The Oklahoma State wrestling team secured a 23-11 victory over NC State in the quarterfinal round of the National Duals Invitational, held Saturday night at the BOK Center in Tulsa. The Cowboys, ranked fifth nationally, won seven out of ten matches against seventh-ranked NC State and improved their season record to 3-0. The Wolfpack now stands at 2-1.
Oklahoma State head coach David Taylor commented on his team’s performance: “There was some emotion in that dual. I thought we did a nice job rising to that… I thought our guys were doing a lot of good stuff. It may not be resulting in points right now, but it will.”
The match featured strong performances from true freshmen. Ronnie Ramirez (133 pounds) made his collegiate debut and clinched his first career win with a late takedown against Zack Redding. Sergio Vega (141 pounds), also a freshman, remained undefeated after beating All-American Ryan Jack.
Landon Robideau (157 pounds) and Dee Lockett (165 pounds), both ranked freshmen, continued their winning streaks with victories over top opponents. Robideau’s win marked his second over a top-five wrestler this season.
Oklahoma State’s upper weights secured the overall team win as Zack Ryder (184 pounds), Cody Merrill (197 pounds), and Konner Doucet (heavyweight) each earned victories to close out the contest. Doucet achieved a technical fall and remains the only Cowboy wrestler to earn bonus points in every match this season—a significant increase from last year when he had just two such wins across 15 duals.
Notably, Troy Spratley narrowly lost his rematch against national champion Vincent Robinson by one point at 125 pounds. Casey Swiderski (149) and Alex Facundo (174) were also defeated by highly ranked opponents.
Oklahoma State will face third-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes next in the tournament semifinals on Sunday morning at the BOK Center.