An Oklahoma State Lineup Preview If The Cowboys Go Redshirt-Heavy
An Oklahoma State Lineup Preview If The Cowboys Go Redshirt-Heavy
If the Oklahoma State Cowboys decide to go redshirt-crazy with their lineup, what happens at each weight? Flo beat reporter Seth Duckworth takes a look.
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On FRL earlier this week, the gang talked about how Penn State is expected to redshirt anyone on their roster who has one available. With all the uncertainty in the sports world today, there’s a possibility that other programs across the country do the same. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the Oklahoma State roster if that is the route they were to take.
First, let’s look at who even has that option at Oklahoma State
Daton Fix
Daton is going to be the most talked-about one on the Oklahoma State roster with this option. He took an Olympic redshirt last year and depending on what ruling the NCAA makes with allowing wrestlers to take another for this season, he should have the option to do it again.
Reece Witcraft
Witcraft competed as a true freshman last season for the Cowboys at 133 and has his redshirt still available.
Travis Wittlake
Wittlake has already used his regular redshirt, but as a Cadet World medalist he is eligible for an Olympic redshirt. I did a podcast with Coach Smith around the time the NCAA tournament was canceled and at that point, he did not seem to like the idea and said the only wrestler he saw them potentially using that with is Fix. With the shifting landscape of college sports being what it currently is we could certainly see that change.
The 2020 Recruiting Class
Oklahoma State had the top recruiting class in college wrestling and they’ve all just officially moved to campus this past week. There are guys in this group who are certainly ready to step in and compete at the division one level. With the uncertainty regarding the sport it may be in all of their best interest to take a step back and wait until after this season.
125
This would be an interesting one to see play out if no one redshirts. Two of the more common theories here, as it is, are Daton Fix will cut down or OSU may wrestle a true freshman. With the scenario we’re describing, that’s not even an option. Dallas Wilson, Colton Klein, and Rhett Golowenski are the three other guys on the roster at that weight. Based on the limited bits I’ve seen with these three, I think Wilson would probably have the slight edge within that group. He was pretty close to being a JUCO All-American a few years ago and had the best record of the group last season. There’s also maybe an outside chance a 133 would pull down with the starting job a little more open.
133: Kaid Brock.
I think there’s a chance this happens anyway if Fix goes 125, but with the all-redshirt route this would definitely be Kaid’s spot.
141: Dusty Hone or Kaden Gfeller
Hone was the guy last year here and we’ll see how this one plays out again this year, but with a bunch of redshirts it’s almost certain to come down to these two with an outside shot that Brevin Balmeceda throws some more intrigue into the mix.
149: Boo Lewallen
Boo will be a sixth-year senior this year and with all the injuries he’s been through and the cancellation of last year’s NCAA tournament, COVID-19 putting a stop to another season would be tough to see for a guy like Boo who’s already been through a lot.
157: Wyatt Sheets
Starter last year, and it’s pretty certain no matter what happens with redshirts as long as we have wrestling he’ll probably be the guy here.
165
Here’s where it starts to get a bit interesting. If Wittlake takes his Olympic RS then this spot opens up. Cade Lindsey had the best season last year of anyone available that’s currently listed at 165, and we also saw Chance McLane perform really well last year as a RS at 157. McLane could go up to try and grab a starting spot and there’s also an outside chance we could see a guy like Christian Bahl cut from ‘74 for the same reason.
174
With everyone redshirting, incoming freshman Dustin Plott is removed from the 174 equation. Returning from last season, OSU will have Gavin Stika and the aforementioned Christian Bahl who could be battling it out with each other here for the job.
One rumored possibility unrelated to the redshirt situation is Anthony Montalvo moving down from 184. I can’t confirm or deny this, as I don’t know anything definitive, but there’s definitely some buzz out there that it’s a possibility.
184
Anthony Montalvo is the natural assumption here regardless of what OSU does with redshirts, but again there’s some smoke out there that he may be making the move to 174 to strengthen the overall lineup and allow Dakota Geer to return to 184 where he was an All-American a few years ago.
197
Dakota Geer was the starter here last year and it makes sense for him to come back here to close out the final season of his career. Again there are some rumors of a lineup cut, though. In a world where guys with available redshirts compete, that would open up a spot for AJ Ferrari, but in a no-redshirt scenario we could see JUCO All-American Alex Kauffman or even last year’s starting heavyweight Austin Harris who’s a bit more of a natural 197.
285
Austin Harris could return here; there’s the slim scenario described above where you could see him going down to 197, and there’s a chance we get Shawn Streck here. He’s been in Stillwater, he’s taken some classes at NOC, but there’s been no official announcement on his eligibility or enrollment.
This scenario is a stretch, but if Streck doesn’t get on the roster and Harris goes down, we’ll likely see Cornelius Putnam here who split some time with Harris last season.
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.
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