Two Deep? More Like Too Deep: David Taylor Brings the Most Depth He Has Had into Third Season as Cowboys’ Coach

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Tuesday’s this fall have normally meant Oklahoma State football updates its depth chart, but with those Cowboys on their bye week this week, let’s take a look at what a David Taylor two-deep might look like entering his third season.

Taylor’s first two teams have been excellent, producing a combined five national champions and 14 All-Americans. But in terms of depth, this is Taylor’s best roster to date, adding the No. 1 recruiting class to a team that returned all 10 starters from the group that finished second place at the NCAA Championships.

So, just what might an OSU wrestling two deep look like? Here’s what I came up with using weights listed on OSU’s official roster.

125:
Troy Spratley*
Ronnie Ramirez OR Rocklin Zinkin#

133:
Jax Forrest$
Jayden Raney# OR Ronnie Ramirez

141:
Jayden Raney# OR Jordyn Raney# OR Tagen Jamison

149:
Sergio Vega$
Jordyn Raney# OR Tagen Jamison

157:
Landon Robideau$
Cutter Sheets OR Kolter Burton

165:
Dee Lockett
Casey Swiderski* OR Kody Routledge

174:
Alex Facundo OR Lorenzo Norman

184:
Zack Ryder* OR Bennett Berge
Michael White#

197:
Cody Merrill*
Austin Johnson OR Michael White#

HWT:
Konner Doucet* OR Dreshaun Ross#

*= 2026 All-American
#= Top 10 incoming freshman
$= 2026 NCAA Champ

That depth will be on display on Nov. 1 in Gallagher-Iba Arena, as the Cowboys welcome Gardner Webb, Little Rock and SIU-Edwardsville to town for the OSU Invitational. That event will feature multiple Cowboys in each bracket, with Taylor saying Tuesday that he wants the whole team to wrestle in it.

A lot of the best matches in that tournament will be Cowboys vs. Cowboys, so we could see Alex Facundo vs. Lorenzo Norman, Raney vs. Raney vs. Jamison and more.

Those matches would be meaningful, but it doesn’t sound as if Taylor is going to set his NCAA Championships lineup based solely on a tournament at the beginning of November.

“It’s a full season,” Taylor said. “We tell our team pretty frequently, like, how lucky are we to have the depth in our room that we have, that our guys are very battle tested. For many of our guys, like, some of the toughest matches of the season are gonna happen in the room. But being in the room is one thing, being out in competition is another. Like, you’re gonna have a full season to earn your spot for the national tournament.”

That kind of depth is a luxury any coach would want to have, but it’s a necessity if the Cowboys are going to run down Penn State.

OSU’s last team national title came in 2006. OSU left that tournament with two national champs and six All-Americans. Well, 20 years later, three champions and eight All-Americans was good for second place to the Nittany Lions.

“It’s what it takes,” Taylor said. “Look across college athletics. I mean, there was a time 15 years ago you could win the team (title) with five guys contribute at the national tournament. We, as a team to win the nationals, need 10 guys contributing at a pretty high level at the national tournament, which requires more than 10 people. It takes more than that. It takes competition. Like, these guys need each other pushing themselves. You have to have that.”

Another interesting aspect in all of this is the five-for-five rule.

No longer are guys looking to maintain their redshirts by juggling how many matches they can wrestle. That could mean the Cowboys’ lineup is more fluid during the regular season as Taylor finds the right group for March.

“It’ll be evaluated week-to-week,” Taylor said. “When we get opportunities to get guys matches when they need matches, we’ll get them matches. It’s really hard to project out because you really don’t know what’s gonna happen. Things could change. You gotta be a little bit mobile, but I like mobility that we have now as coaches and our roster, so just to be mindful of that.

“Every week, you’ll probably ask me the same thing (about the lineup), and I’ll keep giving you the same answer of just week to week, we gotta put our best team out there, ultimately to have our best team at the national tournament.”