Troy Spratley Discusses His Mindset Coming off Runner-Up Finish

STILLWATER — After entering the national tournament as the 7 seed last season, Troy Spratley was a point away from being a national champion.

Spratley is back for his redshirt junior season in Stillwater, which will be his third year as the Cowboys’ starter at 125 pounds.

“I just want to go out there and separate myself from the field,” Spratley said. “To be able to do that, you gotta be able to look to score points, and to do that, you gotta have a little bit behind the motor. You can’t just go out there and stand in front of a guy. You’re not gonna get the job done. So, I think that’s been the biggest thing for me is just, mentally not caring who it is in front of you.”

Although Spratley might not care who is in front of him, there’s a chance he gets a shot at the national final rematch fairly quickly. Spratley dropped his NCAA final to NC State’s Vince Robinson in tiebreakers. The Cowboys and Wolf Pack would meet in the second round of the National Duals Invitational should both teams win their first-round matchups.

Spratley was a redshirt sophomore last season, following up a redshirt freshman season that saw him finish a win shy of the podium. So, there’s only one more spot up Spratley can go, and he’s got the training partners to take that next step.

Richard Figueroa transferred to OSU this offseason. He won nationals at 125 pounds in 2024, Spratley’s freshman season, but Figueroa is expected to jump up to 133 pounds this season. Then on the Cowboy RTC side of things, Spratley has four-time national runner-up Daton Fix to train with, as well as two-time national champ Roman Bravo-Young. Oh, and then there’s Rin Sakamoto, who represented Japan at the World Championships in September. Sakamoto is also on the college team.

Spratley went on trips to Mongolia and Croatia this offseason to train with Bravo-Young as he prepped for events. Spratley said he got to watch how Bravo-Young process things and prepared for those high-level competitions.

“I wrestle the best guys in the world, so if I can sneak a takedown against those guys every once in a while, it’s like I know these guys (I’m training with) would go out there and smash the guys that I’m wrestling,” Spratley said. “So, why can’t I go out there and do the same thing to them? I’m wrestling with the best guys in the world every day. I think that’s just my mentality going into the season is going out there and dominating these guys.”

Spratley, who went 47-13 in his first two seasons, was one of the younger guys on OSU’s lineup the past two seasons. But now he might be the first active wrestler many will think of when they think OSU.

The only Cowboys who have wrestled more matches in the orange singlet than Spratley are Teague Travis, Carter Young and Konner Doucet. Those three are all entering at least their fifth year in Stillwater, though, while Spratley is entering his third.

“I’m a leader, but I think I’m more of a leader in the way that I work,” Spratley said. “I’m not gonna tell you to do something if I’m not gonna do it, so when I train, I train hard because I want everybody at every weight to want to go out there and do the same thing that I’m doing. And I would want it to be reciprocated. Like, if they’re going out there and they’re dominating guys and I’m not, then I’m doing something wrong. I expect that from those guys that when I’m working hard, they should be working hard. Same thing goes for me.”