The Sooners Could Win Bedlam Wrestling

The history of the Bedlam wrestling rivalry has favored Oklahoma State, and the recent history of the rivalry has heavily favored the Cowboys.

The overall series record is 143-27-10, and the Cowboys have only lost to the Sooners once since 2008. So far this season the Cowboys are 7-0 while the Sooners are 5-3, with two losses to teams the Cowboys have beat in Northern Iowa and Iowa State.

The Cowboys are going to be favored again on Sunday when they take the mats for the 181st time vs. their Bedlam rivals, but it may not be that simple.

Right now the Cowboys are pretty beat up. Kaid Brock was out and did not travel to Iowa this past weekend, Wyatt Sheets was back for the first time in a few weeks, with a heavily braced knee that clearly had him hobbled. Undefeated freshman Dustin Plott did not wrestle vs. Northern Iowa, and Daton Fix is out under a suspension until Feb. 10.

The Cowboys have formidable backups at most of these weights, but some of these guys missing or being hobbled flip the favor of those individual matches to OU.

With Fix at 133, the Cowboys get bonus points. Without him, it’s likely a toss-up. At 141 OU may be favored either way, but with no Brock it’s a big edge for Dom Demas and OU. A 100% healthy Wyatt Sheets is favored at 157 over Justin Thomas, but the clearly hobbled Sheets we saw last week may not be.

Beyond those three matches that are all very winnable for OU, the Sooners are probably the favorites at heavyweight. At 174 OSU will face a guy in Anthony Mantanona, who when he’s on his game, is one of the best wrestlers around. He has also traditionally been a performer in the Bedlam dual. He went 2-0 vs. the Cowboys last season.

AJ Ferrari will see his toughest test of the season on Sunday when he meets Jake Woodley, and at 149 Boo Lewallen will meet a good test in Virginia Tech transfer Mitch Moore, who is 7-1 this year.

The Cowboys will be favored at 125, 165, and 184, and I think still have an edge in many of the matches listed above. This won’t be easy. The Cowboys will need to wrestle well to win this.