Big 12 Championships Preview: Every Oklahoma State Wrestler’s Path to a Big 12 Title

BRACKETS

The Cowboys last won a share of the Big 12 title in 2021 (tying with Oklahoma), and the Pokes’ last outright win at this tournament was in 2020 shortly before the world shut down. We’ll soon see if the Cowboys can get back on top of the Big 12 in Year 1 of the David Taylor era.

Oklahoma State is in the BOK Center in Tulsa this weekend for the Big 12 Championships. Here’s a look at the event schedule, how to watch and previews for each of the Cowboys’ paths to a Big 12 title.

Big 12 Championships Schedule

Session I: 10 a.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Session II: 5 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Session III: 12 p.m. Sunday on ESPN+
Session IV: 8 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU

125: Troy Spratley

Seed (Automatic Qualifications): 4 (7)
Season Record: 17-3
Bracket’s Top 4 Seeds: 1 Richard Figueroa (11-1), 2 Stevo Poulin (18-1), 3 Jett Strickenberger (8-2), 4 Troy Spratley (17-3)

Spratley’s Season: Spratley is no stranger to squaring off with high-level competition this season, with five matches against opponents ranked in the top 10 at the time of the match. He went 4-1 in those contest.

He beat No. 2 Jore Volk in sudden-victory in November before Volk suffered a season-ending injury. Spratley’s Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational run was impressive. He finished third with wins against Ohio State’s Brendan McCrone (ranked 15th in the most recent Coaches’ Ranking) and Nebraska’s Caleb Smith (No. 7) with his only loss being to No. 1 Matt Ramos 5-2.

Spratley’s only Big 12 loss this season came to West Virginia’s Jett Strickenberger, who pinned Spratley in a dual in Stillwater. Strickenberger is the 3 seed in Tulsa.

Spratley enters Big 12s on a five-match winning streak with the past four of those matches coming with bonus points.

Spratley’s Path in Tulsa: The Big 12’s 125-pound bracket was tough to seed, but it feels like Spratley should be higher than the 4. Shoot, he was No. 3 nationally in the most recent Coaches’ Ranking.

He’ll start the tournament with a game against Missouri’s Gage Walker (11-9). Spratley majored Walker 10-1 in a dual on Feb. 2. From there, Spratley would see either South Dakota State’s Tanner Jordan (21-5) or Cal Baptist’s Mitchell Neiner (9-16). Spratley hasn’t wrestled either this year, but he and Jordan met four times last season. Spratley went 2-2 against Jordan, but Jordan won the most recent bout at the NCAA Championships, ending Spratley’s season.

The only guy from the top 4 seeds Spratley has seen this season was that loss to Strickenberger. Spratley wrestled top seed Richard Figueroa last season, though, and Spratley won with a 13-5 major decision. Figueroa responded by winning the whole dang thing in Kansas City. So, though the 4 seed might look low, Spratley is well in contention for a title this weekend.

133: Reece Witcraft

Seed (Automatic Qualifications): 4 (6)
Season Record: 10-4
Bracket’s Top 4 Seeds: 1 Evan Frost (16-2), 2 Dominick Serrano (19-2), 3 Julian Farber (12-5), 4 Reece Witcraft (10-4)

Witcraft’s Season: Witcraft spent much of the season battling with redshirt freshman Cael Hughes for this spot in OSU’s lineup, but with Witcraft getting most of the duals late in the season, it was becoming evident that he was the guy. Because of that battle, though, Witcraft has wrestled just three matches since the turn of the calendar. He went 1-2 in those matches, but the losses were to No. 3 Evan Frost (the top seed in the Big 12 tournament) and No. 4 Nasir Nasir Bailey.

That match against Frost, a 9-4 decision, is the only match Witcraft has wrestled against the top four seeds of this tournament.

Witcraft is one of the more exciting wrestlers to watch on OSU’s roster, as he has big moves in his arsenal. He had three pins this season.

Witcraft’s Path in Tulsa: Witcraft opens the tournament with a bye and will await the winner of North Dakota State’s Kyle Burwick (21-10) and West Virginia’s Tommy Maddox (7-12). Witcraft hasn’t wrestled either of those guys in his college career.

If things went chalk, Witcraft would wrestle top-seeded Frost in the semis, looking to avenge that loss he suffered in Ames.

141: Tagen Jamison

Seed (Automatic Qualifications): 4 (7)
Season Record: 17-3
Bracket’s Top 4 Seeds: 1 Andrew Alirez (12-0), 2 Cael Happel (20-3), 3 Jacob Frost (21-5), 4 Tagen Jamison (17-3)

Jamison’s Season: Jamison started the season 10-0 before running into No. 2 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) in the Cliff Keen finals. Jamison lost that match 5-2, but Mendez is the reigning national champ at the weight.

