Five Thoughts on Day 1 of the Big 12 Wrestling Championships

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TULSA — The Cowboys put six in the finals of the Big 12 Championships and have a solid lead on the field after Day 1.

Oklahoma State scored 137.5 team points on Saturday in the BOK Center. The next closest team is Northern Iowa with 120.5. From there, it’s a steeper drop to South Dakota State at 87.5.

Here are five thoughts on the opening day in Tulsa.

1. Have A Day, Tagen Jamison

Tagen Jamison’s day started with murmurs of a tournament disqualification — the Air Force wrestling account went as far as to tweet that Jamison had been disqualified before having to delete said tweet.

Jamison’s day ended with him beating 2023 national champ Andrew Alirez 13-6 in sudden-victory to clinch a spot in the Big 12 finals.

The details on the morning mishap are still a murky, with OSU coach David Taylor electing not to get into it. Rock Harrison reported that he was “informed that two wrestlers were not in line skin check with credentials at 7:45 (a.m.).” That would’ve been a cruddy way for a guy to get disqualified, but regardless, Jamison was able to wrestle.

That process delayed Jamison’s opening match, but he ended up beating Air Force’s Carter Nogle 16-4. Jamison looked even better in his second match, where he teched 5 seed Mosha Schwartz (OU) 20-3. When Jamison and Schwartz locked up in Norman in December, Jamison won with an 8-3 decision.

That brought up his match with Alirez, where Jamison was down 4-2 in the third period until he got a takedown with about a minute left. Alirez scored on a reversal, though, to retake the lead in the final 30 seconds before a late Jamison escape forced OT. Jamison won with a takedown and earned four nearfall swipes to get the win.

“Tagen is a tough kid, just really committed, has been right there knocking on the door,” Taylor said. “That was a good one for him. He was in (on a takedown) at the end of the first, he was in on another one, didn’t quite get it. Then he got a takedown, got himself in it. Those are the kind of matches that you gotta win to be a national champ. That’s good experience. …

“It’s just good to see him go put it together out there. He won in the semis of the conference tournament. We’re far from the end of the season. He’s gotta be ready, refocus for tomorrow. It’s not like this is the pinnacle, but it’s obviously validation that he’s doing some good stuff.”

TAGEN JAMISON KNOCKS OFF THE 2023 NATIONAL CHAMPION.#GoPokes pic.twitter.com/PRROAhnw7K

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) March 8, 2025

Jamison gets UNI’s Cael Happel in the final. Happel beat Jamison 4-1 in sudden-victory on Jan. 24.

2. The Hamiti-O’Toole Final Is Happening

The most high profile match this tournament could produce has been produced. Unbeaten Dean Hamiti Jr. will wrestle unbeaten, two-time national champ Keegan O’Toole in the 174-pound final on Sunday night.

Both got to the final with three bonus-point wins. Hamiti pinned Cal Baptist’s Carter Schmidt, beat Wyoming’s Riley Davis with a 20-5 tech fall then majored South Dakota State’s Cade DeVos 17-8. O’Toole got to the final with a major, a tech and a major.

The last time these two met on a wrestling mat was the 2022 NWCA All-Star Classic when both were 165-pounders. O’Toole won that match 7-1. They would’ve wrestled in a dual this season, but O’Toole suffered an injury that kept him out for much of the year.

But thank goodness, the world gets this match now.

“Good opportunity,” Taylor said. “You get an opportunity to go wrestle a national champ, a couple time national champ. Shoot, that’s pretty awesome. That’s what DJ’s been training for. He’s been training for the opportunities. It’ll be a great test for him. I know DJ’s excited. It’s gonna be a great match. That’s why we wrestle. We wrestle to wrestle great people. I’m excited to watch them wrestle.”

3. Hendrickson Is Slaughtering the Field

By himself, Wyatt Hendrickson has scored 21 team points, which is more than three entire teams at the event.

He has pinned his way to the finals, spending just 7:46 total in his three matches. OU’s Juan Mora made it out of the first period but was down 15-3 after the opening three minutes before he was pinned in the second.

Wyatt Pindrickson. Automatic.#GoPokes l @wyatt_hendrick pic.twitter.com/tcYowIsKi0

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) March 8, 2025

It’s just what Hendrickson does. Only twice this season has an opponent taken Hendrickson the full match distance, and he’ll get a chance to nullify one of those Sunday night. Hendrickson will battle Arizona State’s Cohlton Schultz, the 2 seed, in the final. The two wrestled on Nov. 24 in a dual in Stillwater, where Hendrickson won 11-5.

4. Returning Teague Travis Still Battling

Wrestling his first official matches since November, Teague Travis is still battling for a spot at nationals.

Travis began the year as OSU’s 157-pound starter, but he suffered an injury early in the year that appeared to be season-ending … that was until he was a surprise entrant in this tournament at 149 pounds.

Travis went 2-1 on Saturday, beating Paul Kelly (Cal Baptist) with a 19-4 tech fall before earning a 7-1 decision against 3 seed Willie McDougald (OU). Travis met 2 seed Paniro Johnson (Iowa State) in the semis and fell 7-3, sending the Cowboy to the consolations.

He’ll match up with South Dakota State’s Avery Allen on Sunday morning. If Travis wins that match, he goes from not wrestling for about four months to earning a spot in the NCAA Championships.

5. Cowboys Looking Strong in Team Race

This tournament used to turn into more of an OSU vs. the Big 12 All-Stars type of event, but credit to the field, they’ve caught up to the Cowboys over recent seasons. But OSU is looking to reclaim the league under Taylor.

OSU earned a share of the team title (with OU, gross) in 2021, and the Cowboys last outright win was in 2020. The Pokes will enter the final day with a 17-point lead on Northern Iowa, a team that appears to be the only squad with any shot of catching the Cowboys at this point.

OSU has six in the finals; UNI has four. Three finals matches feature a Cowboy vs. a Panther (141, 184 and 197). The Cowboys are down to nine wrestlers; UNI is down to nine as well after some nice consolation work from Cameron Amine.

The Cowboys got second at the event last season with 141.5 points. They’re up to 137.5 after the opening day this year.

David Taylor Recaps Day 1

Team Score