No. 1 Cowboys Aim For National Dual Title Against No. 2 Penn State

The top-ranked and undefeated Oklahoma State wrestling team takes aim at the NWCA National Dual title this Sunday, as it hosts No. 2 Penn State in a battle of wrestling powerhouses. The dual is set for 3 p.m. inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.
 
Watch the Cowboys

As with all home duals, fans can catch Sunday's dual against Penn State live on FloWrestling for a subscription fee.

Fans can follow the action online through live results and play-by-play on www.trackwrestling.com. Simply go to the site and the link to live results and play-by-play will be prominently displayed..
About the Cowboys

Oklahoma State has proven itself one of the deepest lineups in the country thus far into the 2016-17 campaign. This much was to be expected heading into the season, as head coach John Smith returned 2016 NCAA Champion at 141 pounds Dean Heil, along with All-Americans Nolan Boyd, Anthony Collica and Joe Smith from an NCAA runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships in Madison Square Garden last spring. The Cowboys also return valuable experience in 2015 All-American Kyle Crutchmer, who has also been a major contributor in the Cowboy lineup as a senior after returning from an injury that cut short his junior season.

While the Cowboy roster certainly boasts its fair share of proven talent, the emergence of "young guns" Kaid Brock, Chandler Rogers, Preston Weigel and Nick Piccininni has been a welcome development for Smith and his staff. Meanwhile, senior heavyweight Austin Schafer has come on well in his final run as a Cowboy, knocking off five ranked opponents on his way to his current 18-1 mark this season.

The Cowboys posted a historic regular season campaign, undefeated at 14-0 for the first time since 2005 and the 46th time in school history. During the regular season, OSU turned in eight wins of 30 points or greater. The team enters this weekend looking to build off a pair of routs over Big 12 opponents Oklahoma and Wyoming last weekend in Stillwater.

Depth has been a major storyline for the Cowboys this season as the team broke tournament records for team points scored and margin of victory at the Southern Scuffle last month. The win followed up a team win at the Reno Tournament of Champions, despite no Cowboy starters making the trip to Reno.

Along with Smith, who is in his 26th season at the helm of the Oklahoma State wrestling program, the Cowboys are led by associate head coaches Eric Guerrero and Zack Esposito, along with volunteer assistant coach Chris Perry.

In the Polls

The Cowboys enter this weekend's tournament ranked No. 1 in the USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll and second in the Intermat Tournament Rankings.
Individually, Oklahoma State has all 10 starters ranked in each of the four major national polls. Returning NCAA Champion 141-pounder Dean Heil remains slotted at No. 1 in all four major polls. Aside from Heil,seven other Cowboys received top-eight rankings from Intermat, including Kaid Brock (133, No. 3), Anthony Collica (149, No. 2), Joe Smith (157, No. 6), Chandler Rogers (165, No. 8), Nolan Boyd (184, No. 4) and Preston Weigel (197, No. 8) and Austin Schafer (HWT, No. 6). At 125 pounds, Nick Piccininni is ranked No. 11, while senior Kyle Crutchmer is ranked ninth at 174.

Series Notes

?Sunday will mark the 22nd dual in the series between the Cowboys and the Nittany Lions.
?OSU is 13-7-1 in the previous meeting between the two programs, going all the way back to 1982, when the Cowboys came up victorious, 34-10, in University Park.
?Penn State won the last meeting between the two teams, taking the NWCA dual finals, 29-18, in 2016.
?The Cowboys hold the longest win streaks in the series, which span three duals from 1991-93 and 1995-2000. The Nittany Lions have yet to win consecutive duals in the series.
?John Smith is 7-4 against Penn State.

Last Time Out

The top-ranked Oklahoma State wrestling team dominated No. 17 Oklahoma, 37-3, Sunday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena to finish the regular season undefeated for the first time since 2005 and the 46th time in school history. The win also moved the Cowboys' record in the all-time Bedlam series to 139-27-10.

Turning in their eighth 30-point dual win this season, the Cowboys (14-0, 6-0 Big 12) also extended their home dual winning streak against Oklahoma to 21.
 
A third-period fall from Chandler Rogers was perhaps the highlight of the day for Oklahoma State, to go along with a major decision from Anthony Collica and technical falls from Kaid Brock, Joe Smith and Nolan Boyd.
 
