After a hectic first semester of college wrestling followed by an epic Senior Nationals, collegiate wrestling has returned with the 2020 edition of the Southern Scuffle, one of the toughest in-season wrestling tournaments of the year out of Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

Here are six things to watch for fans of the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

1. How do the Cowboys & Iowa State stack up?

For the first time in years, Oklahoma State has some other schools in the Big 12 that could push them for the conference crown. One of those teams, Iowa State, is in the field here. Teams, seeds, and matchups will be dramatically different than what we see at the Big 12 tournament, but this could definitely be a bit of a measuring stick for how the two teams stack up in a tournament. 

Watch the 2020 Sothern Scuffle LIVE on FloWrestling

Jan. 1-2 | 10 AM ET

If OSU rolls here, then maybe the rumors of the demise OSU’s Big 12 dominance are overblown? If Iowa State comes out ahead of OSU, there may be a real chance that another Big 12 team could push OSU for the conference crown in March.

2. How will OSU’s new starters perform?

Oklahoma State fans basically know what they have already in All-Americans like Boo Lewallen, Nick Piccininni, and Dakota Geer who have been around the program for some time. What they’re still figuring out is what they have in guys Reece Witcraft, Travis Wittlake, Anthony Montalvo, and Austin Harris.

They’ve all performed well to this point in the season. Wittlake is undefeated and ranked #14 in the country while Witcraft and Montalvo have one and two losses, respectively, and are both ranked just inside the top 25. And Harris, who’s a converted 174 wrestling up at heavyweight, has performed quite well in his own right considering the circumstance. Strong performances from any of the three ranked wrestlers should lift them even further and could establish them as podium contenders at the NCAA tournament in March. 

In a rebuilding year like OSU is currently having, the floor is usually a pretty low one. With so many new faces in the lineup there are only a handful of guys who have clear expectations coming into the season. The ceiling, on the other hand, is an unknown that is heavily dictated by how your young guys perform. This first big tournament for this group could mean a lot for what the Cowboys will be able to do as they navigate the rest of the year.

3. Will we see Kaden Gfeller?

John Smith had some interesting comments on the status of Kaden Gfeller and Kaid Brock after the Bedlam dual last week. 

A couple things to note from postgame with John Smith:

If Kaden Gfeller doesn't feature at the Southern Scuffle it could mean he is done for the season.

Smith said that Kaid Brock, who tore his ACL in the summer, will no doubt be back at some point in January barring an injury.

— Sam Lane (@SamLaneOK) December 15, 2019

All-American Kaid Brock will definitely be back from injury this season.

Oklahoma State fans, and wrestling fans in general who are following this, will want to have a close eye on the registrations and brackets here. Kaden Gfeller’s return will be dictated by this tournament. If the returning Big 12 champ does not compete at the Southern Scuffle, then his season is over.

Coach Smith has not come out publicly and said what specifically has kept Gfeller out, but whatever it is, if he doesn’t wrestle here, it will keep him out for the season.

4. Can the Cowboys win the tournament?

OSU’s certainly in a bit of a rebuilding year this season, but even with a young team, injuries, and Daton Fix taking an Olympic redshirt, winning this tournament — which is traditionally one of the toughest in the country — isn’t out of reach. 

Based on Flo’s current rankings the only team that is scheduled to be competing here that is ranked above the Cowboys is North Carolina State. The Wolfpack and a pretty strong contingency of other teams including Iowa State, Pittsburgh, and others, should make for an interesting team race. Every win could be crucial in deciding if the Cowboys bring home the team title.

5. What redshirts will we see here & how will they perform?

Next season OSU has far and away the best recruiting class in the country coming in. I’ve written over on Pistols Firing that it may be the best recruiting class in John Smith’s career, plus they’ve already got three really high-level guys committed for 2021 as well. 

This all creates a lot of optimism for the future for Cowboy fans, and a lot of intrigue about the other young guys who will be teaming up with them. 

As most fans know, Witcraft is part of this group and has already had his redshirt pulled and taken over as the starter at 133 pounds. OSU typically brings a handful of other redshirts here as well. The biggest other name in the class was Brevin Balmeceda, who has won a few tournaments and finished fifth at Reno a few weeks ago. 

A few other notable names I think we could see are Chance McLane and Daniel Manibog. I’ve always looked at both of them as some pretty under-the-radar recruits who could blossom in Stillwater. Ultimately this group will be teamed with this elite class coming in next season, so their development is something fans should certainly follow closely.

6. Battles to start

What we’ve seen to this point seems like the lineup for OSU is fairly settled, but there are three spots that could be shaken up a bit. 

At 133 Markus Simmons may be entering the conversation next semester. I’m not sure about Simmons’ exact status, but the former Iowa State starter did compete unattached for the Cowboys a few weeks ago and intended to enroll and compete at OSU for the spring semester. I do know he was given a full release from Iowa State, so if he gets enrolled for spring, I would expect him to be eligible. 

If Kaden Gfeller comes in at 141, I don’t expect Dusty Hone to just roll over and give up the spot, and at heavyweight Neil Putnam has been out to this point in the season and could contend with Austin Harris for the job.

If we see Putnam, Simmons, and Gfeller here the staff may use this tournament as a bit of a guideline to determine the lineup at these spots.

Overall this is a pretty ideal tournament for a rebuilding Oklahoma State team and it gives fans plenty to watch here.

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.