Five Thoughts on OSU Wrestling’s Losses to Northern Iowa and Iowa State

It was a tough weekend for Oklahoma State as the Cowboys dropped back-to-back duals with Northern Iowa and Iowa State in Stillwater. Here are my five thoughts on the Cowboys’ first back-to-back home losses in nearly three decades.

1. A Historically bad weekend

I know few fans walked out of either dual this weekend with their heads held high, and there was some reason for that. The last time OSU took consecutive home losses was 1993. That year, OSU was under an NCAA postseason ban and redshirted almost the entire roster. It’s unprecedented and certainly concerning for OSU to lose back-to-back home duals in Gallagher-Iba.

2. Ferrari wouldn’t have changed the result

OSU was without NCAA champion AJ Ferrari due to a car accident last week. Ferrari’s accident was almost certainly a distraction and concern for the team and coaches, but all else equal, his presence probably wouldn’t have flipped either dual in OSU’s favor. Ferrari would’ve likely flipped the individual 197-pound match vs. Iowa State in Oklahoma State’s favor and could’ve reasonably gotten some bonus vs. Northern Iowa. But even with a fall vs. Northern Iowa and win over Iowa State for Ferrari, OSU still would’ve lost both duals. The only change that could’ve occurred is with a major decision vs. Iowa State the dual would have ended in a tie. With a fall or tech fall it would’ve ended in an OSU win. The last time Ferrari wrestled against Iowa State’s Yonger Bastida, he beat him by a regular decision.

3. OSU has been awful on bottom

Concerns regarding OSU’s ability to get off bottom were evident in the 133 pound NCAA final last year when Daton Fix was ridden for a full period by Roman Bravo Young. There’s been a lot of that this year, even in wins for the Cowboys. Up and down the lineup, OSU has struggled to get out from the bottom against good riders. It’s an area they really need to see some improvement in. John Smith talks about it here and believes it’s an issue with “attitude.”

4. Kaden Gfeller has been a bright spot

At 149, Kaden Gfeller returned to the starting role this season and has looked better than expected. After a loss in the opening dual of the season with Stanford, Gfeller has won 10 straight including two wins over ranked opponents this weekend. He’s starting to position himself in a spot to potentially be the No. 1 seed at the Big 12 tournament with a real chance to make some noise in March.

5. Should John Smith’s seat be warm?

I saw this question raised on Twitter and thought I’d address it. No, John Smith’s seat shouldn’t be warm. If you think John should be getting fired, you really don’t understand the landscape of wrestling.

That said, this was bad, and OSU hasn’t looked great. So there does need to be some evaluation and adjustments made here, because they did just lose two duals that they really shouldn’t have.