Jamison has been a bonus-point machine this year for the Pokes, with a dozen of his matches ending in bonus-point wins. He picked up a pair of top-10 wins against Nebraska’s Brock Hardy and Oklahoma’s Mosha Schwartz.

Aside from the Mendez loss, Jamison’s only other losses this season came consecutively on a tough trip to Iowa. He fell to Northern Iowa’s Cael Happel 4-1 in sudden-victory before falling to Iowa State’s Jacob Frost 4-1 in sudden-victory two days later.

Jamison’s Path in Tulsa: This 141-pound bracket is perhaps the most intriguing weight class of the weekend. The Big 12 has six wrestlers in the top 15 of this weight nationally.

Jamison’s tournament will start with a match against Air Force’s Carter Nogle. Jamison beat Nogle via technical fall at the start of January.

From there, Jamison would see either OU’s Schwartz or West Virginia’s Jordan Titus. Jamison beat Schwartz (who was No. 14 in the most recent Coaches’ Ranking) 8-3 in the Bedlam dual. Jamison beat Titus with a 14-4 major decision on Jan. 19.

Unbeaten Andrew Alirez is the on-paper semifinal for Jamison. Alirez won a national title at the weight in 2023 and took an Olympic redshirt last season.

Happel and Frost, two guys who beat Jamison in the regular season, on on the opposite side of the bracket. Jamison is 0-3 all-time against Happel, and the UNI wrestler ended Jamison’s season last year at the NCAA Championships.

“I’m super excited,” Jamison said. “Get to avenge a couple losses that I don’t think I should’ve lost to. I’m excited for that, see what I can go out there and do.”

149: Teague Travis

Seed (Automatic Qualifications): NR (4)
Season Record: 1-1 (157)
Bracket’s Top 4 Seeds: 1 Colin Realbuto (18-4), 2 Paniro Johnson (18-3), 3 Willie McDougald (16-4), 4 Gabe Willochell (16-9)

Travis’ Season: After qualifying for the NCAA Championships at 157 pounds last season, Travis returned to his starting spot at the beginning of this year but suffered an early season injury that looked like it would keep him out for the whole year. But then David Taylor unleashed a surprise on the field by inserting Travis down at 149 pounds for Big 12s.

He’s 1-1 this season with both of those matches coming at 157 pounds, beating Utah Valley’s Ryker Fullmer 5-1 before losing to Oregon State’s Ethan Stiles 7-4 in sudden-victory. Stiles has since also jumped down to 149 pounds and came in at No. 5 nationally in the most recent Coaches’ Ranking.

Travis’ Path in Tulsa: Travis will have to finish in the top four to earn an automatic bid the the NCAA Championships.

He’ll start his tournament against Cal Baptist’s Paul Kelly (16-6) and could see Bedlam rival Willie McDougald in the quarterfinals. McDougald beat Carter Young in tiebreakers at the Bedlam dual.

Paniro Johnson, the 2 seed, is also on Travis’ side of the bracket. Johnson beat Young 4-2 in the Cowboys’ dual against the Cyclones. Young actually beat top-seeded Colin Realbuto with a 14-4 major decision in Las Vegas.

157: Caleb Fish

Seed (Automatic Qualifications): 2 (6)
Season Record: 16-7
Bracket’s Top 4 Seeds: 1 Cody Chittum (14-3), 2 Caleb Fish (16-7), 3 Ryder Downey (20-3), 4 Cobe Siebrecht (9-7)

Fish’s Season: Fish came to Stillwater as a 165-pound transfer from Michigan State. He was set to redshirt this season, but he got an opportunity and has taken advantage of it.

Fish hopped down to 157 pounds for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational after Travis’ injury and battled to a third-place finish. Fish beat No. 12 Ed Scott 12-5 on Jan. 13, but his biggest win of the year was a 7-4 win in sudden-victory against No. 4 Ryder Downey.

Fish enters Big 12s having lost three of four, but those three losses have all been to ranked opponents.

Fish’s Path in Tulsa: Because of that big win against Downey in Cedar Falls, Fish earned the 2 seed in Tulsa. He was given a bye in the opening round and awaits the winner of Missouri’s James Conway (16-13) and Arizona State’s Michael Kilic (5-14). Fish beat Conway 5-1 on Feb. 2.

A win in that match would set up a rematch with Downey in the semis, assuming Downey’s matches go to plan.

