Wrestling Notebook: Taylor Discusses Sakamoto, Penn State and How Big Bonus Points Will Be in Tulsa

STILLWATER — David Taylor will lead his first college team into the Big 12 Championships this weekend.

The Big 12 Championships are Saturday and Sunday at the BOK Center in Tulsa. Oklahoma State finished the dual season 13-1 in Taylor’s first year at the helm. He met with the media Wednesday to give updates on how things are going heading into the conference tournament. Here are three things that stood out.

Taylor Discusses Rin Sakamoto

This was the first time Taylor had met with the media since the Cowboys’ dual against Iowa, where Japanese freshman Rin Sakamoto made his surprise debut.

It was about the toughest spot imaginable for Sakamoto to debut in, wrestling a reigning national runner-up in front of 14,847 screaming Iowans. The bout was competitive, but Sakamoto gave up a late takedown that secured an 11-1 major decision for Drake Ayala.

“That’s like the hardest first match in the history of wrestling, and I think he did pretty dang good,” Taylor said. “He’s got a lot of things that he’s working through, so it was good to see that. …

“He’s a tough kid. He went out and wrestled the No. 1 guy in the country, and he scrapped. I don’t know that the score really reflected — I think it was a pretty competitive match. He’s hungry to get better, pretty tough competitor.”

Sakamoto joined the team at the semester. In December, he won the Emperor’s Cup All-Japan Championships at 57kg, a senior-level national title.

“He’s arguably Japan’s one of their best guys at 57 kilos,” Taylor said. “He’s wrestling at the Asian Championships. Japan’s not sending guys to the Asian Championships that they don’t think are gonna be pretty competitive. He’s just a tough kid, tough competitor. He’s working through the transition to folkstyle. Freestyle is his background, but there’s a lot of things he’s got in his skillset that can make him pretty tough.”

Getting Penn State on the Schedule?

The Cowboys haven’t wrestled national power Penn State in a dual since 2017, but it sounds like Taylor, a Penn State alum, wouldn’t mind changing that.

Taylor was asked on Wednesday if there is any chance the Nittany Lions get back on OSU’s schedule.

“That would be awesome,” Taylor said. “Yeah, it’s something that could be in the works. I would love to get that dual on the schedule. I think it would be great for wrestling.”

The “could be in the works” line is definitely eyebrow raising. This could be comparing apples and oranges, but back in January, Taylor expressed interest in bringing the National Duals back to relevancy. Not long after, it was announced they’d take place in Tulsa starting next year.

OSU is 13-8-1 against Penn State all-time, but the Nittany Lions have won three of the past four meetings. The Nittany Lions have also won 11 team national championships since 2011.

Bonus Points Imperative in Tournaments

In his first year as the Cowboys’ coach, there might not be a phrase Taylor has said more than “score as many points as possible,” so it should come as no surprise that’s what the Cowboys’ goal is this weekend.

OSU hasn’t won a Big 12 title since 2021 and hasn’t outright took home the crown since 2020. The Cowboys will be the favorites headed to Tulsa, but teams like Northern Iowa will be in the mix, as well. It very well could come down to bonus points in the BOK Center, an area the Cowboys have been working on all season.

“In a conference tournament, there’s just not a lot of separation,” Taylor said. “There’s not enough matches to separate yourself really. Really, everybody’s in it. The difference between champion and third place is really not that much. Couple bonus points here or there could make a big difference. You could get third and score more points than the guy who wins the tournament and gets all decisions.

“I think our team can score bonus points and has done that this year. All of that is practice and preparation for what’s upcoming. I think there’s a selfless component to, ‘Hey, I’m winning by seven. I could chill out or I could get the major decision.’ I think our guys are programmed and excited to go do that. There’s something a little bigger than just yourself. The best thing you can do for yourself and for the team is go score and keep scoring. That’s what we’re gonna go do. That’s where we find our comfort. We gotta put that to the test. We’ll put that to the test. We got some guys that can score some points. Looking forward to them going out and doing that.”