OSU Wrestling: Updates from NCAA Wrestling Championships

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The NCAA Wrestling Championships is underway inside the T-Mobile Center, as all 10 Oklahoma State wrestlers made the trip to KC.

All that’s left are the finals at 6 p.m. Saturday night, when Daton Fix and Dustin Plott will both compete for their first NCAA titles in rematches.

Below will be updates on how each OSU wrestler is doing in their bracket, a storyline to follow for each Cowboy, tournament-related content from PFB and team standings, which will be updated at the end of each session. PFB will update this as much as possible throughout the weekend.

125: No. 6 Troy Spratley

Storyline to Follow: As the 6 seed in his first NCAA tournament, Spratley is competing in probably the most wide-open bracket of the tourney. Spratley is in position to notch a few upsets and make an unexpected run as a redshirt freshman.

First Round: Spratley started the 2024 NCAA tournament for OSU (and first NCAA tournament match ever for himself) with a 6-0 decision over 27 seed Max Gallagher from Penn. After a scoreless first period, Spratley started the second period on top. He turned the position into four near-fall points and an eventual riding-time point after riding Gallagher the entire period. Spratley also had an escape in the third period.

During Spratley’s win, 5 seed Jore Volk of Wyoming, who beat Spratley in the Big 12 final, was upset by 28 seed Diego Sotelo from Harvard, 5-3. As Volk heads to the consolation bracket, Spratley will wrestle 11 seed Cooper Flynn of Virginia Tech in the second round.

Second Round: Spratley advanced to the quarterfinals in his first NCAA tournament as a redshirt freshman with an 8-1 decision over Flynn. The win set up a rematch with 3 seed Drake Ayala of Iowa in the semis. Ayala needed sudden victory to beat Spratley when the Hawkeyes visited Stillwater.

Quarterfinals: Just like the last time Spratley and Ayala met, it was a scoreless first period and neither wrestler scored a takedown in regulation as the match went to sudden victory, tied 1-1. Spratley fought off Ayala on his leg for a bit, but Ayala eventually scored the takedown to win the match 4-1 and advance to the semis. OSU’s corner threw the challenge brick, but Ayala’s takedown still stood after the review. Ayala advances as the highest seed in the semis as the 3 seed. Top-seeded Braeden Davis from Penn State was upset by 8 seed Richard Figueroa of Arizona State in the quarterfinals.

Spratley, as the 6 seed, would have also been the highest seed in the semis had he won. Instead, he’s still searching for one more win in the consolation bracket, where he’ll face South Dakota State’s Tanner Jordan, who he has split two matches with this season. A win against Jordan in Session VI would make Spratley an All-American.

Blood Rounds: Spratley was a win short of becoming an All-American as a redshirt freshman, losing to South Dakota State’s Tanner Jordan 9-3. Jordan nabbed All-America honors as the 23 seed. Spratley, meanwhile, finished his season 24-8 after going 3-2 in his first NCAA tournament.

133: No. 1 Daton Fix

Storyline to Follow: Fix is the Cowboys’ only top seed in his fifth and final NCAA tournament. He’s made the finals three times but has yet to claim an individual national title. Could this finally be Fix’s time?

First Round: Fix got OSU early bonus points with a 17-1 technical fall over 33 seed Dyson Dunham from VMI. He will get 16 seed Nic Bouzakis of Ohio State next.

Second Round: Fix eeked out a 5-4 decision over Bouzakis to advance to his fifth quarterfinal in his fifth try. Fix needed a late escape with 1:08 left in the third to get the win as the T-Mobile crowd boo’d wanting a stall against the top seed. Bouzakis got an escape then a takedown in the third period to tie the score before Fix’s escape.

Fix will look to make his fifth semifinal in as many tries against 8 seed Evan Frost of Iowa State, who he beat 8-5 in the Big 12 final.

Quarterfinals: Fix will at least be a five-time All-American in his fifth and final NCAA tournament, but not after some extra wrestling. Fix and Frost went to tiebreakers before Fix finally sealed the 2-1 decision. Fix had a 1-0 lead in the third period and was a second away from notching a riding-time point when Frost escaped to tie it up, 1-1. Neither wrestler scored in sudden victory, but not because of lack of attempts. Fix was aggressive, but Frost displayed outstanding defense to survive sudden victory. Fix escaped in three seconds in tiebreakers before Frost chose to start his 30 seconds in neutral but no one scored during that time.

