Cowboys see 15 wrestlers finish first at Lindenwood Open

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The Oklahoma State wrestling team put together an impressive performance Saturday at the Lindenwood Open, claiming 15 first-place finishes across two divisions.

OSU sent a total of 32 attached wrestlers to St. Charles, Mo., including eight starters from the season opener against Bucknell, with 11 wrestlers entering in the freshman/sophomore division and the rest of the squad competing in the open division. The tournament featured wrestlers from 11 Division I programs, three of which were ranked in Intermat’s latest team tournament poll in No. 5 Missouri, No. 7 Iowa and No. 24 Illinois.

In the open division, eight attached wrestlers earned first-place finishes as the Cowboys had a finalist in nine of the ten weight class brackets.

Troy Spratley, who made his Cowboy debut last Friday against Bucknell, was perhaps OSU’s most dominant wrestler of the day, rattling off four straight tech fall victories en route to his 125-pound championship. At 133 pounds, Reece Witcraft brought home an individual title from St. Charles for the third straight season.

At 141 and 149 pounds, Tagen Jamison and Jordan Williams each faced unattached teammates in the finals. Jamison defeated Sammy Alvarez, 4-1, while Williams picked up a 15-2 major decision over Carter Young. 165-pound champion Izzak Olejnik earned bonus points in all four of his matches, while Dustin Plott posted three pins while running through the 184-pound bracket. Luke Surber and Konner Doucet rounded out the Cowboy line-up with dominant runs at 197 pounds and heavyweight, respectively.

In the freshman/sophomore division, nine Cowboys made trips to the finals with seven claiming first-place finishes. OSU dominated the lower weights, as Sam Smith and Jayce Mullin won each bracket at 125 pounds and Cael Hughes and Zach Blankenship did the same at 133 pounds. Dax Hughes (174A bracket) and AJ Heeg (174B bracket) were both victorious at 174 pounds, and Jersey Robb collected five wins for a first-place outing at 184 pounds.

The Cowboys return to action next Friday and Saturday with the prestigious Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. A week later, OSU entertains Lehigh on Dec. 8 at Gallagher-Iba Arena for its second dual of the season.