Oklahoma State’s last dual meet loss came back in November. 

Back on the season’s second weekend. Back when David Taylor was still figuring out what he had with this bunch of Cowboys. And back when several key Oklahoma State figures were still adapting to college wrestling. 

In a dual featuring eight matches that went down to the wire, Iowa claimed six individual wins and captured an 18-16 victory in the semifinals of the National Duals Invitational. 

“That tournament as a whole, we stepped in there with a young team and didn’t really know what this season was going to look like,” Taylor said. “We’ve really got one returning starter in the lineup and it looked very different, and there were guys getting tested for the very first time, and we had some guys walk away from that tournament not winning matches — and they’ve all rebounded well and we’ve continued to make progress and our team is definitely better. We’re holding ourselves to a different standard now than we did then.”

A true test of Oklahoma State’s progress arrives Sunday when the Cowboys get a rematch against the Hawkeyes in Stillwater. 

“It’s a good opportunity to wrestle this team again and see where we’ve made improvements,” Taylor said.  

Oklahoma State has reeled off 11 consecutive dual wins since the loss to the Hawkeyes — and the Cowboys have won at least eight matches in seven of those victories. Since that loss to Iowa, true freshmen Sergio Vega (141), Landon Robideau (157) and Dee Lockett (165) have climbed as high as #2 in the national rankings, and fellow freshmen Jax Forrest (133) and Cody Merrill (197) have surged into the top 10. 

With that, confidence has been growing in and around the Oklahoma State camp. 

“You just can’t be successful if you’re not confident,” Taylor said. “This is probably not the environment to be in if you don’t have confidence. We look at guys in recruiting who are confident and believe in their abilities. If you get an opportunity to go wrestle, let’s wrestle and showcase our skills. I think these guys’ confidence is contagious — it’s contagious across our team. And the messaging all year is: It doesn’t matter how old you are, you can still be the best. I think every week they’ve learned, they’ve adapted and they’ve started to hold themselves to a new standard that they didn’t in the beginning of the year, and that’s the beauty of a full season. This young group is a fun group and they’re still getting better. I think that’s the biggest and most exciting thing from a program standpoint — these guys are still getting better every week.” 

Back In The Lineup?

Oklahoma State has wrestled the majority of February without seventh-ranked 149-pounder Casey Swiderski and Zach Ryder, ranked #12 at 184 pounds. Swiderski last wrestled on Feb. 1 against Iowa State. Taylor previously confirmed Ryder suffered a “stinger” in the Northern Iowa dual on Jan. 30. 

There’s a possibility Oklahoma State sees the two key contributors back in the lineup on Sunday. 

“We’re working through all those things,” Taylor said. “I think it’s definitely possible we’ll see both those guys this weekend. We’ll just continue to see how this week goes.”

The Cowboys are slated to wrestle Iowa’s #14 Ryder Block at 149 pounds. At 184, it’s a toss-up between #2 Angelo Ferrari or Iowa’s Swiss Army Knife, Gabe Arnold. Ferrari has been sidelined with an injury since mid-January.

Arnold has won matches at three different weights this year — 174, 18,4 and 197. In Ferrari’s absence, Arnold is 4-2, with his only losses coming in overtime against #8 Dylan Fishback of Ohio State and Minnesota’s #4 Max McEnelly. 

Will The VT Series Continue?

Oklahoma State made the trip to Virginia Tech last week to complete the home-and-home agreement with the Hokies. Will the series continue next year and beyond?

“We’re definitely talking about it,” Taylor said. “Scheduling’s a challenging thing, and we’ve got a couple new teams that are rotating onto our schedule next year. That’s something we’re working through. They’re a really tough team and if we can continue to (wrestle) them, if we can work it out … it’s something we talked about this weekend and it’s something we’ve got to sit down and see how we can make it work.” 

Cormier Returning To Stillwater

Oklahoma State will have another prominent alum lead the Cowboys to the center stage in Gallagher-Iba Arena against the Hawkeyes. 

Former UFC champion Daniel Cormier, a 2001 NCAA finalist for Oklahoma State, will return to his old stomping grounds to lead the Cowboys out in the 60th edition of the OSU and Iowa rivalry. 

“Daniel Cormier’s walking out team out,” Oklahoma State coach David Taylor said. “We’re excited about that. Daniel’s obviously a legend here at Oklahoma State. Obviously, (he) has gone on to be legendary afterwards, and he understands what it’s like to come back and be a part of this. We’re excited. I’ve texted him about it a dozen different times. February 22. February 22. February 22, to make sure that he remembers that it's here. I know we’re excited, I think it’ll be a really cool thing, and we’re excited for him to walk us out.”