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5 Storylines to Follow as a Posse of Cowboys Heads to Wrestle at the US Open

There is a lot of intrigue surrounding the US Open where we will see 23 Cowboys lace them up this weekend.

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The US Open is this weekend and there are 23 wrestlers that are connected to Oklahoma State that we will see there. Here are five things that should draw a lot of intrigue for Oklahoma State fans and will be worth following.

1. Chandler Rogers Going Greco

Fresh off his freestyle Pan Am title last weekend Chandler Rogers will be going Greco this weekend at the US Open. I absolutely love this move for Chandler. Freestyle around his weight is loaded domestically with World Champions all over the place. It’s just not the same way in Greco and Chandler has never shied away from going upper body. He finished third at the U23 trials last year in Greco and was a World team member as a Cadet in 2012. If we see a good showing here I think it’s very reasonable to see him as a possible World Team member this year.

2. 65 KG and Jordan Oliver

The deepest and most exciting weight in this tournament has former Cowboy Jordan Oliver as the No. 1 seed. All the way around this is just a very tough, very deep, and likely very exciting weight class here. Jordan Oliver, Frank Molinaro, Zain Retherford, and even NCAA champion Yianni Diakomihalis have all entered and are all title contenders. Based on seeds, JO will likely hit Molinaro or Diakomihalis in the semifinals then with a win would matchup in the final with Zain Retherford in what will be a must-see rematch of their bout at AWL last summer.

3. The Daton Fix Bounce Back

Fix will be wrestling for the first time since his controversial loss in the finals of the NCAA tournament to Nick Suriano. Daton drew the 2 seed opposite Thomas Gilman, who beat Fix twice at Final-X last season for the World Team spot at 57 KG. This is a good weight, but I like Daton’s path to the final and think he’s on a definite collision course to meet up with Gilman in the final. Can Fix win a US Open title and secure a spot again at Final-X? Does he wrestle with a bit of an edge after a very controversial end to his freshman season? I’m really looking forward to seeing what Daton does here.

Fix I'm Coming

4. Can Travis Wittlake win the toughest Junior Weight?

Prized recruit and soon-to-be redshirt freshman Travis Wittlake will be going for a Junior title at the toughest weight in the tournament at the junior level. At 74 KG there are six guys that most national writers would place as contenders to win this and he’s one of them. Can he maneuver the junior version of 65 KG and bring home a title? Fans will certainly be hoping he does. It’s very likely that Wittlake will be a piece of the starting lineup next season and after entering this at 74 KG (163.1 pounds) it stands to reason that he could be the guy at 165 next year and that Joe Smith may be on the move up to 174.

5. Can anyone test Alex Dieringer?

Dieringer may be one of the more heavily favored 1 seeds in this tournament and most expect him to bring home a title this weekend at 79 KG. The No. 2 seed and one-time Cowboy Chance Marsteller looks to be his biggest threat after finishing up his senior season at Lock Haven as an All-American this year. Will Alex roll to a title or will anyone in the field find a way to test him?

Dieringer Kolov

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