Missing a Pair of Teeth, Tagen Jamison Off to a Strong Start in Redshirt Sophomore Season

STILLWATER — Tagen Jamison has lost more teeth than wrestling matches at this point in the season.

Jamison lost a pair of teeth in his 20-5 technical fall victory against Air Force’s Carter Nogle last week. Jamison took a headbutt in the first period and quickly called for injury time to go get some assistance. He spit a mouthful of blood into a trashcan the corner had for him before returning to the mat and earning his 13th victory in 14 matches this season.

“I’m in the match, I got adrenaline pumping through my body, and I can feel when I hit him and they busted out,” Jamison said. “At that point, I was just mad. Just fuming because I knew I was about to look like a toothless guy. It didn’t hurt because I had adrenaline, just mad, I think, is what I was feeling.”

Jamison spoke with the media on Friday, still missing those teeth near the front of his mouth. He said it was the first time he has lost any teeth while wrestling. It was made a little ironic in that Jamison said at the start of the season a group came in and scanned the team’s mouths and gave them nice mouthpieces, but Jamison, not having this problem before, chose not to wear his.

He isn’t the first wrestler to lose teeth, and he likely won’t be the last. OSU coach David Taylor said after the dual that Jamison said, “Just like Cutter Sheets” when Jamison went to the corner. The son of two-time NCAA champion Mike Sheets and the brother of two-time All-American Wyatt Sheets, Cutter is a redshirt sophomore on OSU’s team and is also missing a tooth. Dustin Plott, the reigning 184-pound national runner up, is also without a pair of front teeth. Jamison said he consulted with both of those guys about how to eat and deal with the pain.

Jamison said his girlfriend told him to not let the process of getting them fixed drag out too long.

Jamison’s 13-1 record this season includes five wins against ranked opponents. He enters this this weekend’s dual against NC State as the No. 4 141-pounder in the country, according to Intermat. Nine of his wins have been with bonus points. Jamison’s only loss this year came to Ohio State’s Jesse Mendez in the championship bout at the Cliff Keen in Las Vegas, a match Jamison lost 5-2. Mendez is 16-0 this season and currently sits atop Intermat’s 141-pound rankings.

A redshirt sophomore, Jamison started his college career at Minnesota, where he redshirted during the 2022-23 season. He stepped into the starting lineup in his first year in Stillwater last season, compiling a 21-10 record as a redshirt freshman. He finished fourth at Big 12’s and earned the 10 seed at NCAAs, and it sounds as if — regardless of his pearly whites — that he has even bigger aspirations this season.

“It’s been great,” Jamison said. “I feel like I’ve had a good season, our team’s had a good season so far. I’m enjoying this season a lot more than last season. I think it has to do with weight. I’m managing my weight a lot better. Coaching staff is helping me a lot. This season’s a lot more enjoyable for me.”