Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith seemed to have more optimism about winning the Big 12 championship this year than he has had in recent years. 

There is a big reason why. 

“This is a better team than both of those teams the last two years — period,” Smith said.

He isn’t wrong. This is the most complete and healthy team Oklahoma State has had in recent years and the Cowboys have a real chance of challenging the likes of Missouri and Iowa State for the crown. 

It would be a big achievement for the #3 Oklahoma State, but there are no easy roads to become the champs.

For some Cowboys, the Big 12 tournament will be a great simulation for the NCAA tournament. At 165, #4-seed Izzak Olejnik debatably has the hardest bracket of all Cowboys. Olejnik has four losses on the year, three of which came against the three wrestlers seeded above him. 

“Those guys are the toughest guys in the country,” Smith said. “Izzak’s got a lot ahead of him. He’s got to go wrestle well.”

Second-seeded Dustin Plott is projected to be a finalist at 184 pounds, but so will #1 Parker Keckeisen of Northern Iowa. Keckeisen and Plott met earlier this year, with the UNI senior winning by a 12-6 decision. Smith had high praise for Keckeisen but also thinks Plott is just as good.

“That kid from UNI is going to be a finalist at the NCAA Championships, that’s how good he is,” Smith said. “And, Plott is every bit as good as him. Dustin’s been pretty consistent this year with his behavior and his attitude on the mat. Not giving up easy takedowns, not giving up cheap points.”

Troy Spratley is seeded #2 with a bye in a loaded 125-pound bracket. Spratley is seeded lower than Missouri’s Noah Surtin, who lost to the freshman Cowboy 4-1 earlier in the season. Spratley said he doesn’t really care about brackets and seeds, but he does care about byes.

“I don’t really tend to like having a bye,” Spratley said. “I like going out there and setting the tone for our team, it’s big if you can go out there and be the first one on the mat and get a win for your team. I don’t really care [about brackets], it is what it is. You gotta beat the best guy, so, it doesn’t matter where you’re at.”

The Importance Of Winning The Big 12 

It has been two years since the Cowboys were co-Big 12 champions and three years since they won the tournament outright. Smith said he takes a lot of pride in winning the Big 12. He is also tired of not winning it. 

Winning the Big 12 not only on a team level, but an individual level does a lot for a wrestler in the national tournament. Winning the Big 12 tournament can guarantee a higher seed at the NCAA Championships. Smith said the team put themselves in a good position to take home a title. 

“It moves you into a better place when you do win it,” Smith said. “At the beginning of the year, if you looked at it, it didn’t look like much of a chance, but we definitely put ourselves in position with our seeds. It’s going to take 10 guys, though. You can’t have somebody have a poor tournament who you were expecting big points out of. You’re not gonna win it, if you lose one of those guys, you’re not gonna win it. The national tournament is a different story, but this tournament, you can’t lose someone. Everybody needs to score points.”

It would be even bigger for Oklahoma State to win it on its home turf at the BOK Center in Tulsa, OK. Smith said the BOK Center has been first-class when it comes to Big 12 Wrestling. He also said he hasn’t seen as many cities committing to the conference championships as Tulsa has.