OSU Wrestling: Five Thoughts on the Two-Win Weekend over South Dakota State and Stanford

Oklahoma State made a road trip up to South Dakota State on Friday before coming back to wrestle Stanford in Gallagher-Iba Arena on Super Bowl Sunday. The Cowboys came away with two pretty solid wins.

Here are my five thoughts on their performance this weekend.

1. The Big 12 is getting better

OSU is a bit down this year, but South Dakota State having a competitive dual with the Cowboys is not solely a byproduct of that. South Dakota State and a number of teams from the Big 12 are building and becoming prominent programs on the national scene. South Dakota State in particular has brand new facilities, a fan base and community that have really bought into the sport, and overall a lot of momentum in their program right now. That’s a positive thing for OSU.

2. Wyatt Sheets so close

Wyatt Sheets went to the wire with National Champion David Carr a few weeks ago at Iowa State and did the same again here with NCAA Champion Shane Griffith from Stanford. It went to OT but he was incredibly close to getting riding time in the third and upsetting the 3rd-ranked wrestler in the country. With Sheets’ current record, he’s probably not going into the NCAA tournament with a very high seed, but I don’t think he’s a draw that many wrestlers will want.

3. Carter Young’s streak stopped

Carter Young had a bit of an up-and-down start to the season but got on a roll a few weeks ago after a win vs. West Virginia. He won five-straight and grabbed a few ranked wins in the process. On Friday, he lost to South Dakota State’s Clay Carlson, ending his streak, but leaving fans with some sincere optimism about the possibilities for his future and the Big 12 and NCAA tournament’s this season.

4. Doucet back in the win column

Konner Doucet had a pretty good start to the season then hit a very tough stretch of his schedule in the past few weeks, including starting with Northern Iowa. He had lost four-straight including Friday night at South Dakota State but got one back on Sunday vs. Stanford. His match on Thursday at Bedlam could big in a rematch of the first Bedlam a few months ago that came down to the very last bout.

5. Super Bowl Sunday might not be the ideal day to schedule a dual

I’ll make the most obvious statement possible here: We probably shouldn’t have wrestling on Super Bowl Sunday. I understand that it’s tough to schedule duals and exceptions have to be made, but crowds are going to be weak and fan interest will be limited if you’re having duals on Super Bowl Sunday.