Cowboy Wrestling Rolls into 2019 at Southern Scuffle

Southern Scuffle Notes

Tournament Details
Southern Scuffle
Date/Time: Jan. 1-2, 2019 – All Day
Location: Mckenzie Arena
Watch: FloWrestling
Radio: 93.7 KSPI-FM; Finals: Pete 94.3
Live Scoring: FloArena

Cowboy Quick Hits
The Cowboys moved to 5-0 on the season nearly two weeks ago with 47-0 shutout at Northern Colorado. Each Cowboy collected a bonus-point victory in the Big 12 contest. The Pokes went directly from Greeley to Reno, Nev., where seven wrestlers collected first-place finishes and five others finished in the top four.

The Basics
The Oklahoma State wrestling team begins a month-long road stretch New Year's Day at the Southern Scuffle in Chattanooga, Tenn. The team sent redshirts and backups to the event a year ago, while starters traveled to Naples, Italy for the first NCAA dual held overseas. Then freshman Kaden Gfeller made quite a statement when he claimed the Cowboys' lone Scuffle title at 141 pounds with a semifinals decision over Lehigh's Luke Karam followed with a pin in 4:50 over Penn State's Nick Lee. The most recent NWCA/USA Today DI Coaches poll ranked the Cowboys at No. 3 after Penn State and Ohio State, respectively. The Cowboys have a ranked wrestler at each weight, with five of those landing in the top 10, according to Intermat.

At the Scuffle
The Cowboys have had a top finisher at the Southern Scuffle in each year they have sent wrestlers to the two-day event. Last season, OSU sent only redshirts and marked its first finish outside the top three at the tournament. The previous year the Cowboys brought home first place and won four weight classes. This year's Southern Scuffle field includes the likes of reigning DI NCAA Champions Penn State, NC State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Stanford, Iowa State and more. OSU sends its full starting lineup along with Dusty Hone, Wyatt Sheets, Jonce Blaylock, Joe Smith and Christian Bahl.

In the Polls
The Cowboys begin the 2019 portion of their schedule with 10 wrestlers in the rankings. Heavyweight Derek White remains the highest ranked Cowboy at No. 3 (Intermat) entering the new year. At the Reno Tournament of Champions, White won three of his five bouts with bonus points, including two pins. At the opposite end of the scale, Nick Piccininni holds steady at No. 4 this week after winning a major decision over No. 16 Rico Montoya and cruising to a 125-pound title in Reno. Excluding his match against Minnesota's Sean Russell and his finals bout in last week's tournament, each of Piccininni's wins have come with bonus points. Teammate Daton Fix remains No. 5 at 133 pounds. The Cowboy brought home a Reno TOC title at his weight just after completing a first-period technical fall against Sean Cannon at Northern Colorado. Jacobe Smith garners a No. 7 ranking again this week after notching a fall at UNC and making it to the finals at Reno. Kaid Brock fell to No. 12 at 141 pounds but finished third at the Cowboys' latest tournament. Chandler Rogers holds the No. 10 spot at 165 pounds after winning a technical fall at Northern Colorado, in which the Cowboy racked up 14 first-period points. Andrew Shomers (157) holds steady at No. 19 following his first technical fall of the season against the Bears. Kaden Gfeller continues to climb in the polls, reaching No. 12 this week after earning a technical fall at UNC and claiming the 149-pound title in Reno. In a last-minute move, Dakota Geer took over at 197 pounds in the Pokes' last outing. He defeated UNC's Jacob Seely, who was ranked in various publications, in a 13-2 major decision before moving on to win his second tournament of the season in Reno and first at the higher weight. He comes in at No. 11 at 197 (Intermat) but remains ranked in other publications at 184. Preston Weigel also remains ranked at 197.

Big Men Fall Hard
Heavyweight Derek White garnered his first career pin against Oklahoma's Jake Boyd on Dec. 9, and has been on a roll ever since. White went on to defeat Northern Colorado's Robert Winters in a second-period, 17-2 technical fall in the Cowboys' latest dual meet. Four days later in Reno, the No. 3 ranked wrestler collected first and second round falls against Menlo's Jeremiah Holbrook and Bryan Barnes (unattached). The first tournament pin came in a career-best 29 seconds.

Rogers' Race to 100
Cowboy senior Chandler Rogers is only 11 wins shy of reaching the 100-win milestone in the OSU orange singlet. Rogers sits at 12-1 on the season, his only loss coming to Wyoming's Branson Ashworth. Impressively, all of Rogers' wins this season have boasted bonus points, including nine falls, two technical falls and a major decision. The nine pins are only four shy of his career-best 13, which came in the 2015-16 season. With the second half of the Cowboys' schedule getting underway at the Southern Scuffle, Rogers has plenty of opportunities to join the Cowboy wrestling 100-win club and position himself among the ranks of more than 40 OSU wrestlers who reached the milestone in their careers.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Christian Bahl

Jonce Blaylock

Kaid Brock

Daton Fix

Dakota Geer

Kaden Gfeller

Dusty Hone

Nick Piccininni

Chandler Rogers

Wyatt Sheets

Andrew Shomers

Jacobe Smith

Joe Smith

Preston Weigel

Derek White

Oklahoma State University Athletics