2019 Iowa vs Oklahoma State | NCAA Wrestling

How Will Iowa at Oklahoma State Affect NCAA Seeding?

How Will Iowa at Oklahoma State Affect NCAA Seeding?

How will Sunday's match between Oklahoma State and Iowa potentially affect the seeding at the NCAA tournament?

Feb 22, 2019 by Wrestling Nomad
How Will Iowa at Oklahoma State Affect NCAA Seeding?
The nation's most storied rivalry goes down in Stillwater this Sunday when Iowa travels to take on Oklahoma State. With 17 ranked wrestlers, the guys competing are the ones looking to be high seeds and place at this year's NCAA tournament in Pittsburgh.

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The nation's most storied rivalry goes down in Stillwater this Sunday when Iowa travels to take on Oklahoma State. With 17 ranked wrestlers, the guys competing are the ones looking to be high seeds and place at this year's NCAA tournament in Pittsburgh.

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As this is the last weekend of the regular season, it is the final opportunity for the 20 athletes in the dual to help or hurt their seed for the national tournament. Let's go weight-by-weight and examine the seeding implications for each match.

125 Pounds: Spencer Lee (Iowa) vs Nick Piccininni (Oklahoma State)

Undefeated Piccininni takes on one-loss Spencer Lee in a rematch of both last year's dual and the NCAA quarterfinals. The winner has the inside track to the two seed, and potentially the one depending on how Big Tens goes.

Right now, looking at the NCAA seeding rubric, Picc has more quality wins points and a higher RPI, plus will end up with a better win percentage whether he wins or loses. The Cowboy junior also has an easier road to win his conference than Spencer. So winning this, plus avenging his Midlands loss to Sebastian Rivera, would give Spencer the top seed in Pittsburgh.

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133 Pounds: Austin DeSanto (Iowa) vs Daton Fix (Oklahoma State)

This one also carries an inside track to the two seed in Pittsburgh. Both have wins over Nick Suriano, though DeSanto will likely have to see him again in the Big Ten semis. Fix has a common opponent win over Austin Gomez, who he's never lost to but will once again be a tough finals match as Fix tries to get his first Big 12 title.

If Fix wins and anyone but Micic wins at Big Tens, the Cowboy should be the one seed. If DeSanto wins, his seed will be dependent upon where he finishes at the conference tournament.


141 pounds: Max Murin (Iowa) vs Kaid Brock (Oklahoma State)

The loser of this match is in danger of falling below a 16 seed, or possibly even right there, which means you get the top seed in the second round. Murin is just 3-3 since Midlands and has missed two duals. Brock is 2-3 in his last five matches and slipping out of the Top-10. This one is probably more important for Murin given the makeup and number of qualifying spots in the Big 12.


149 Pounds: Pat Lugo (Iowa) vs Kaden Gfeller (Oklahoma State)

Gfeller just suffered the worst loss of his career, but he's still ranked #6 and should stay inside the "All-American seeds" with a win. Lugo can position himself to jump into the Top-10 and should be the third seed at the conference tournament, so this one would help both in terms of quality win points and the coaches rank.


157 Pounds: Kaleb Young (Iowa) vs Wyatt Sheets (Oklahoma State)

The Cowboys may also send out Jonce Blaylock, so they are really fighting for a qualifier at this weight for the second year in a row. A win for Young basically does nothing for him, but would be massive for whomever Oklahoma State sends out.


165 Pounds: Alex Marinelli (Iowa) vs Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State)

Alex Marinelli can stay on track for the 1 or 2 seed with a win. If he wins out, which would include either a win over or placing ahead of Vincenzo at Big Tens, he'll be the 1 at NCAAs. If rankings hold, he'll be the 2 seed behind Cenzo after getting second at Big Tens. No one really knows what to make of this match for Chandler as it may be his last time in the Orange and Black singlet.

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174 Pounds: Mitch Bowman (Iowa) vs Joe Smith (Oklahoma Sate)

This match will likely have no impact on Smith as it seems he will be dropping down to 165 for the postseason. For Bowman, who's on the outside looking in right now when it comes to NCAA qualifying, a win could make his job at the conference tournament easier by getting him in the coaches ranking and potentially adding an auto qualifier slot.


184 Pounds: Cash Wilcke (Iowa) vs Jacobe Smith (Oklahoma State)

Again, with Jacobe on the descent to 174, this match will have little to no impact on his seeding. For Wilcke, a win would probably mean more than a loss, given some of the guys Jacobe has beaten this season at 184. But a loss would only really hurt his win% which would have a minimal impact on where he ends up.


197 Pounds: Jacob Warner (Iowa) vs Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State)

This is Weigel's last opportunity to get a Top-10 win, because he'll probably miss out on most of the highly ranked Big 12 guys. He should get Miklus in the finals there, and then one of Orndorff, Hokit, or Woodley in the semis. But back to this match, Warner is #4 in the coaches rank, and since Weigel cannot by definition get an RPI, he's got to make that up with a good coaches rank, which can only come with wins over Warner and Miklus.

For Warner, a win or loss won't hurt him much. It honestly could help him get away from Bo Nickal and off of the top side, as the rankings already have him going third at Big Tens if he were to lose to Kollin Moore. But a win over Weigel doesn't mean much if he gets third at the conference tournament.


285 Pounds: Sam Stoll (Iowa) vs Derek White (Oklahoma State)

A loss could really hurt White, who right now is on track for the 2 or 3 seed. Stoll won't get RPI, so he's in a similar boat as Weigel where a big win is his main ticket to a higher seed based on climbing up the coaches ranking.

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