Hughes, Witcraft Both Set to Travel on Iowa Road Trip as OSU’s 133-Pound Battle Continues

STILLWATER — Cael Hughes’ first season as a contributor for the Cowboys has been filled with competition — both in duals and in practice.

A redshirt freshman, Hughes has battled with redshirt senior Reece Witcraft for Oklahoma State’s 133-pound spot. Both have wrestled in four of the Cowboys’ duals this season with Hughes wrestling the most recent two. Both guys have also battled through some injuries, which kept both out of the Pokes’ dual against Air Force.

Hughes is 8-0 this season. Witcraft is 9-2. That would lean advantage Hughes, but the redshirt freshman has wrestled just one ranked opponent on the season, when he pinned No. 7 Kai Orine of NC State.

IT’S A MADHOUSE IN GIA.#GoPokes l @_cael_hughes_ pic.twitter.com/UgaN3qSIxJ

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) January 14, 2025

Witcraft has wrestled five matches against ranked foes, where he is 4-1. His best win this season in terms of ranked opponents came against No. 18 Cleveland Belton of Oklahoma, a match Witcraft was down in before throwing Belton to his back and pinning him.

Absolute cinema.#GoPokes l @re_alwi pic.twitter.com/znwHDJr2vF

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) December 14, 2024

OSU coach David Taylor said Hughes and Witcraft will travel to Iowa this weekend, as the Cowboys wrestle No. 5 Northern Iowa at 7 p.m. Friday and No. 13 Iowa State at 4 p.m. Sunday. It’s a big opportunity for OSU at the weight, as UNI boasts the No. 20 wrestler in the country at the weight in Cory Land, and Iowa State has No. 5 Evan Frost. The rankings only feature one guy from each school. Last week, Intermat had Witcraft ranked at No. 15, but with Hughes wrestling the Cowboys’ most recent duals, he entered the most recent rankings, coming in at No. 19.

At some point, the Cowboys will have to pick a guy for the weight going into the Big 12 Tournament, but for the time being, Taylor is letting the process play out.

“I think we’re trying to balance both guys’ match counts, but at the same time, we just gotta pick our best guy getting ready for the national tournament and conference tournament,” Taylor said. “We have some time to make that decision. Both guys are working really hard. Both guys are doing a great job when they get the opportunity to go out and wrestle. We’ll just kind of see how that continues to play out.”

Hughes met with the media Wednesday and discussed the positives of having some internal competition.

“I think any opportunity to have a little competition, whether that’s in the room or out on the mat, is beneficial for everyone,” Hughes said. “At the end of the day, we’re both going to come out better wrestlers, better people from it. I don’t see it as a bad thing at all.”

Hughes was a decorated high school wrestler. He went 140-0 and became the state of Oklahoma’s 45th four-time state champion. Redshirting last season, Hughes went 12-1, winning the Lindenwood Open at 133 pounds with two pins, a decision win and a tech fall win. He wrestled at 141 for the rest of the year, earning a major decision victory in his dual debut against Wyoming’s Stockton O’Brien.

Witcraft’s career has been super interesting. Primarily serving as Daton Fix’s backup, Witcraft is a two-time NCAA qualifier. He first made NCAAs in 2020 when Fix was taking an Olympic redshirt. Witcraft bumped down to 125 pounds in midway through the 2022-23 season. Because of the weight switch, Witcraft entered the Big 12 Tournament unseeded at 125 before finishing third and qualifying for NCAAs.

At this point, Witcraft hasn’t wrestled in more than a month, with his last match being a major-decision win against Virginia Tech’s Dillon Campbell on Dec. 19.

Perhaps on top of the world after pinning Orine, Hughes said he might’ve overlooked West Virginia’s Tommy Maddox in Sunday’s dual. Maddox entered at just 1-5 this season before taking Hughes into sudden victory, where Hughes clutched up and scored a takedown to win. Hughes said he thought it was good to get into a scrap like that after the high of pinning Orine to help stay grounded.

“I think the ceiling is really, really high for me,” Hughes said. “I think I’ve proven that with some of the matches I’ve wrestled. I say this, I don’t know what to expect from myself, I guess. It’s kind of strange coming out of high school, haven’t lost a match. I kind of had to take that pressure off myself and realize, ‘Hey, I’m a good wrestler. I like doing this. I like working hard, training, but it’s not all I am.’ ….

“I feel like there’s a lot more of me left to be seen.”