Fix will wrestle 5 seed Dylan Ragusin of Michigan in the semis. Fix, a three-time finalist, lost in the semis last year to Cornell’s Vito Arujau, who made the other semifinal matchup as the 6 seed. Arujau will wrestle 2 seed Ryan Crookham of Lehigh, who has beaten him twice this season.

Semifinals: It was chaos, but Fix is going to the NCAA finals for the fourth time after a 3-2 decision in tiebreakers over Ragusin. Fix and Ragusin went to sudden victory tied 1-1 after both wrestlers failed to score a takedown, and that trend only continued. No one scored in sudden victory before a hectic tiebreakers. In a flurry of events, Ragusin was awarded a point for stalling and an escape to take a 3-2 lead. The OSU corner challenged the stalling, though, and after review, that call was overturned to make Ragusin’s lead 2-1. Fix then started on bottom and was eventually awarded a point for locked hands, but with nine seconds left, that call was reviewed and confirmed. With Fix securing the riding-time point, Ragusin elected to go neutral after the review but failed to score, giving Fix the win.

Despite being in the finals thanks to four wins, Fix hasn’t scored a takedown in his last two matches.

Fix will get a chance at revenge in the finals against Cornell’s Vito Arujau, who upset Fix in last year’s semifinals before claiming the national title.

Final: Fix lost to Arujau 5-3 in his fourth finals appearance. He dropped to 0-4 in the 133-pound final, while Arujau claimed back-to-back titles. The wrestlers bumped heads in the first 30 seconds of the match, causing a lot of stoppage time seal wounds. The prolonged period was also scoreless. Fix scored first thanks to a locked hands call after the OSU corner challenged that call. Fix then escaped to have a 2-0 lead going into the third period. Arujau scored the only takedown of the match in the third period before Fix escaped.

Fix finished his career as the only five-time All-American and five-time Big 12 champion in OSU history. He had a 123-7 career record.

141: No. 10 Tagen Jamison

Storyline to Follow: Jamison is appearing in his first NCAA tournament and potentially has a tough second-round matchup against Cael Happel of Northern Iowa that could be an early bump on his road to All-American status.

First Round: Jamison’s first NCAA tournament match was a 9-8 upset loss to 23 seed Danny Fongaro from Indiana, sending Jamison to the consolations early. Northern Iowa’s Cael Happel, who is the 7 seed and has had Jamison’s number this season, was also upset in the first round by 26 seed Vance Vombaur from Minnesota, 8-5 in sudden victory.

Jamison and Happel will meet in the consolation bracket as both look to rebound from upsets. Happel has beaten Jamison twice this season, including in the Big 12 semifinals less than two weeks ago.

Consolation First Round: Jamison lost to Happel for the third time this season, 4-2. That concluded Jamison’s redshirt-freshman season at 21-10 after going 0-2 in his first NCAA tournament. Jamison was the first Cowboy eliminated.

149: No. 20 Jordan Williams

Storyline to Follow: Williams made a run to the Big 12 final, but a shoulder injury in the semifinals ultimately cut that match short because of injury default. His health is a question mark for this weekend.

First Round: Williams looked healthy while upsetting 13 seed Caleb Rathjen of Iowa 12-5. He took a 5-4 lead in third with a takedown before Rathjen escaped to tie it up with 54 seconds left. Then Williams got the best of a scramble while fighting off Rathjen’s shot, ultimately getting Rathjen on his back to secure the upset.

Williams will wrestle 4 seed Caleb Henson of Virginia Tech in the second round.

Second Round: Williams dropped the match to Henson, 7-2. Williams was down only 4-2 looking for a takedown before Henson scored a takedown just before time expired to widen the margin.

Williams is still alive, though, to achieve All-American status. He will wrestle 19 seed Joseph Zargo of Wisconsin in his first consolation match.

Consolation Second Round: Williams put on a clinic in his first consolation match to stay alive with 21-4 tech fall over Zargo. He now needs to win two more to become an All-American, getting 11 seed Quinn Kinner from Rider next.

