Oklahoma
OU Softball: How Oklahoma’s Seniors Came Together to Spur Another Postseason Run
NORMAN — The 2024 season hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Oklahoma.
Patty Gasso’s Sooners dropped their first Big 12 series since 2011 in a loss to Texas in Austin.
And then it happened again.
OU lost the first two Bedlam contests of the year in a Freaky Friday-style body swap. Oklahoma State played the role of loose-swinging, home run-hitting favorites while the Sooners capitulated late.
It was uncharted territory for a team that lost a single game in 2023 and a senior class that knows nothing but winning back-to-back-to-back national titles.
“There’s a good group of us on the team that have never been kicked in the teeth before,” OU catcher Kinzie Hansen said after Oklahoma fell to BYU on April 12.
Oklahoma found a bit of momentum in the regular season finale, avoiding a sweep at the hands of the Cowgirls, and the Sooners rolled that into a Big 12 Tournament title where OU exacted revenge on Texas.
The clutch hitting was back, and the dominant performances in the circle returned in Oklahoma City. But that wasn’t a result of the Sooners simply waking up because there was another conference title on the line against the Longhorns.
“Our team came together and worked out some things behind closed doors that a lot of teams don’t do,” Gasso said after beating Texas. “And that’s why we’re here.”
The progress made behind the scenes saw the Sooners take down Oregon twice in last weekend’s regional action, and has 2-seeded Oklahoma ready to host 15-seeded Florida State at Love’s Field on Thursday.
The shift was subtle but important, said senior third baseman Alyssa Brito, and it has the Sooners making the most of their final postseason run with 10 seniors at the helm.
“When we really stepped back for a second,” Brito said on Tuesday, “and thought about the fact that like we get to only play together for a couple of weeks, I think that kind of shifted our perspective.
“And (I) was like, I don’t get to play with Tiare Jennings and Kinzie Hansen and Rylie Boone for all my life.”
Gasso’s teams always seem to find one guiding light for why they are working so hard to play softball, finding their “why”.
For this talented group of seniors, finding a way to come together for one last ride and ensuring they leave Oklahoma with no regrets is the rallying cry.
The spotlight has been focused on the Sooners for the better part of three years. Gasso often references the pressure of outside expectations. Oklahoma is expected to play a perfect game every time it steps onto the field, and the only players who understand the gravity of those expectations are teammates.
“Living in this space is hard,” Brito said. “… We had to step back and understand like, ‘OK it’s hard. It’s gonna be hard.’ Those are conversations that maybe not a lot of people on teams have and that’s okay.
“But for us, we had to really get into that and understand, how are we going to handle living in this space and moving forward, what are we going to do side by side?”
Since dropping Game 2 of Bedlam, the Sooners have been up for the challenge.
Oklahoma rebounded with a victory on Senior Day highlighted by Jennings breaking out of her slump with a sixth inning home run.
The Sooners smothered Kansas and BYU in the Big 12 Tournament before beating Texas.
OU even played a pair of tight games against Oregon that Gasso is confident will have the team prepared for the rematch of last year’s Women’s College World Series Championship Series against Florida State.
“Run rules are boring,” Gasso said. “I don’t know that they’re good for anyone, especially us… What’s good for us is what we did with Oregon on Sunday. That’s good for us.”
The pressure cooker of the postseason has been a place where this senior class has forged lifelong memories, collecting trophy after trophy.
Now the Sooners set their sights on a familiar foe, and the chance to return to the WCWS to compete for a fourth-straight title has Oklahoma playing with fire again.
“They live for postseason,” Gasso said. “And that’s what the most fun is and it means something and you’re chasing something now.
“… You’re looking for that trophy like everybody else. So right now we’re in the chase like everyone else.”
Oklahoma
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Oklahoma
How Oklahoma GM Jim Nagy ‘Put More Around’ John Mateer During Offseason
Oklahoma general manager Jim Nagy experienced great success during his first year in Norman.
Nagy, who joined OU’s staff in February 2025, oversaw the Sooners’ scouting staff as Oklahoma reached the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019. He also helped OU sign a top-15 2026 recruiting class and land several key transfer portal players after the 2025 season.
Though the wins outweighed the losses in Nagy’s first year, the Sooners’ general manager knew that there was much to fortify during the offseason.
Oklahoma’s offense sputtered late in the season, as the Sooners scored fewer than 25 points in each of their last four games.
For Nagy, a major focus was surrounding OU quarterback John Mateer with quality talent.
