OSU Wrestling: Lockett Wins Battle of Unbeatens, Cowboys Steamroll Little Rock

PHOTOS

STILLWATER — Dee Lockett didn’t leave this Top 10 matchup until the final seconds.

Oklahoma State dismantled Little Rock 41-6 on Friday night in Gallagher-Iba Arena — the Cowboys first time in the 40s since beating Air Force 43-6 last season.

Although most of the matches were lopsided, the 165-pound match featured two unbeaten wrestlers in No. 2 Lockett and No. 5 Matty Bianchi.

Just last weekend, Lockett used a last-second takedown and nearfall points to earn a 6-4 win over No. 6 Ryder Downey, but Friday night the Cowboy got going early, scoring a takedown not long after the opening whistle and finishing the first period with two takedowns and a 6-1 lead. From there, the two just traded escape points in the second and third, and Lockett got his hand raised for the 12th straight time to start his college career, beating Bianchi 7-2.

“I think (the match against Downey) was a little bit of a wakeup call for him,” OSU coach David Taylor said. “I think you kinda just talk about this season, he’s a really good winner. He’s won his whole life. Matches have been a little closer than what they needed to be. In the last couple matches, getting a quicker start was effective for him.

“That kid’s good — hard to take down, hard to score on. It was good for him.”

Outside of a pair of backups dropping tight bouts, the Cowboys steamrolled the Trojans, scoring three falls and four technical falls. OSU scored 28 takedowns to Little Rock’s two. The Cowboys also put 26 back points on the board.

The “pinfetti” cannons couldn’t even keep up with the Pokes.

Cody Merrill secured a second-period fall against Liam Daniels but didn’t receive any teal confetti for the Cowboys’ N7 dual because two matches earlier, Alex Facundo earned a first-period fall against Bronson Baxter.

“I was like, ‘They didn’t reload this confetti,'” said a smiling Merrill. “I was a little bummed out for it, but it’s alright.”

OSU’s other fall came two matches before that, when stud freshman Landon Robideau pinned Marco Dalakishvili in the second period after Robideau had already built a 14-2 lead.

Kid is a bonus-point machine. #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/bZsuWskSin

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) February 7, 2026

We’ll have to wait a little longer to learn exactly what will happen at 133 pounds for the Cowboys. Ronnie Ramirez got the call Friday night instead of Jax Forrest. It was Ramirez’s fifth date, meaning if he wrestles again this season, he’ll burn his redshirt. Forrest, meanwhile, has wrestled four dates this season, meaning he can still wrestle once more and maintain his redshirt.

It was Ramirez’s first time to get to wrestle in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

“We have a lot of guys on our team and just giving guys opportunities to wrestle,” Taylor said. “Ronnie wanted to wrestle this week. He texted me last week like, ‘Hey, I wanna wrestle.’ Wanted the opportunity to wrestle here at home. Obviously, he’s a big part of that young group that we have, and it was really cool of him to want to wrestle. …

“We gotta keep figuring things out every week.”

Ramirez performed well in his outing, taking it to Dillon Campbell. Ramirez scored five takedowns and had four nearfall points all in the first period on his way to a 19-4 tech.

Troy Spratley, Sergio Vega and Konner Doucet joined Ramirez in the tech fall category on Friday.

Results

Post-Dual News Conferences

Up Next

Who: Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech
When: 1 p.m. Feb. 15
Where: Blacksburg, Virginia