Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboy Wrestling Tradition at the Conference Tournament
March 06, 2015 | Cowboy Wrestling
Championship season has officially arrived.
The No. 6 Oklahoma State Cowboys stood atop of the podium at the 2014 Big 12 Tournament and will look to defend their title again this season.
Finding success throughout the conference's regular season and in the postseason is all- familiar for the Cowboys wrestling program. Long before Oklahoma State entered the Big 12 Conference, the Cowboys dominated the Big Eight.
The Cowboys have won 48 league titles and crowned 255 conference individual champions all-time, more than any member of the Big 12.
Since the Big 12 tournament was instated in 1997, the Cowboys have taken the Big 12 team title on 12 occasions and awarded 76 individual champions.
The only other teams to have won the team title are Iowa State (3) and Oklahoma (2). Oklahoma State also has crowned more individuals than any active Big 12 team combined, with Iowa State having 36 and Oklahoma 29 to their name.
In 2014, Oklahoma State sent nine individuals to the conference finals, five of which return to this year's team. Six of those Cowboys went on to be crowned individual champions including Alex Dieringer, Austin Marsden and Anthony Collica.
The Cowboys have a rich history in not only defending the Big 12 title as a team, but also as individuals. At the Big 12 Wrestling Championship, three Cowboys have become four-time champions, six three-time, 13 two-timers and 20 one-time champs.
Freshman success at the Big 12 Wrestling Championship is anything but a rarity in the Oklahoma State program. Head coach John Smith has coached nine of the program's 19 all-time freshman conference champions.
A freshman Cowboy has won the Big 12 in four of the past five years, sophomore Collica being the most recent in 2014. Dieringer and Eddie Klimara also won Big 12 titles during their freshman year.
Oklahoma State also has had six individuals win a total of eight Big 12 Outstanding Wrestler honors, with Jordan Oliver winning the award three times.
Ten Cowboys received the Big Eight Outstanding Wrestler honor. Coach Smith won the award twice in his time as a wrestler for Oklahoma State.
Under Coach Smith, 88 Cowboys have been crowned individual conference champions between the Big Eight and Big 12 conferences. He has also led the program to 14 conference titles, the most among Oklahoma State coaches in school history.
Each of the five years Coach Smith has won a national title, the Cowboys also won the conference championship.
From 1921, when Guy Lookabaugh won the Southwest Conference championship, to Chris Perry completing a four-time conference reign in 2014, Oklahoma State has more history to write in the Big 12.
Players Mentioned