Cody Chittum is the bracket’s top seed, earning that right because he beat Fish and Downey in duals. Chittum beat Fish 4-2 on Jan. 26 in Ames. The match had a bit of controversy to it, as Taylor threw a challenge brick for what he and much of the internet thought was a Fish takedown that wasn’t awarded. All that is to say, Fish is certainly in striking distance of a conference title this weekend.

165: Cameron Amine

Seed (Automatic Qualifications): 3 (7)
Season Record: 13-5
Bracket’s Top 4 Seeds: 1 Terrell Barraclough (18-1), 2 Peyton Hall (23-1), 3 Cameron Amine (13-5), 4 Drake Rhodes (19-3)

Amine’s Season: A transfer from Michigan, Amine has been a rock in the middle of the Cowboys’ lineup this season. He had a stretch this year where he wrestled nine straight ranked opponents and went 7-2.

Four of Amine’s five losses this year have come against guys who were in the top five of the most recent Coaches Ranking, and he might have a shot at avenging some of those Ls this weekend in Tulsa.

Health is a bit of a question surrounding Amine heading into the weekend. He wore a facemask with his headgear in the Iowa dual. Not long into his match against No. 2 Michael Caliendo, Amine suffered what looked to be a leg injury. After some injury time, though, Amine finished the bout.

Amine’s Path in Tulsa: Amine gets a bye in the opening round and awaits the winner of Air Force’s Logan Fowler (8-6) and Arizona State’s Nicco Ruiz (12-5). Ruiz is the one loss outside of the top five on Amine’s record this season. The two went to sudden-victory in a Nov. 24 dual, where Ruiz scored a match-winning takedown.

West Virginia’s Peyton Hall is Amine’s would-be semifinal. Amine and Hall have met twice this season, with Hall winning both times. The first was a 4-1 decision in sudden-victory. The second was a 5-1 decision. Hall came in at No. 4 nationally in the most recent Coaches’ Ranking.

Amine opened his season with a scrap against top-seeded Terrell Barraclough. A Penn State transfer, Barraclough won the bout in tiebreakers. He was No. 3 at the weight in the Coaches’ Ranking.

Amine wrestled tournament 4 seed Drake Rhodes in Las Vegas, with Amine winning that match 5-1.

174: Dean Hamiti Jr.

Seed (Automatic Qualifications): 1 (6)
Season Record: 19-0
Bracket’s Top 4 Seeds: 1 Dean Hamiti (19-0), 2 Keegan O’Toole (12-0), 3 Gaven Sax (11-3), 4 Jared Simma (19-10)

Hamiti’s Season: Dean Hamiti might be the Cowboys’ best shot at a national title this season, but we might know a lot more about that claim at the end of the weekend. Hamiti has been fantastic. He’s unbeaten with 14 of his 19 matches coming with bonus points.

He had a stretch in December where he wrestled three straight top-10 opponents. Hamiti beat No. 8 Lorenzo Norman 4-3 in the Cliff Keen final. He beat No. 6 Gaven Sax 4-0 in the Bedlam dual. Then Hamiti thrashed No. 4 Lennox Wolak with a 20-4 technical fall when Virginia Tech visited Stillwater.

Hamiti transferred to OSU from Wisconsin. This is his first season at 174, as he spent the past three at 165 for the Badgers.

Hamiti’s Path in Tulsa: Please let this bracket go chalk so the world can see Hamiti and Keegan O’Toole wrestle on Sunday night.

Hamiti earned the top seed with his catalog of bonus-point wins this season, but O’Toole, a two-time national champ, is on the other side of the bracket. O’Toole has missed much of this season with injury, including OSU’s dual against Missouri on Feb. 2.

Despite both spending the past three years at 165, Hamiti and O’Toole haven’t officially met in a college match. They did, however, wrestle at the 2022 NWCA All-Star Classic (an event that doesn’t count on official records), where O’Toole won 7-1. A lot of time has passed since then, though.

But they have to get there first.

Hamiti will start with Cal Baptist’s Carter Schmidt (15-10) in the opening round and either Air Force’s Jack Ganos (11-13) or Wyoming’s Riley Davis (13-11) after that. Hamiti hasn’t wrestled Schmidt, but he pinned Ganos in less than two minutes in January. Davis wasn’t in Wyoming’s lineup when those Cowboys wrestled Hamiti’s Cowboys in November.

The on-paper semifinal would be with Northern Iowa’s Jared Simma (19-10), who Hamiti beat 16-4 on a dual on Jan. 24.

184: Dustin Plott

Seed (Automatic Qualifications): 2 (7)
Season Record: 15-3
Bracket’s Top 4 Seeds: 1 Parker Keckeisen (20-0), 2 Dustin Plott (15-3), 3 Bennett Berge (21-4), 4 Evan Bockman (12-6)

Plott’s Season: Plott is in a prime position to become a four-time All-American for the Cowboys. Eleven of his 15 wins have come with bonus points — six tech falls, four major decisions and a pin.

