#3 Oklahoma State vs. #5 Northern Iowa - Preview and Predictions

As schedules are released during the fall and summer, I tend to pick out matches from that particular schedule as ones to watch. Seeing a late-January dual between Oklahoma State and Northern Iowa seemed like it would be a good one.

Fast forward a few months and it's perhaps one of the best of the season. A top-five encounter between #3 Oklahoma State and the hosts, #5 Northern Iowa. 

Looking at these two teams in the preseason, Oklahoma State certainly had the potential to become a top-three team in year one under David Taylor. A strong returning nucleus, plus the addition of three multi-time All-Americans, had Cowboy fans optimistic as ever. But, potential and results can be different. Oklahoma State has been everything we could have imagined, evidenced by their dominant performance at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. All ten Cowboy starters finished in the top-five at their respective weights. 

Northern Iowa looked like an excellent team, but not quite to the extent that we’ve seen from them throughout the first two and a half months of the year. In November, the Panthers got by a South Dakota State team that featured plenty of returning talent and then won a one-sided matchup against a Missouri team that wasn’t that ravaged by injuries (yet). 

Doug Schwab’s team really opened eyes nationally with their one-sided (24-9) win over then #4 Nebraska to start January. They’ve kept the momentum going by crushing the field at the National Duals. None of their four opponents scored more than seven points. 

That set the stage for this top-five matchup between two undefeated Big 12 teams - the scrappy, blue-collar Northern Iowa program that doesn’t care about their lack of resources, they just come to fight. Oklahoma State, on the other hand, received a huge infusion of cash and attention in the offseason as they named Olympic gold medalist David Taylor their new head coach. The contrast between the two programs is stark; however, both are NCAA trophy contenders and are on an upward trajectory. 

Here’s what to expect from the action on the mat!

125 - #4 Troy Spratley (Oklahoma State) vs. #30 Trever Anderson (Northern Iowa)

Just a few weeks ago, this might have been viewed as a huge mismatch. It might still look that way if you’re just looking at the disparity in rankings between Troy Spratley and Trever Anderson. But, Spratley comes into this match off of back-to-back losses to Vincent Robinson (NC State) and Jett Strickenberger (West Virginia). Were those losses a wake-up call for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational third-place finisher and 2024 Big 12 finalist or a sign of a downward trend? 

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