momentum from the 141-pound bout and shut out Oklahoma State’s No. 19 Jordan Williams, 10-0, to tie the dual and secure a ranked win for himself at 149.

Arrington has just two losses so far this year, one in 9-8 fashion against All-American Dylan D’Emilio of Ohio State and one countable medical forfeit against Nash Singleton of Oregon State in the Cliff Keen Invitational. He’s since reversed that loss to D’Emilio, and he’s also teched Singleton. Arrington is hard-nosed and aggressive, and, if NC State is hoping for a team trophy, they’ll need Arrington to make a deep run through the 149-pound bracket at nationals. 

Trent Hidlay is on another level

NC State has nine total ranked wrestlers, and, after last night’s performance, at least six who look like All-Americans, much like the Cowboys. The biggest Wolfpack star, and the only athlete to secure a tech fall, though, deserves additional recognition.

Trent Hidlay, NC State’s three-time NCAA All-American, has become known for his leadership, grit and tenacity, and he put all of that on display Friday night as he dominated Jersey Robb, 21-4, for five critical team points. While Hidlay’s effort wasn’t enough to lift the Pack past the Cowboys, his performance put the energy back in the crowd and infused some momentum into the team heading into heavyweight.

Oklahoma State’s No. 11 Doucet shut down NC State’s heavyweight No. 16 Trephan 2-1 to end the dual, but, now that the dust has settled on this dual, Hidlay’s match is one that Pack fans can look back on as a shining moment. He stepped up and scored big for his team, something he’s had a history of doing since he first donned the Black and Red back in 2018.

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With Friday’s win, Hidlay’s to 16-0 on the season with 87.5% bonus and 89-11 in his varsity career. He sits at No. 4 in the weight class behind three-time NCAA champion Aaron Brooks and All-Americans Stephen Buchanan and Rocky Elam, and while he won’t have a chance to wrestle any of those three guys until NCAAs, Hidlay is a strong favorite to win another conference title for himself and head into nationals with an undefeated record. His biggest competition between now and then will come on Feb. 16 when he could see No. 7 Jacob Cardenas of Cornell, though Hidlay did major in Cardenas at their last meeting in the Cliff Keen Invitational.

The Trent Hidlay folkstyle show will continue for a little over two more months before Hidlay’s collegiate eligibility runs out. Enjoy it while you can.