James Hackney
The Cowboys stayed at home and got a solid win over a tough Lehigh team. Both teams were short handed, with Oklahoma State missing #3 Daton Fix and #12 Luke Surber. The team got bonus points at 141, 165, and 184. Jordan Williams and Brayden Thompson both got their first dual wins of the season. Teague Travis made the move to 157lbs and got a ranked win, potentially separating from Manibog and Harper. Overall a good win with some takeaways here.
- Young wrestlers got wins, but would’ve liked more separation.
Spratley, Jamison, Williams, and Thompson all got wins tonight which is always good. At the same time, outside of Jamison, it felt like each should/could have separated more. Jamison was supposed to have a match with #11 Malyke Hines, but Hines apparently failed a skin check at weigh ins. Ethan Smith wrestled in his place, and Smith is a redshirting 125lber who is on the smaller side at his weight. Jamison did what he needed to, but it’s hard to take much away aside from that.
Spratley took on another true freshman in Stanich, and it was a tight match. Stanich looks good, and with his record would likely be a potential ranked wrestler or on the bubble. Spratley’s struggled to find his offense as frequently as he did to start the season, but has been getting wins. He showed really solid defense in this match, which was a positive.
Williams and Thompson both had matches with a separated score, but it felt like there could be more against unranked wrestlers. Most of Williams’ points came from the first period with some wild scrambles, while Thompson scored a late counter against Thomas to push the score up. None of these results are bad by any means, but with some of the struggles by the young wrestlers this season is something to keep an eye on. If they can start to separate more against unranked wrestlers, look out for upsets when they start seeing conference opponents.
