Top 10 Scariest Wrestlers in Oklahoma State History

I don’t believe there’s any guy that’s made it through the Oklahoma State wrestling room that I’d ever want to mess with, but with Halloween this week I thought I’d put together a list of a few of the “scariest” wrestlers in Oklahoma State history.

1. Kyle Crutchmer

Crutchmer, who is now 4-0 in his MMA career and making his Bellator debut next week, was a two-time All-American while wrestling for the Cowboys from 2012-17. He also notably called out Baker Mayfield and let the Twitter world know who would win in a fight when an OU fan account trolled him by saying he didn’t consider wrestling a sport.

You put me and baker mayfield in the same room. Who’s coming out??? The real athlete! #me https://t.co/klvrdGjw7g

— Kyle Crutchmer (@KyleCrutchmer) April 17, 2018

2. Randy Couture

Randy Couture wrestled at Oklahoma State from 1989 to 1992 following a six-year stint in the Army. Couture is an absolute legend and pioneer in MMA. He was both the UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion and is now in the UFC Hall of Fame. Last week he had a heart attack after a workout and WALKED HIMSELF TO THE HOSPITAL AFTER. Thankfully he’s fine and has been discharged from the hospital. He even walked himself home after being discharged. It doesn’t get much tougher than that.

3. Steve Mocco

Mocco transferred to Oklahoma State from Iowa and helped Oklahoma State win two NCAA team titles. My first year at Oklahoma State, Mocco was still on campus and had this mystique about him where people just knew he was not a guy to be messed with. He was intense to the say the least. He even went as far as to say his goal was to hurt people when he stepped out on the mat.

4. Don Frye

Don “the Predator” Frye was another former Cowboy that helped pioneer the sport of mixed martial arts. He was one of the early tournament winners and his Pride fight with Yoshihiro Takayama was one of the most legendary fights in MMA history.

5. Daniel Cormier

I was hesitant to even put Cormier on this list. He’s legitimately one of the nicest guys in sports and a lot of levels “scary” or “terrifying” aren’t words most would use to describe him. That is unless you’re across from him in a UFC cage. He’s one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time and is a first ballot UFC Hall of Famer. Because of that I just couldn’t keep him off the list.

6. Dick Hutton

After serving in the Army during WWII Hutton made his way to Oklahoma State. He was nearly the first four-time NCAA wrestling champion. A controversial loss in the finals of the NCAA tournament his junior year to Verne Gagne prevented that, but he still walked away from OSU with three NCAA heavyweight titles and made the 1948 Olympic team.

He then went on to a pro wrestling career where he eventually became the NWA World Heavyweight Champion. He had a routine challenge during his pro wrestling career where he would give audience members an opportunity to take him down for $1,000. No one was ever able to.

7. Jimmy Jackson

Jimmy Jackson was a three-time NCAA champion during his time at Oklahoma State from 1974-78 and one of the all-time great heavyweights at Oklahoma State. He was a massive human being. In the 1970s, heavyweight was unlimited and Jackson walked around at 6 foot 6 and 370 pounds. The amazing thing is that, with all his size, his agility and athleticism is what is most often raved about. A guy that big and that athletic would terrify just about anyone stepping on the mat with him.

In the Bedlam match his freshman year the brother of the guy he was wrestling, charged onto the mat and took a swing at Jackson. This started an all-out brawl in the gym resulting in the match having to be stopped and the gym cleared. Once they let everyone back in and resumed the match Jackson pinned his opponent and won the dual for OSU. Check out the full story here.

8. Johny Hendricks

I think I’d be remiss to leave any UFC champions off this list and though Hendricks is now retired and no longer in the sport, his heyday in the UFC was impressive. Any man that can do this to George St. Pierre’s face deserves to be on this list.

The last time Johny Hendricks and Georges St. Pierre shared a card together… ?#UFC217 pic.twitter.com/Prnr6fhS5B

— Wesley Riddle (@AllThatMMA) November 3, 2017

9. Jacobe Smith

Jacobe is another one of the “nice guys” I’ve encountered in covering wrestling, but I guarantee you he has most of MMA’s welterweights on edge as he works to start his new career. A lot of people in MMA see him as one of the more intriguing prospects out there and he’s yet to even fight his first fight.

I'm going to miss watching Jacobe Smith this year. pic.twitter.com/1F0DzqMi2r

— Seth Duckworth (@Seth_Duckworth) October 27, 2019

10. The 2020 Recruiting Class

So this isn’t one single wrestler, and this group isn’t even at OSU yet, but you can can mark it down that they have fans of other programs very nervous right now. We’ll have to wait and see what happens when they get to Stillwater but, on paper, they are a program-changing group that could get OSU back on top of the NCAA tournament podium in March.