Few schools in college wrestling possess as much 133-pound depth as Oklahoma State. 

Three Cowboys have been ranked inside the top 15 nationally at one point this season at 133. There’s true Jax Forrest, a U23 World champion, who’s risen to #10 in the rankings after joining the team in January. There’s 2024 NCAA champion Richard Figueroa, who began the season as the Oklahoma State starter. And there’s two-time California state high school champion Ronnie Ramirez, another true freshman. 

Eventually, Oklahoma State coach David Taylor will have to choose a starter for the postseason. But until then…

“You just gotta give guys a chance to wrestle,” Taylor said. “What are the pros and cons to having two good guys wrestling? One, we know who we’re going to wrestle, and opponents don’t know who we’re going to wrestle. I think there’s some good stuff to that. It’s a long season. There’s a lot of things that we’ve got to balance and we’re always trying to balance more than what’s going on in this moment. In the dual meet, there’s always a bigger picture that we’ve got to keep in mind.”

Taylor said Ramirez and Forrest will travel this weekend to Virginia Tech, where one Cowboy will take on another ascending freshman — sixth-ranked Hokie Aaron Seidel. 

If Forrest gets the start for Oklahoma State, it’ll set up a rematch of last year’s epic Pennsylvania state title bout where Forrest fended off Seidel’s bid to tie the match in the closing seconds before tacking on a last-second takedown for a 7-1 win. The victory stopped Seidel’s shot at becoming a four-time PIAA state champion. 

Almost a year later, Seidel is 12-0 with a 100-percent bonus-point rate this season. 

“(Seidel) has been really good, he’s wrestled all the elite guys his whole life,” Taylor said. “He’s a tough wrestler. Both of our guys are looking forward to the opportunity to wrestle him. You gotta beat good guys to win dual meets, you gotta beat good guys to be a national champion.”

Dopps Embracing Opportunity

Trevor Dopps went nearly his entire career at Oklahoma State without wrestling in a dual for the Cowobys. 

Then — in one of the biggest dual meets of the year to date for the Pokes — Dopps got the starting nod against Iowa State.  

A week later, on Senior Day in Gallagher-Iba Arena, he wrestled in his second straight home dual. Though, the result didn’t go his way in either dual, as Dopps dropped both matches by decision, Taylor lauded Dopps’ willingness seek mat time in his final year with the Cowboys. 

“He just wants to wrestle, and we appreciate that,” Taylor said. “Trevor’s been here for a long time. What I like about Trevor is we started this year at 197, and he kind of asked, ‘Hey, where do I have my best chance to go get some matches this year?’ I said, ‘Team needs you probably at 184.’ He made the sacrifice to cut down every week, available and ready to go. Really appreciate those guys and really appreciate Trevor. He’s wrestled twice, fought really hard both times, and this weekend’s another opportunity for him to go out and wrestle.”

Dopps went 5-1 en route to a third-place finish at 197 pounds in the Cougar Clash earlier this season. He will get another chance to get his first dual meet victory on Sunday against #7 Virginia Tech’s #28 Jaden Bullock.

“It’s been an honor,” Dopps said of wrestling in his first two dual meets. “I’m just excited to get out there and wrestle. First two duals were a little rough. But it’s not about how many times you get knocked down, it’s about how manty times you get back up. I’m excited to open up a little more and go have fun.