STILLWATER - Oklahoma State isn’t tiptoeing around the target on its back.
The Cowboys have made the bar clear for this season: be good enough to knock off Penn State, the preseason No. 1 and the program that just posted an NCAA Championships record 181.5 points a year ago. That means OSU isn’t just chasing a title. It’s chasing a level of greatness that barely exists in college wrestling.
Sophomore Jax Forrest put it plainly.
“When you’re going up against competition like with Penn State’s team, how good they are, their team last year was the best team ever based on points,” Forrest said. “This year, we’re trying to beat them and they’re a very similar team so it means we’re going to have to be the best team in the country this year, which is going to be one of the best teams ever.”
That’s the standard inside Stillwater, where the Cowboys enter the season ranked No. 2 in the preseason NWCA Coaches Poll. They’re bringing back three freshmen national champions for their sophomore seasons, along with eight All-Americans and 11 national qualifiers. Add in the nation’s No. 1 high school recruiting class, and the roster looks built for a run at the top.
Forrest said the belief has been there for a while.
“We’ve been saying that since before preseason this is a team that can be the best team ever,” Forrest said. “That’s what we’re going to have to be, what we’re going up against. We know what we can do, we know what we have, and it’s definitely possible.”
Penn State has owned the team race in recent years, winning the last five national titles and 13 of the past 15. Before that stretch, Oklahoma State was the last program to win four straight, doing it from 2003-06.
Under David Taylor, the Cowboys have moved closer every year. They finished third at the 2025 NCAA Championships with two individual champions, then climbed to runner-up last season with three individual champions.
Taylor said the ambition was always bigger than simply beating one program.
“I think we said, ‘Hey we want a team with 10 national champions,' people kind of laughed,” Taylor said. “You go into Year 2, you go into Year 3 you start to realize that’s the intent of what we’re working toward and if we’re doing that, those other things fall in line.”
Now in his third year, Taylor says the focus stays on building the best version of Oklahoma State, not just on Penn State’s place in the pecking order.
“We’re just trying to be a better team,” Taylor said. “We’re not singularly focused on anybody.
We’re focused on finding 10 guys that are going to compete in the national tournament and give us the best chance to have 10 national champions. That’s been the goal since we got here.”
Reigning 157-pound NCAA champion Landon Robideau said the formula is simple: stay true to what makes this group different.
“I think people a lot of times try to compare programs, but our programs are very unique," Robideau said. “We have unique individuals, unique coaches, we’re not like another program.
I think that’s what people get wrong. They think we’re chasing other schools.
No, we’re trying to beat the schools and dominate every single school.”
In Other News...
Oklahoma State Just Delivered The Bounce-Back Cowboys Fans Needed
A needed reset arrived in emphatic fashion Saturday, when Oklahoma State buried Kansas State 66-28 and made the game feel out of reach before halftime. The Cowboys poured in 49 first-half points, and the offense had answers everywhere, from Caleb Hawkins piling up 246 total yards and four touchdowns to Drew Mestemaker throwing for 313 yards and three scores despite an interception.
The defense did its part, too, turning the night into a full-team response with three interceptions and steady pressure on the Kansas State quarterback. For a program looking for a jolt, this was the kind of performance that can change the tone around the locker room and the fan base, even if the bigger question is whether Oklahoma State can carry this version of itself forward. [Read more 🡒]
First Real Look At David Taylors Cowboys Starts Here
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The matchup is set for 2 p.m. CT and will stream on ESPN+, giving fans a first chance to see the Cowboys in a dual setting rather than just in preseason conversation. Oklahoma State is ranked No. 2 nationally to start the season, so even a November opener carries a little extra weight as the Cowboys begin sorting out how they stack up in the chase ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma State Just Gave Fans A New Reason To Revisit Expectations
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The 66-28 rout of Kansas State was the kind of result that can reset expectations in a hurry, and the offense has been a big reason why. Oklahoma State now ranks third nationally in points scored, a number that suggests this team may be more than just a hot start, even as the top of the FPI stayed unchanged with Notre Dame still at No. 1 after beating Miami. [Read more 🡒]