Oklahoma State’s lineup is already showing its shape, but David Taylor isn’t treating anything as permanent.
That’s the message from Stillwater as the No. 2 Cowboys get ready for their season-opening dual Sunday against Drexel. Taylor said the wrestlers who competed in the Cowboy Invitational will, for the most part, get the first shot in the opener, but he made it clear the early results are only part of the picture.
“We’ll have some things that are pretty straightforward and then we’ll have some things that will continue to be determined on a week-to-week basis and I think that’s good for our guys,” Taylor said. “It keeps them hungry.
There’s no point of content. Like, ‘Oh, I won a match in November and I’m entitled to this spot in March.’”
That approach fits the roster Taylor has built. With Oklahoma State carrying real depth, wrestle-offs and early-season tournaments are no longer the final word.
“I think there was a time and a place where wrestle-offs were wrestle-offs and that was what kind of determined the season,” Taylor said. “I think with having the team that we have now, we tell the guys, ‘This is not a final decision, this is just a point in the season.’”
The Cowboys’ bigger target is still months away.
“November is not the goal,” Taylor said. “March is the goal. So, we have to continue to get everybody better and give ourselves the best chance to compete for a national title in a few months.”
That chase is helped by three returning national champions in Sergio Vega, Landon Robideau and Jax Forrest, all sophomores now. Taylor also added the No. 1-ranked 2026 high school recruiting class, and four freshmen won titles at the Cowboy Invitational: Rocklin Zinkin at 125, Jayden Raney at 141, Mikey White at 184 and Dreshaun Ross at heavyweight.
A few weight classes already look especially worth watching.
At 165 pounds, Casey Swiderski’s move up from 149 creates a battle with Dee Lockett. Their Cowboy Invitational final got tense, and Swiderski came away with a 4-3 decision. Freshman Kody Routledge, an Edmond North product, also pushed Swiderski hard in the semifinals before falling 4-1 in sudden victory.
The 141-pound spot is open with Vega moving up to 149, and freshman Jayden Raney made a strong first claim on it. The five-time Kentucky high school state champion, who was the No. 6 overall recruit in the 2026 class, beat senior Tagen Jamison 6-5 in the final.
Jamison has been a two-year starter for the Cowboys and posted a 21-10 record as a freshman in 2023-24 and a 23-6 mark as a sophomore in 2024-25. He wrestled five matches and went 4-1 last season behind Vega.
At 174, Alex Facundo survived a tough test from Lorenzo Norman, a Stanford transfer, in a 7-5 final. Facundo, a sixth-year senior, finished last season 18-8 overall and 11-5 in duals while earning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors. Norman had a medical hardship year at Stanford last season and went 1-2 in the 2025 NCAA Championships.
The 184-pound situation is still unsettled because Zack Ryder is working back from offseason shoulder surgery and did not wrestle in the Cowboy Invitational. Ryder, a redshirt sophomore, started all but three duals last season, went 7-6 and finished as an All-American at the NCAA Championships.
“Zack’s working his way back, he’s doing a really good job ... he’s not like in a position to be full-go wrestling yet, but he’s certainly getting closer,” Taylor said in September.
That leaves Taylor with multiple options at the weight. Freshman Mikey White, who didn’t start wrestling until his freshman year of high school before going 47-0 as a senior at Lawrence North in Indianapolis, won the Cowboy Invitational bracket at 184 by beating South Dakota State transfer Bennett Berge. Berge, a senior, qualified for his third straight NCAA Championships last season and is the winningest wrestler on Oklahoma State’s roster with 80 victories.
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