The Top 3 Potential Matchups in Oklahoma State’s Dual against Northern Iowa

The Cowboys are set to wrestle two duals in one weekend for the first time since November.

Two teams from Iowa are headed down to Stillwater this weekend. Oklahoma State’s Sunday dual against No. 3 Iowa State will garner more headlines, but the weekend starts with a blackout in Gallagher-Iba Arena on Friday night when the No. 13 Northern Iowa Panthers come to town. Here are the Top 3 potential matches of that dual.

3. 133: No. 12 Jax Forrest (OSU) vs. No. 25 Julian Farber (UNI)

Early enrollee Jax Forrest has a shot at a second ranked win this season should he stand across from Julian Farber.

Farber is a redshirt senior who has qualified for the NCAA Championships the past two seasons. He took third at Big 12s last year. He’s wrestled a pair of Cowboys this season already, as Farber took fourth at the Cougar Clash, beating Sam Smith but dropping his bout against tournament winner Ronnie Ramirez in the semis.

Forrest wrestled No. 26 Gage Walker in the Missouri dual and promptly teched the Tiger 16-1. Forrest is up to 6-0 since joining the Cowboys at the semester with five of those wins coming with bonus points.

2. 174: No. 7 Alex Facundo (OSU) vs. No. 12 Jared Simma (UNI)

I previewed this bout a bit on Wednesday when writing about Facundo seemingly only wrestling big matches.

This match was supposed to take place in the finals of the Cougar Clash, but Simma medically forfeited, saving the bout for Friday.

Simma is 10-4 on the year and enters this match having won four in a row — three of which came via major decision. Simma’s last highly ranked bout came on Jan. 3 against Nebraska’s Christopher Minto, where Simma fell 10-1. Facundo has wrestled Minto twice this season, beating him 2-1 at National Duals and losing 4-1 in their dual in Lincoln.

That loss to Minto is Facundo’s only loss in his last 10 bouts. He enters the weekend coming off back-to-back wins against Top 10 opponents, beating OU’s Carter Schubert 7-2 and Missouri’s Cam Steed 2-1.

1. 165: No. 2 Dee Lockett (OSU) vs. No. 6 Ryder Downey (UNI)

From a rankings perspective, this is by far the most intriguing potential match of Friday’s dual.

Downey is a two-time NCAA qualifier who took third at Big 12s last season and was a Big 12 champ in 2025. He entered the past two NCAA Championships seeded in the top six (at 157 pounds).

Downey is 14-2 this season with his losses coming to NC State’s Will Denny (currently ranked 13th) and North Carolina’s Bryce Hepner (currently ranked 14th). He has wins against No. 11 Nico Ruiz, No. 7 LJ Araujo and No. 8 Braeden Scoles.

Lockett is 9-0 in his freshman season. He’s also wrestled Denny and Araujo, beating Denny 7-2 at National Duals and Araujo 4-1 in sudden-victory.

Oklahoma State vs. Northern Iowa

When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Gallagher-Iba Arena
Watch: ESPN+