The biggest thorn in his side of late has been Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen. Plott started the season 7-0 before Keckeisen beat him 8-3 in the finals of the Cliff Keen. Keckeisen beat Plott again in the Cowboys’ dual against Northern Iowa. In fact, five of the seven losses Plott has had in the past two seasons have come at Keckeisen’s hands — including an NCAA finals matchup last season.

Plott’s Path in Tulsa: Plott starts the tourney with a match against Cal Baptist’s David Berkovich (0-1). He’d meet either West Virginia’s Dennis Robin (13-10) or Utah Valley’s Caleb Uhlenhopp (9-8) in the second round. Plott teched Robin twice and Uhlenhopp once this season.

If things go according to seedings, Plott would match up with South Dakota State’s Bennett Berge (21-4) in the semis. Those two met in a dual last season, where Plott won 9-6 in sudden-victory.

Keckeisen would likely await Plott in the finals.

197: Luke Surber

Seed (Automatic Qualifications): 1 (4)
Season Record: 19-2
Bracket’s Top 4 Seeds: 1 Luke Surber (19-2), Joseph Novak (20-3), Wyatt Voelker (21-4), Zach Glazier (13-5)

Surber’s Season: Luke Surber battled through injury most of last season and didn’t look like himself, but he’s been dang good in his senior year.

He picked up the first fall of the David Taylor era when he flipped Utah Valley’s Kael Bennie on his back in the season-opening dual. Plott followed that performance up with a top-10 win against Oregon State’s Trey Munoz, and then he beat No. 16 Joseph Novak less than a week later.

Surber picked up a second top-1o win in mid-December when he beat No. 9 Andy Smith in sudden-victory. That also avenged one of Surber’s losses, as Smith got him 4-3 in Las Vegas. Then Surber picked up another top-10 win by beating No. 5 Stephen Little 5-4 on Feb. 8.

His only other loss this season came to Iowa’s Stephen Buchanan, the No. 1 197-pounder in the country.

Surber’s Path in Tulsa: Surber opens with North Dakota State’s Tayshaun Glover (6-13) in the first round. He’ll face either Utah Valley’s Kael Bennie (9-7) or Oklahoma’s Bradley Hill (7-10) next. As previously mentioned, Surber pinned Bennie to start the year. He beat Hill 8-2 in December.

South Dakota State’s Zach Glazier (13-5) is Surber’s on-paper semifinal matchup. Glazier wrestled at Iowa last season and beat Surber 4-1 in a dual, but again, Surber wasn’t 100%.

Wyoming’s Joseph Novak (20-3) is the bracket’s 2 seed. Surber beat Novak 7-4 in a November dual then beat him via injury default in the Cliff Keen third-place match. Northern Iowa’s Wyatt Voelker is the 3 seed. Surber beat him 4-3 in late January.

HWT: Wyatt Hendrickson

Seed (Automatic Qualifications): 1 (4)
Season Record: 18-0
Bracket’s Top 4 Seeds: 1 Wyatt Hendrickson (18-0), 2 Cohlton Schultz (19-3), 3 Lance Runyon (15-5), 4 Seth Nitzel (12-6)

Hendrickson’s Season: Air Force transfer Wyatt Hendrickson quickly became a fan favorite in Stillwater with his knack for pinning people and doing standing backflip shortly thereafter.

Only two of Hendrickson’s opponents this season have survived the full match, as he has seven pins and eight technical falls. He’s not wrestling cupcakes, either. Hendrickson is 10-0 in ranked matchups this season with four of those wins coming against top-10 foes.

Hendrickson’s Path in Tulsa: Hendrickson elected to not wrestle his former team when Air Force came to Stillwater for a dual on Jan. 3, but he has no choice in Tulsa, as Air Force’s Antonio Ramos (12-15) is his first-round matchup. Cowboy Konner Doucet beat Ramos 2-1 in that dual.

Hendrickson would likely meet Wyoming’s Sam Mitchell (21-7) in the quarterfinals. Mitchell wasn’t in Wyoming’s lineup when OSU wrestled the other Cowboys in November. Missouri’s Seth Nitzel (12-6), the 4 seed, is Hendrickson’s on-paper semi. Nitzel wasn’t in the Tigers lineup when they went to Stillwater in February.

The other side of the bracket features 2 seed Cohlton Schultz (19-3) and 3 seed Lance Runyon (15-5). Hendrickson beat Schultz 11-5 in a November dual and beat Runyon via a 19-4 tech in January.