“(We wanted to) just really put more around John Mateer,” Nagy said on The Dari Nowkhah Show on KREF on Friday.
Nagy and his scouting team added plenty of pieces from the portal that should elevate Oklahoma’s offense.
The Sooners signed three portal wideouts — Trell Harris (Virginia), Parker Livingstone (Texas) and Mackenzie Alleyne (Washington State) — after the 2025 season to join returning receivers Isaiah Sategna, Jer’Michael Carter and Jacob Jordan.
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Sategna, who transferred to OU from Arkansas after the 2024 season, served as Mateer’s safety net in 2025. The receiver finished the year with 965 yards and eight touchdowns on 67 catches.
Harris and Livingstone are both proven producers at the Power Four level, and Nagy believes that those two will make OU’s receiving corps stronger in 2026.
“Those two, we’re very excited about both of those guys,” Nagy said.
Nagy also did plenty of work to ensure that OU’s run game improves in 2026.
The Sooners added three tight ends — Hayden Hansen (Florida), Rocky Beers (Colorado State) and Jack Van Dorselaer (Tennessee) — from the portal. They also added three transfer offensive linemen: Caleb Nitta (Western Kentucky), E’Marion Harris (Arkansas) and Peyton Joseph (Georgia Tech).
OU will have its two top running backs from the 2025 squad, Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock, back in 2026.
For those two to reach their full potential, the Sooners’ blockers will have to regularly open up running lanes — and Nagy is confident that they will.
“We have to run the ball better, there’s no way around that,” Nagy said. “Our job is to create more competition in every room in the offseason. I feel like we’ve done that.”
On the show, Nagy revealed that the Sooners added nearly 9,000 collegiate snaps to their roster during the offseason.
The general manager believes that both sides of the ball will be stronger as a result of his scouting team’s offseason efforts and their collaboration with OU’s coaching staff.
“I’ve tried to be really intentional with our communication,” Nagy said. “There’s a common goal: We’re trying to win a national championship. This is a true partnership, and we all have the same goal in mind. It’s going to continue to evolve and get better.”
Oklahoma will open its 2026 season against UTEP on Sept. 5.
Oklahoma
Elgin’s Ritson Meyer becomes four-time Oklahoma high school wrestling state champion
Elgin’s Ritson Meyer becomes four-time OSSAA wrestling state champion
Elgin’s Ritson Meyer beat Coweta’s Aiven Robbins 8-7 in the Oklahoma high school wrestling Class 5A 215-pound finals on Saturday, Feb. 28, becoming a four-time state champion.
The loss was on Ritson Meyer’s mind all week as he prepared for his final state wrestling tournament.
A senior 215-pounder at Elgin, Meyer isn’t used to getting beaten, but he got a wake-up call when he lost against Coweta senior Aiven Robbins by five points in their regional championship match.
For Meyer, it set in that winning his fourth state championship wouldn’t be an easy task.
“I lost to him last week and I’m not a loser, so it was eating on me all week in practice,” Meyer said. “So (in) practice, I really leveled up everything. Everything about it.”
Meyer and Robbins met again on Saturday, this time with the Class 5A state championship on the line.
Intensely focused from the start, Meyer came out aggressive. And although it was another great match, Meyer did just enough to etch his name in the state history books.
Meyer held on to beat Robbins in an 8-7 decision in the new OG&E Coliseum as he claimed his fourth state championship, while Coweta won the team title.
An Abilene Christian football signee, Meyer’s wrestling days are over, but he leaves the sport with satisfaction.
“I came out here — even though it hurt, even though I was tired — I got it done,” Meyer said. “I’m so happy. I got to celebrate with my parents, my family, my friends. It’s a crazy feeling.”
A standout running back and linebacker on the gridiron, Meyer helped his team win the Class 4A state title in football as a junior before Elgin lost to Tuttle 23-20 in the 2025 championship game in December.
It’s a different sport, but that loss fueled Meyer’s wrestling season in a way.
“I like to tell people that wrestling is like offseason football,” Meyer said. “I can’t go out, lose. Everybody wanted me to win this. I won it for the whole entire community. First four-timer at Elgin. And that football (loss) really did eat me alive. It didn’t feel good at all, and I didn’t want that same feeling again.”
Meyer had a great start against Robbins on Saturday and never trailed, but Robbins battled to set up a great finish and both were gassed when it was over.
“I just gave it my all,” Meyer said, “and I got it done.”
This article will be updated.
Nick Sardis covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Nick? He can be reached at nsardis@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at@nicksardis. Sign up forThe Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Nick’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing adigital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
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