Luke Surber to Wrestle at 197 Next Season

It’s been a wild past month for Oklahoma State wrestling as it was announced that NCAA champion AJ Ferrari is no longer with the program, and was subsequently charged with sexual battery.

That’s been a huge story across the sport of wrestling and across Oklahoma State. We explored a few possibilities of what Oklahoma State could do to fill the gap left at 197 with the exit of Ferrari a few weeks ago. Now it looks like we have some clarity on what the Cowboys lineup will look like moving forward.

I have confirmed that Luke Surber, the Cowboys starting heavyweight last season and Big 12 runner-up, will descend/return to 197 to fill the gap left from Ferrari’s departure. Surber competed his freshman year at 197, going 8-0 in the 2020-21 season before suffering an injury during a match with two-time All-American Stephen Buchanan resulting in his only loss of the season at the weight class.

Surber used the next summer to bulk up and take the starting heavyweight spot for the Cowboys and will now change directions and return to 197.

The second order of effects in Surber’s move to 197 means Konner Doucet, currently the only other heavyweight on the roster for OSU, will take over the starting job for the Cowboys at heavyweight. Doucet was a four-time State Champ at Comanche High School. He went 10-2 last year as the backup at the weight and 6-3 his first year competing for the Cowboys as a true freshman.