Consolation Third Round: Williams’ tournament and season ended with a 3-2 loss in tiebreakers to Kinner. Williams ended his redshirt-freshman season at 17-9.

157: No. 16 Teague Travis

Storyline to Follow: Travis’ first NCAA tournament will start with a rematch against three-time All-American Brock Mauller of Missouri, which could potentially set up a meeting with 1 seed Levi Haines of Penn State in the next round with a win. After a loss to Haines, Travis needs to battle through the consolation bracket to reach All-American honors.

First Round: Travis got his second win of the season over 17 seed Brock Mauller of Mizzou, who is a three-time All-American, with a 7-2 decision in his first-ever NCAA tournament match. Travis gets 1 seed Levi Haines of Penn State next.

Second Round: Travis couldn’t get past the top seed at 157, losing to Haines via 19-4 technical fall. He will drop to the consolation bracket to fight for All-American honors, starting with 18 seed Vinny Zerban of Northern Colorado. Despite sharing a conference, Travis and Zerban haven’t met this season.

Consolation Second Round: Travis lives on with a 5-0 decision over Zerban. Needing two more wins to become an All-American for the first time, Travis will wrestle 26 seed Johnny Lovett from Central Michigan next.

Consolation Third Round: Travis lost to Lovett 3-1 to close his tournament and finish his redshirt-sophomore season at 23-8.

165: No. 7 Izzak Olejnik

Storyline to Follow: Olejnik was probably under-seeded after getting third at Big 12s, but he should finish better than his seeding despite a challenging bracket.

First Round: Olejnik began his last NCAA tournament with a 5-0 decision over 26 seed Domonic Baker of Campbell. He’ll advance to wrestle 10 seed Cameron Amine of Michigan, who Olejnik beat 6-4 at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational early this season.

Second Round: Olejnik and Amine went to sudden victory tied 1-1 before Amine finally scored the first takedown of the match to win 4-1 and advance to the semifinals. The loss sent Olejnik to the consolation bracket, where he’ll first get a rematch with 25 seed Holden Heller of Pitt, who he’s beaten 5-2 this season.

Consolation Second Round: Olejnik finally scored the first takedown of the match and turned it into near-fall points with four seconds left to beat Heller 7-1 and advance in the consolation bracket to face 15 seed Brevin Cassella of Binghamton. Olejnik needs two more wins to reach All-American status in back-to-back seasons.

Consolation Third Round: Olejnik is still after his second All-American finish with a 7-2 decision over Cassella. Olejnik would achieve those All-American honors with a win against 5 seed Dean Hamiti of Wisconsin in Session IV.

Blood Rounds: Olejnik will be a two-time All-American after a 9-6 decision in sudden victory over Hamiti. He will wrestle 8 seed Antrell Taylor of Nebraska with a chance to move on in the consolation bracket or having to settle with wrestling for seventh place.

Consolation Quarterfinals: Olejnik continued his run through the consolation bracket with a 2-0 decision over Taylor.

The lowest Olejnik can place now is sixth, with third place still being a possibility. The match to decide that will be against Iowa’s Mike Caliendo, who beat Olejnik 7-2 in a dual earlier this season.

Consolation Semifinals: Olejnik will wrestle Stanford’s Hunter Garvin for fifth place after losing to Caliendo in a 9-8 decision. Olejnik scored a late takedown to tie it on the scoreboard, but riding time ultimately gave Caliendo the win.

Fifth-Place Match: Olejnik finished in fifth place with a 3-0 decision over Garvin thanks to a reversal in the second period and a riding-time point. The fifth-place finish and 6-2 tournament record capped Olejnik’s first and only season at OSU with a 30-7 season record.

174: No. 25 Brayden Thompson

Storyline to Follow: In his first NCAA tournament as a true freshman, Thompson was handed probably the most challenging road with three former national champions on his side of the bracket.

First Round: Thompson will go to the consolation bracket after a 4-3 loss to 8 seed Adam Kemp of Cal Poly. His consolation journey will start against 24 seed Andrew Sparks from Minnesota.

Consolation First Round: Sparks ended Thompson’s first NCAA tournament with an 11-4 major decision. Thompson concluded his true-freshman season at 12-11 after going 0-2 on Thursday.

