OSU Wrestling: Cowboys Jump Inside Top 5 in Latest Rankings

Beat a team in the top 5, get in the top 5 yourself.

Oklahoma State, which is 5-0, came in at No. 5 in the latest NWCA rankings that were released Tuesday. The Cowboys catapulted four spots after beating then-No. 4 NC State on Friday. NC State dropped to No. 8.

OSU cracking the top 5 means the Big 12 now has three of the teams in the top 5, with Missouri being the highest at No. 2, followed by Iowa State at No. 4. The rest of the top 5 includes No. 1 Penn State and No. 3 Iowa, both from the Big Ten.

Including those top three teams, the Big 12 boasts seven teams in the latest top 25, including South Dakota State (11), Oklahoma (19), West Virginia (20) and Northern Iowa (24). OSU has already beaten OU 28-9 and will wrestle the Sooners again Feb. 18 in Stillwater. All other ranked Big 12 teams are still ahead for the Cowboys.

Penn State is the only current top-5 team not on OSU’s schedule. The Cowboys will host ISU on Jan. 27 and Iowa on Feb. 25. OSU will travel to Mizzou on Feb. 4.

The Cowboys’ next action will be a full weekend of top-20 matchups this week, traveling to No. 15 Pittsburgh on Friday and No. 20 West Virginia on Sunday.