Wrestling Notebook: Sakamoto Qualifies for World Championships, Blue-Chip Recruit Back on Market, Cool John Smith Video

For it being the end of June, it was a fairly big weekend of news in the college wrestling world.

Here are a few stories from the weekend in the Oklahoma State wrestling ecosystem.

Rin Sakamoto Qualifies for Senior World Championships

Rising OSU redshirt freshman Rin Sakamoto earned the opportunity to wrestle for a World Championship this past weekend.

Sakamoto bested Kento Yumiya with a 10-0 tech fall at the Meiji Cup in Japan to earn the country’s 57 kg (about 126 pounds) spot in Zagreb. Sakamoto will also be Japan’s representative at the U20 World Championships.

Rin Sakamoto just earned the 57kg Senior World team spot for Japan. Rin will now represent Japan at both the u20 & the Senior World Championships! pic.twitter.com/kN85JJatob

— Cowboy RTC (@CowboyRTC) June 22, 2025

United World Wrestling called Sakamoto a “maverick” among Japanese wrestlers for his decision to travel to the United States for a collegiate career. So far, so good, it seems.

Sakamoto made his dual debut for the Cowboys in February as the Pokes took on Iowa in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. He lost to eventual national finalist Drake Ayala 11-1 at 133 pounds.

Sakamoto got to Stillwater in the fall but didn’t enroll at OSU until the spring, spending that first semester at the English Language and Intercultural Center at OSU while training at the Cowboy RTC. He then joined the college team in the spring semester, setting up his debut.

This past December, Sakamoto won the Emperor’s Cup All-Japan Championships, as well.

Bo Bassett Back on the Market

The biggest news in college wrestling this weekend was that Bo Bassett, a top recruit in the 2026 class, backed off his commitment to Iowa.

Bassett committed to the Hawkeyes in February out of a final four that also included Oklahoma State, Penn State and Virginia Tech. Bassett is the No. 1 wrestler in the 2026 class on Flo’s big board — a class where the Cowboys already have four of the top six committed.

This move also has some implications on the 2027 class. Melvin Miller (the top recruit in 2027 and Bassett’s teammate and adopted brother) updated his top schools from nine to eight, removing the Hawkeyes from consideration, as well.

Bassett finished third at the U20 U.S. Open at 65 kg (about 143 pounds). His only loss at the event came 5-2 to Lehigh’s Luke Stanich, who has been in a college room for two seasons now. Meanwhile, Bassett’s seven wins all came by either fall or tech fall.

Bassett then won the bracket at the U20 World Team Trails before falling to Stanich 2-1 in a best-of-three series.

Also entering the 65 kg bracket at the Senior World Team Trials, Bassett finished in the top six. He beat Penn State starter Beau Bartlett 1-0 at that event.

Bassett is high school teammates with OSU commit Jax Forrest at Bishop McCort in Pennsylvania. Given the Cowboys’ trajectory, it’d be hard to imagine the Cowboys wouldn’t at least kick the tires here, but Penn State shouldn’t be counted out either.

Awesome John Smith Video

OSU Wrestling shared an awesome video on social media this weekend of John Smith going through OSU’s wall of national champion portraits and educating guys on some of the greats from OSU’s past.

There’s a lot of fresh blood in the OSU wrestling room. Who better to pass down some of that history than the GOAT?

We want to thank Coach Smith for stopping in and educating us about the legends on the wall and some of the history of Oklahoma State wrestling! pic.twitter.com/yj9NklDMXy

— stillyboys (@stillyboys_) June 22, 2025