OSU Wrestling: Cowboys Beat Nebraska 22-12 in Lincoln

Sergio Vega’s rematch against national finalist Brock Hardy went even better for the Cowboy freshman than the first match did.

Oklahoma State beat Nebraska 22-12 on Sunday in Lincoln in a dual that came down to the wire, but the Cowboys found some early separation early when Vega pinned Hardy in the first period.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME 🔥🔥🔥 #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/cwjW84NpMP

— OSU Cowboy Wrestling (@CowboyWrestling) December 21, 2025

That result comes after Vega had already beaten Hardy via a 13-2 major decision at the National Duals Invitational last month. Vega is now 8-0 to start his college career with a quartet of top 10 wins.

It was a dual filled with solid matches, but the most notable outside of Vega’s rematch with Hardy was probably the 157-pound bout that saw No. 2 Landon Robideau (another OSU freshman) get a shot at No. 6 Antrell Taylor (the weight’s defending national champ).

Taylor won the bout in tiebreakers with neither guy scoring a takedown.

It’s the first loss of Robideau’s young career, but it’s also another sign that he is right there with the best in the country at his weight.

Casey Swiderski picked up a big win for his season and the Pokes’ hopes of another dual win at 149 pounds when the Iowa State transfer beat No. 5 Chance Lamer 7-2. Swiderski scored on a nice ankle pick in the second period and scored a second takedown late.

He was an All-American two seasons ago with the Cyclones but missed all of last season with an injury. He’s had sort of a mixed bag of results to start his Cowboy career, officially starting 0-4 (he won at the All-Star Classic, but that bout didn’t count on records) thanks to a tough seasn-opening match with Aden Valencia before the buzzsaw that was National Duals. He’s gone 6-1 since then, pulling his season record back up to 6-5 but trending in the right direction.

From a team standpoint, this dual was coming down to the wire.

OSU led 13-3 after Dee Lockett won at 165 pounds, but then the Cornhuskers started chipping away.

Christopher Minto got revenge against Alex Facundo after Facundo won this match at National Duals. That 174-pound win for the Huskers cut OSU’s lead down to 16-9.

Then it became 16-12 after No. 9 Silas Allred beat No. 10 Zack Ryder 4-2. Allred beat Ryder in sudden victory at National Duals.

It fell to Cody Merrill to stop the Cowboys’ bleeding, and that’s just what he did.

Merrill, ranked seventh, took on No. 12 Camden McDanel. Merrill beat McDanel in tiebreakers at National Duals, so there was a real chance for McDanel to flip this result and let the dual be decided at heavyweight.

It wasn’t super pretty, but Merrill toughed out a 2-1 win. He escaped early in the second before he rode nearly the entire third, winning it via a riding-time point.

Only a redshirt freshman, Merrill is now 7-1 with the lone loss coming 4-3 to Iowa’s Massoma Endede, who currently ranks third nationally at the weight.

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