Three Moves Oklahoma State Wrestling Has Made since AJ Ferrari’s Departure

This summer brought some of the biggest news in recent Oklahoma State wrestling history as NCAA Champion AJ Ferrari and the Oklahoma State wrestling program parted ways.

I thought it would be interesting to look at some of the moves that OSU has made since to adjust the lineup and fill some of the gaps.

1. Luke Surber to 197

This was the first big domino to fall on this. Surber had previously been a 197 but bulked up to heavyweight, won the starting job, and became a Big 12 finalist. He’s now returning to 197 to take over the spot vacated by Ferrari’s departure.

2. Recruiting/Signing Hayden Simpson

The second order after Surber’s move to 197 is Konner Doucet taking over the heavyweight spot. The third order from that is OSU needing to get another big body in the room. With Surber’s move to 197, Doucet was the only heavyweight on the roster. One awkward fall or other injury to Doucet, and OSU doesn’t have a heavyweight. So the late signing of Simpson was crucial to adding some much-needed depth at the weight.

3. Recruiting push for AJ Heeg and Possibly Christian Carroll

Ferrari had two younger brothers that were both highly touted recruits and expected to come to Oklahoma State. At that point, you really have to recruit to fill those impending gaps. One was a projected middleweight and one a similar size to AJ and a projected 184-197.

OSU already had a pretty loaded group of middleweight recruits over the last few years, but the upper weights still need some depth as mentioned above. Two recruits OSU has reportedly made a recent push for are AJ Heeg and Christian Carroll. Heeg was an OU commit up until last weekend. He decommitted from the Sooners and scheduled an official visit to Stillwater for the Texas Tech football game. There’s also been some buzz surrounding OSU and Christian Carroll, one of the top heavyweight recruits in the country for 2023. I can’t speak to any of those rumors, he’s currently committed to Penn but some are saying that OSU has a shot and could flip him late.

The way things broke out here weren’t exactly ideal for anyone involved, but OSU has made some clear moves to pick up the pieces and move on.