Breaking Down Oklahoma State’s 2024-25 Wrestling Lineup

David Taylor, for the most part, has put together his first starting lineup as Oklahoma State’s wrestling coach.

Taylor on Thursday announced who he expects to start for the Cowboys in their season opener against Utah Valley on Nov. 15. Although nearly the entire coaching staff is new after John Smith’s retirement, the lineup is still littered with familiar names to start a new era.

Here’s a look at what to expect from Taylor’s first lineup.

125: Troy Spratley

Just like Smith did throughout all of last season, Taylor, too, referred to Spratley as a “spark plug.” And Taylor said that’s exactly what you want out of a 125-pounder to start duals.

Spratley started as a redshirt freshman last season, putting together a 23-8 record in his first real college action. He was a runner-up at the Big 12 Wrestling Championships, earning the sixth seed at the NCAA Wrestling Championships, where he was one win short of reaching All-America status.

Now with a year of competition under his belt, Spratley was a name that kept coming up from other wrestlers during OSU’s media a few weeks ago.

133: Reece Witcraft

Yes, Witcraft is still in Stillwater. A sixth-year senior, Witcraft has spent almost all of his career backing up five-time All-American Daton Fix. He started most of the 2019-20 season, when Fix redshirted to focus on qualifying for the Olympics. Witcraft was the only true freshman in OSU’s lineup that year, going 18-10 and qualifying for the NCAA tournament. He also qualified for NCAAs in 2023 after cutting down to 125 pounds for a year. Last season, he went 6-3 while filling in for an injured Fix.

Redshirt freshman Cael Hughes, a former four-time state champion from Stillwater, could also steal some time here at 133.

141: TBD

This was the only spot in the entire lineup that Taylor didn’t lock in a name for the opener. Tagen Jamison started there last season as a redshirt freshman, putting together a 21-10 record and getting to the NCAA tournament. Every other option at 141 are freshmen. This could also be a spot where someone like Hughes bumps up.

149: Carter Young

This was a spot that had to be filled after Jordan Williams was dismissed from the team during the offseason. Young is no stranger to starting for the Cowboys, though. He was in the lineup at 141 in 2021-22 and 2022-23 as a freshman and sophomore, respectively, reaching the NCAA tournament both times. He injured his knee toward the end of his sophomore run, though, and needed surgery, prompting him to redshirt last year while wrestling in only 11 matches in open tournaments at 149.

Taylor said Young hasn’t had any issues with that previously injured knee.

157: Teague Travis

Travis, from Stillwater, bumped up from 149 last season to take control of 157. He was impressive once in the lineup, putting together a 23-8 record and qualifying for the NCAA tournament.

165: Cameron Amine

Amine was one of OSU’s four big gets from the transfer portal this offseason. Entering his final season, Amine was a three-time All-American at Michigan. He was a win shy of reaching the podium for a fourth time last season.

Amine will replace another former one-year transfer Cowboy in Izzak Olejnik, who was an All-American last season after coming from Northern Illinois.

174: Dean Hamiti Jr.

Another portal addition, Hamiti was a two-time All-American for Wisconsin. Like Amine, though, Hamiti was also just a win shy of becoming an All-American last season after reaching the quarterfinals as the fifth seed. He posted an impressive 28-4 record.

True freshman Brayden Thompson started here last season for the Cowboys. Taylor announced that Thompson will redshirt this season with Hamiti having only one year of eligibility left.

184: Dustin Plott

Plott is the star of this lineup after finishing as an NCAA runner-up last season and reaching All-American status for the third time. Entering his final season, Plott and Taylor have both said Plott has reached a new level while training and scrapping with Taylor, who just won a bronze medal at the Senior World Championships.

Last season, Plott was 31-4, with three of those losses coming from Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen, who was the Big 12 and NCAA champion at 184. Could training with Taylor be enough to get Plott past Keckeisen?

197: Luke Surber

Surber was 13-9 last season while battling through injuries nearly the entire time. He’s a three-year starter for the Cowboys, with his first time in the lineup coming as an undersized heavyweight in 2021-22.

Highly touted freshman Cody Merrill is also good enough to possibly take this spot. Merrill wrestled for OSU legend Daniel Cormier at Gilroy High School in California, where he was 109-0 and a two-time state champion.

285: Wyatt Hendrickson

Hendrickson was the headline of OSU’s impressive transfer class and a one-of-a-kind get. He was a two-time All-American at Air Force, but because of military academy rules and an extra year of eligibility because of COVID, Hendrickson had to look elsewhere to finish his career. Hendrickson placed third at NCAAs the past two seasons and has a pair of Big 12 titles. As a sophomore and junior, he was named the NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler after leading the nation in pins two seasons in a row.