2019 Senior Nationals - US Olympic Trials Qualifier

5 Oklahoma State Storylines To Follow At Senior Nationals

The Oklahoma State Cowboys are well-represented in this weekend's Senior Nationals. Here are five storylines to track in Fort Worth.

Dec 18, 2019 by Seth Duckworth

5 Oklahoma State Storylines To Follow At Senior Nationals

This weekend in Fort Worth, Texas, some of the best freestyle wrestlers will compete at 2019 Senior Nationals with spots on the line for Olympic qualification. Oklahoma State is among the best-represented schools with former and associated wrestlers, so check out five storylines for the Cowboys this weekend.

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1. Can Derek White & Dean Heil Qualify for the Trials?

Once Dean Heil was out of college, most viewed him as a wrestler built for folkstyle. The two-time NCAA champ made his money as one of the best scramblers in the game, using a lot of funk that didn’t seem like it would translate to freestyle. Early in his senior-level career, he’s still managed to outdo a lot of expectations — most notably by winning the last-chance qualifier and making it to the World Team Trials tournament last season. It’s a tall task, and 65kg is an incredibly stacked weight here, but can Heil climb into the top five and keep his Olympic dreams alive?

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Derek White has spent the last few years as the “Bulk Job” of college wrestling, moving up from 197 to 285 after transferring from Nebraska to Oklahoma State. At Derek’s peak, he was around 250 pounds, but he has now made a descent back to 97kg. The guy can literally take down just about anyone; he even managed one against Kyle Snyder during his junior year at the NCAA tournament. There’s still some big-time competition here, but with who’s registered so far it looks like he should certainly have a shot to make the top five.

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2. Chandler Rogers Goes Greco

It doesn’t get much more fun than watching Chandler Rogers throw guys, am I right? He’s already qualified for the Olympic trials by virtue of his bronze medal at the Bill Farrell Memorial, but he’s still going to give it a go here. It will be intriguing to follow his progress and see how he’s continued to develop since being named Director of Operations at Air Force and moving out to train at the OTC a few months ago.

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3. Can Jordan Oliver & Alex Dieringer Win Titles?

Twitter debate started to stir when it was announced that Alex Dieringer and Jordan Oliver would be wrestling this weekend after already locking down spots at the Olympic trials by virtue of their wins at the Bill Farrell Memorial. I don’t necessarily feel that’s what either of these guys is going for; my guess is they just feel this is what’s best for them to build up for the trials and peak there.

All that taken into account, if you’re a wrestler in a deep weight like 65kg and can go take out a guy that could prevent you from making the team, you go win that tournament and take that spot. Oliver will have a chance to do that here. If he can beat Molinaro again and avenge his loss from last year’s U.S. Open to Yianni D., some will have him in the conversation as the favorite to win the trials. This weight is just incredibly deep, though, so every match for JO could be a test.

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With the preseeds released on Tuesday, Dieringer is the favorite on paper to win his new weight, but will have his only domestic loss in the last few years who’s not named Kyle Dake lined up opposite him with Zahid Valencia. It’s safe to expect Dieringer to win this running away, but it will probably be some of the stiffer competition he’s faced up at 86kg to this point.

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4. Shawn Streck

One fairly well-known secret in Oklahoma State circles is Shawn Streck. He was a round of 16 guy at the NCAA tournament a few years ago at Purdue and has been around the program for some time.

What exactly his status is at OSU? I really don’t know. If he can get enrolled and compete for the Cowboys next semester, it would be massive for them, but even if it’s not next semester, it’s safe to assume he’ll be a part of the program at some point. He’ll be competing for the Cowboy RTC this weekend.

Cowboy ? RTC athletes are US OPEN READY @ringing57 @Fast_eddie57kg @S_streck95 @dwhite285 @CowboyWrestling @chrisperry174 @zack_espo @JohnSmithOKST @coach_fix @USAWrestling pic.twitter.com/LHI57QdUBm
— Cowboy RTC (@CowboyRTC) December 13, 2019

This will be the first time since last season he’s wrestled in an official tournament. Fans will want to watch what Streck does closely because there’s a very high probability that he’ll be the heavyweight in Stillwater at some point.

5. Who Will Be in Daton Fix’s way?

With a lot of guys coming down from 61kg and a few college guys entering the fray, Daton Fix will be looking at a whole new group to contend with in trying to keep his spot as the U.S. rep at 57kg this year. This will be the first chance to see a number of those guys. The top five here will be who Daton has to deal with in April to make the Olympic team. Who will that ultimately be?

Seth Duckworth is a Stillwater-based writer who covers Oklahoma State University wrestling for Pistols Firing Blog, the best OSU news and community site on the internet. Follow Seth on Twitter.