James Hackney
With the 2024 season officially kicking off this week, it’s time to start looking at schedules. The Cowboys made a number of changes, and will be looking to bounce back in a big way after last year. The Cowboys made some changes to their schedule this year, and should make for an exciting season. I’ll be using InterMat’s Team Dual rankings for this one, where Oklahoma State is currently ranked #12.
Tournaments
- 12/01: Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
For the first time since the 2000 season, the Cowboys are headed back to Las Vegas for the Invitational. One of the best tournaments of the year, it includes teams like Arizona State, Cornell, Iowa State, Michigan, NC State, Virginia Tech, and more. Here’s the full list of teams because this list is crazy! Not every team may be sending their full lineup, but this is sure to give the Cowboys some tough tests early in the season.
Duals:
11/10: Bucknell (Home)
12/08: #24 Lehigh (Home)
Last year Oklahoma State kicked their season off by taking on Lehigh before driving to Bucknell for two road duals in a day. The Cowboys won 25-6 over Lehigh and 30-6 over Bucknell. This year both are at Gallagher-Iba with plenty of time in between. Bucknell has ranked wrestlers at 133, 141, 184, and 285, but OSU is favored in each one. 174 is another match to look out for, as we could see freshman vs freshman. Brayden Thompson of OSU was a top five recruit, and could see potentially underrated Noah Mulvaney for Bucknell.
Lehigh projects as winnable as well, but they’re favored at 141 and 197 with tossup matches at 125, 157, and 285. The rematch at 197 between Luke Surber and Michael Beard has fireworks written all over it as well, after a 10-7 match last season.
Bedlam – #13 Oklahoma
12/10 (Road)
02/18 (Home)
Bedlam is in question with OU leaving the Big 12 conference. This offseason saw OU bring in a new Head Coach in Roger Kish. Both teams have a number of new starters this season and what should be a new look dual. OU hasn’t won a Bedlam dual since the 2014 season, but with both teams going through changes could make things interesting…
