OSU Wrestling: Cowboy Freshmen Get Big Rankings Boost after National Duals Invitational

David Taylor’s true freshmen have been one of the major storylines of the opening two weeks of the college wrestling season, and that is now reflected in the rankings.

Three Oklahoma State true freshmen now rank second nationally at their respective weight classes after the National Duals Invitational. Here’s a look at where all the Cowboys stand in the rankings with some takeaways to follow:

Oklahoma State in the Rankings (Intermat/Flo)

125: Troy Spratley — 8/8
133: Richard Figueroa — 17/Ronnie Ramirez — 14
141: Sergio Vega — 2/2
149: Casey Swiderski — 13/10
157: Landon Robideau — 2/2
165: Dee Lockett — 2/2
174: Alex Facundo — 16/8
184: Zack Ryder — 9/9
197: Cody Merrill — 9/9
HWT: Konner Doucet — 8/8

Just a few weeks into their college careers, the trio of Sergio Vega, Landon Robideau and Dee Lockett are in the Top 2 of their respective weight classes, and it’s hard to argue those rankings.

Vega collected three Top 10 wins in Tulsa this past weekend, including a 13-2 major decision against reigning finalist Brock Hardy (Nebraska), who slid down to No. 3 in the weight class.

Robideau’s biggest win of the season is probably still his college debut W against Stanford’s Daniel Cardenas, who currently ranks fourth on Intermat and third on Flo, but Robideau also picked up an 8-2 win against NC State’s Jackson Arrington (11/10) in Tulsa.

Lockett was the highest-ranked prospect in Taylor’s first recruiting class, and he further proved his blue-chip status this weekend when he took out Iowa’s Mikey Caliendo, a national finalist last season, 7-3.

Elsewhere in the rankings, the outlets split the Cowboys’ 133-pound situation. Arizona State transfer Richard Figueroa got off to an 0-2 start as a Cowboy, dropping his season-opening bout to Stanford’s Tyler Knox (7/6) before dropping a bout against Cornell’s Tyler Ferrara (21/21) in Tulsa. Ronnie Ramriez, another true freshman, took over the spot for the final three duals of the weekend, picking up wins against NC State’s Zach Redding (24/15) and Nebraska’s Kael Lauridsen before taking national finalist Drake Ayala to sudden-victory.

Alex Facundo has the biggest rankings variance among Cowboys with Intermat putting him at No. 16 and Flo putting him at No. 8. The Penn State transfer went 1-3 in Tulsa but wrestled exclusively Top 5 guys. He closed the weekend with a 2-1 win against Nebraska’s Chris Minto (6/9). Facundo’s three losses this past weekend came against guys currently ranked No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4. He had only wrestled five college matches across the past two seasons as a Nittany Lion.

The Cowboys are back in dual action this weekend. OSU is on a road trip, first heading to Air Force for a dual at 8:30 p.m. Friday before taking on Arizona State at 2 p.m. Sunday in Tempe.