The Rise of Penn State and Ohio State Wrestling and How OSU Can Combat It

The Cowboys didn’t win the NCAA tournament this past weekend, and that wasn’t really a shock. OSU redshirted a lot of firepower this year and tOSU and PSU had a strong lineup that would be difficult for anyone to compete with. But the Cowboys still under-performed and didn’t have the tournament you’d like to see. As that happens it’s pretty common for fans to wonder what has these other programs on the rise and OSU a bit behind. Even with the 12-year title drought and the poor performance last weekend OSU hasn’t really been that far off.

Two years ago, OSU finished second losing by 25.5 points. Kaid Brock got hurt mid-season and Eddie Klimara had a rough tournament leaving no scoring to the Cowboys at 25-33, which very possibly could’ve made the difference in a title win. Three years before that the Cowboys were literally one match away from winning the whole thing and in a couple seasons some poorly timed injuries with heavyweight Alan Gelogaev dropped the Cowboys out of contention at times where they really had a chance to win and throughout most of the season were ranked first.

Yesterday, I said I’d elaborate on some factors that are playing a role in the rise of PSU and tOSU, so let’s dive in.

PSU and tOSU have built some big-time programs and there are a lot of things working for them that OSU simply doesn’t have right now. We’ve touched on a few topics in the college wrestling arms race. We started with facilities, then talked money, attendance, and regional training centers. I’ve been putting that together to try and paint a picture for the casual fan that partly explains why OSU could be in a bit better place right now.

OSU is behind Penn State, Ohio State, and Iowa in every one of those departments, and far behind them in some of them. When you consider the expectations of the program, which is frequent NCAA titles, they really just aren’t realistic on a lot of levels when you don’t have the resources to compete comparative to those programs.

Some of it you could make the argument the staff and administration could be more proactive with. When I did the facility write up a few months ago a guy contacted me and said he had no idea this was a thing and facilities were even an issue. That’s not good. Fans that can contribute, even if it’s just a small amount should be aware of this type of thing, so the marketing on it should maybe be a bit better.

I will say that I know the OSU Foundation. Quite often there is more going on behind the scenes with donors than you realize, so there’s always a chance there is something out there. But, as a whole, you’d like to see more visible fundraising efforts here. Similar could be said with the Regional Training Centers. I have spoke with Derek Fix on the Cowboy RTC and will be doing an interview with him soon to get some more info there. We’ve just been waiting until after the NCAAs to conduct it, but I do think he’s big time and will have that going in short order. But he will still need support.

Attendance and just general funds for wrestling is an issue. To an extent, more people simply have to show up and contribute. One big issue here though is the fall of the Big 12. I previously wrote that OSU needs OU to get back on their feet knowing that I’d get ripped for it, but this is why. You need people in the stands to out recruit the Big Ten, you need competitive wrestling throughout the season to build toward the NCAA Tournament, you need more ticket revenues, etc… and the easiest way to get that is good wrestling with big rivalries. It’s not a coincidence that four of the top five teams at the NCAA Tournament were out of the Big Ten.

The other factor I haven’t really wrote on yet is geography. Pennsylvania and Ohio are bigger wrestling hotbeds than Oklahoma currently. I could elaborate more on specifics of it, but they just are. There’s a larger pool of kids, there is typically higher end talent in those areas, etc… and that’s a big advantage for them.

I would argue that OSU has been very proactive in combating this with wrestling clubs and academies in-state and with other efforts. Former Cowboy Hardell Moore runs the Oklahoma Wrestling Academy and it has been great for OSU and John Smith recognized that, giving him the Gallagher Award in 2016.

Derek Fix has done a tremendous job with his son Daton and a number of local kids in his area. OSU staff and wrestlers have worked to develop Stillwater kids producing Kaid Brock, Joe Smith, Chris Perry, etc… That’s been a huge boost. I think this is something OSU saw as a need and have been very proactive with, and it’s meant a lot in keeping OSU in the hunt. John is also teaching a class in an effort to develop coaches that may stay in state, so they’re doing a lot in this department.

Ultimately, with all of this John definitely isn’t being “out-coached” by Cael Sanderson at PSU, and I don’t think he is with Tom Ryan at tOSU or Tom Brands at Iowa, or really very many others for that matter. He’s being out-recruited and a big reason for it is the resources these other programs have.

Preston Weigel was a recruit that no one talked about and if healthy he definitely could’ve won an NCAA title last weekend. Nolan Boyd was a multiple time All-American and only received an offer of a book stipend from OSU. Eli Hale won a D-II title two weeks ago, which is a tough thing to do, and was a kid most D-I schools would’ve killed to have on their roster this year> But he was hardly talked about out of high school.

All of those guys were coached and developed in the OSU room when very few expected much out of them. You’re not seeing that kind of development PSU kids. You’re seeing blue chips come in and win like they’re supposed to and average recruits be average. PSU has been downright awful at 125 and 133 the past few years when they didn’t have a blue chip recruit. You don’t see that in the OSU line up. We’re 2-3 All Americans deep at some weights.

So if you’re upset that OSU hasn’t won a title in a while, that’s basically why. It’s not that Smith isn’t coaching these guys up or that Sanderson is doing better coaching his. He’s just killing OSU in recruiting. Oklahoma State could use better facilities, better crowds, and more money, along with better local wrestling to compete.

OSU is doing a good job in pushing local wrestling and recent staff changes have produced better national recruiting, so hopefully it continues to trend in the direction we’ve seen recently.

Ultimately, what they’re needing is for the most part financial and it pales in comparison to other projects hat have happened recently on campus. They get a $10 million donation and they’re quickly back in the NCAA title drivers seat. An extra 1,000 fans start attending wrestling and they’re at least somewhere within striking distance of other programs in that department, but all of those factors are part of the reason the Cowboys aren’t winning NCAA titles even though they’ve still been on the edge a few times.