Feb. 12, 2017  |  Gallagher-Iba Arena  |  Stillwater, Okla.  |  Attendance: 6,172
125: No. 11 Nick Piccininni (OSU) dec. Christian Moody (OU), 10-5
133: No. 3 Kaid Brock (OSU) TF Jacob Rubio (OU), 18-3 (7:00)
141: No. 1 Dean Heil (OSU) dec. Mike Longo (OU), 5-3
149: No. 3 Anthony Collica (OSU) MD No. 13 Davion Jeffries (OU), 12-3
157: No. 6 Joe Smith (OSU) TF Jared Schieber (OU), 18-1 (5:58)
165: No. 8 Chandler Rogers (OSU) fall No. 10 Yoanse Mejias (OU), 5:31
174: No. 9 Kyle Crutchmer (OSU) dec. Matt Reed (OU), 4-2
184: No. 6 Nolan Boyd (OSU) TF  DaWaylon Barnes (OU), 17-0 (5:12)
197: No. 8 Preston Weigel (OSU) dec. Brad Johnson (OU), 4-3
HWT: No. 19 Ross Larson (OU) MD Derek White (OSU), 8-0

1-2-3 Punch 

While the Cowboys' lineup is littered with elite talent from top to bottom, one would have a hard time finding a more devastating stretch for opponents in any lineup than the one-two-three punch packed by Kaid Brock (133), Dean Heil (141) and Anthony Collica (149).

This season, the Cowboy trio has combined for a 62-2 record with a 39-2 mark in duals and a 23-2 mark against ranked opponents. While Brock is in his first full collegiate season, Collica and Heil are highly decorated, combining for an NCAA championship (Heil), five Big 12 titles and three All-America honors. All three are ranked in the top three of their weight class by Intermat as well.

We're Going Streaking!

While Oklahoma State finds itself one of two remaining undefeated teams and on an 11-match win streak with 11 consecutive wins at Gallagher-Iba Arena, a handful of Cowboy grapplers are on hot streaks as well.

At 141 pounds, NCAA champion Dean Heil boasts the longest active win streak among Cowboy starters, having won 32-straight matches dating back to last season.

Heil has been impressive in his junior season, going 23-0 overall and 14-0 in dual matches. The junior has picked up four wins over top-10 opponents, the most recent being an 7-5 decision over eighth-ranked Bryce Meredith in the Cowboys' victory over Wyoming last week.

Welcome to the 100 Club

Cowboy seniors Nolan Boyd and Anthony Collica became the program's newest members of the 100-win club this season. Boyd notched his 100th win last month with an 18-2 technical fall over Martin Mueller of South Dakota State. With the win, Boyd moved to 100-33 for his career, becoming the 40th Cowboy in program history to reach the century mark. Boyd is now tied for 32nd on the program all-time wins list with a 106-33 record.

Collica picked up his 100th win last night against Edinboro in a 4-1 decision over No. 11 Patricio Lugo to become the 41st Cowboy to reach the century mark. With 103 wins, Collica is now tied for 36th on the all-time program wins list.

Boyd Will Be Boyd

Cowboy 184-pound senior Nolan Boyd has been on a tear of late, racking up eight-straight wins over the last month, including six bonus point wins in that stretch.

Boyd has posted five technical falls over his win streak to bring his season total to nine. The Cowboy senior owns seven tech falls over NCAA DI opponents, which ranks ninth in the country.

On the season, Boyd has racked up an 18-3 overall record with a 12-2 mark in dual action. Ranked fourth in the latest Intermat rankings, the Edmond, Okla., native's only losses this year have come at the hands of No. 1 Gabe Dean and No. 3 Sammy Brooks.

Can't Stop Schafer

After senior heavyweight Austin Schafer pinned South Dakota State's Alex Macki last month, head coach John Smith referred to him as "King Kong"

After making the move to heavyweight for his senior campaign despite competing at 197 pounds for the previous three years of his career, Schafer has proven himself in the new class. Schafer has racked up an 18-1 record with 12 bonus point wins thus far into his senior season. With a combined 0-9 mark against ranked foes during his first three seasons in Stillwater, the Cowboy heavyweight has also beaten five ranked opponents this year, with three of those wins coming in the top 10.

In an impressive win at the Southern Scuffle, Schafer made the OSU record books when he dropped 11th-ranked Jared Johnson of Chattanooga for a fall in only 18 seconds for the 17th-fastest pin in Cowboy wrestling history.