184: No. 3 Dustin Plott

Storyline to Follow: Northern Iowa’s Parker Keckeisen is just on another level, but Plott could very will meet him for the third time this season in the 184-pound final.

First Round: Plott handled 30 seed Malachi Duvall of George Mason 17-2 as the clock saved Duvall from getting pinned in the second period while Plott got four near-fall points to reach the tech fall. Plott will wrestle 19 seed James Conway from Franklin & Marshall College in the second round.

Second Round: Plott halted OSU’s five-match losing streak in the session with a 17-3 major decision over Conway. The only flaw in Plott’s match was that he couldn’t get one more takedown to secure a tech fall and notch the Cowboys an extra half point.

Plott will wrestle 6 seed Bernie Truax from Penn State in the quarterfinals Friday morning.

Quarterfinals: Plott had his way with Truax in a 16-6 major decision to advance to the semis and guarantee All-American status for the third-straight season. The seeds stood true in the 184-pound bracket as Plott will wrestle 2 seed Isaiah Salazar of Minnesota in the semis while No. 1 Parker Keckeisen from Northern Iowa will wrestle 4 seed Trey Munoz of Oregon State on the other side.

Semifinals: Plott was a man on a mission, handling Salazar in an 11-2 major decision to advance to his first NCAA final in his first season at 184 pounds. He will meet Keckeisen for the third time this season in the finals. Keckeisen has won both matchups.

Final: Plott lost to Keckeisen for the third time this season in the finals. He finished as an NCAA runner-up after losing to Keckeisen via a 14-5 major decision.

197: No. 27 Luke Surber

Storyline to Follow: Surber has chances in front of him to pull off some upsets with his talent, but his season has been overall lackluster while battling injuries.

First Round: Surber lost to 6 seed Lou Deprez from Binghamton 6-0 to drop to the consolation bracket, where he’ll wrestle 11 seed Jaxon Smith of Maryland, who was upset by 23 seed Garrett Joles of Minnesota.

Consolation First Round: Surber’s tournament and season are over after a 4-2 loss to Smith. He was 13-9 in a season that was plagued with injuries.

285: No. 12 Konner Doucet

Storyline to Follow: Doucet is in every match he wrestles in but has been rather dormant offensively, scoring only two takedowns the entire Big 12 tournament. He could be dangerous, though, if he finds a rhythm offensively.

First Round: For the second time this season, Doucet beat 21 seed Dayton Pitzer of Pitt, this time with a 5-0 decision. After a scoreless first period, Doucet rode Pitzer the entire second period and notched three near-fall points toward the end of the period. Pitzer negated Doucet’s riding time, but Doucet did score a reversal near the end of the period to separate the margin.

Next, Doucet will wrestle 5 seed Nathan Taylor of Lehigh, who beat Doucet 4-3 earlier this season in a dual.

Second Round: Doucet dropped to the consolation bracket with a 6-1 loss Taylor. He will start consolation competition with 27 seed Josiah Hill of Little Rock.

Consolation Second Round: Doucet got an escape and riding-time point to beat Hill 2-0 and advance to wrestle 13 seed Yaraslau Slavikouski of Rutgers in the third round of the consolation bracket. The winner of that match has Big 12 champion Yonger Bastida of Iowa State waiting on him.

Consolation Third Round: In the very last match of Session III, Doucet lost to Slavikouski 6-1 after giving up a late takedown and near-fall points in the third period. The loss ended Doucet’s season at 21-11.

All-American Watch

Final Top 10

PFB Content

PHOTO GALLERY

Could Round 3 of Plott vs Keckeisen Be Different in NCAA Finals?

Five Thoughts on the Second Day of the NCAA Wrestling Championships

Day 2 Recap: Fix, Plott Make Finals, Olejnik Still Alive in Consolation

Best Photos From Session III

Day 1 Recap

Best Photos From Session I

Preview

Breaking Down and Predicting Each Cowboys’ Bracket at NCAA Championships

Five Thoughts on NCAA Wrestling Championships Brackets

What’s Similar in All of Daton Fix’s NCAA Championships Losses

Notebook: Preparing For Nationals, National Parity (Sort Of) and Jordan Williams Update