Ok State recruiting

[Dark Energy]

Hearing they have a good recruiting class.  #1? 
 

How?  They’ve sucked.  Great recruits have done meh.  For extended period of time.  
 

What is drawing the best guys there still?

 

(Yes, this is over the top - but you get my point)

[Husker_Du]

OKST demise has been drastically overrated. 

they still have a big brand in a good state, have new facilities, the most titles in history, well attended duals, big events, etc. 

plus it's not prohibitive academically. 

they're always going to have good recruiting classes.

 

[Dark Energy]

Fair points …. And good things.  But if you are a stud and want to perform well at NCAAs … I’m suggesting that there are several (perhaps many) other schools that also have a lot going for them.  
 

Basically, I’m just surprised they are doing well with recruiting given their recent track record.

[MPhillips]

To be fair...They are still OKST.  

[ionel]

47 minutes ago, MPhillips said:

To be fair...They are still OKST.  

get off it!  

[Hillbilly Jim]

4 hours ago, Dark Energy said:

Hearing they have a good recruiting class.  #1? 
 

How?  They’ve sucked.  Great recruits have done meh.  For extended period of time.  
 

What is drawing the best guys there still?

 

(Yes, this is over the top - but you get my point)

Yeah--we get your point.  You made a post to bash the program.  I am not an OK ST guy.  But geez--get a life dude.

[nhs67]

3 hours ago, Husker_Du said:

OKST demise has been drastically overrated. 

they still have a big brand in a good state, have new facilities, the most titles in history, well attended duals, big events, etc. 

plus it's not prohibitive academically. 

they're always going to have good recruiting classes.

 

Of any sport.  Ever.

[AgaveMaria]

2 hours ago, nhs67 said:

Of any sport.  Ever.

Is this correct? Collegiate sports, just major schools(D1?) or all divisions?

[nhs67]

1 hour ago, AgaveMaria said:

Is this correct? Collegiate sports, just major schools(D1?) or all divisions?

Just copying their Twitter...

 

[boconnell]

7 hours ago, Dark Energy said:

Fair points …. And good things.  But if you are a stud and want to perform well at NCAAs … I’m suggesting that there are several (perhaps many) other schools that also have a lot going for them.  
 

Basically, I’m just surprised they are doing well with recruiting given their recent track record.

Sounds like recruits don't share your perspective.

[Dark Energy]

A program with glory in their past is better than one that does not.  Sure.  And yes, one can assume the administration and resource backing is there.  Just like it has been for the past 5 years+.  Regardless of all that  Something else isn’t allowing it all to click.   
 

And to the point that the recruits don’t seem to share my perspective - YES!  Very true.  I’m surprised by that.  I must be missing something.  Thus this post.  Which I admitted in my original post was written in an over the top (aka exaggerated) manner.  

[Idaho]

Outside the top 10 back to back years - first for John Smith. To be fair. however, injuries and the loss of an NCAA champ have factored into that. I'm not an OK state fan but they have struggled the last few years, but they are definitely not dead. They will be back in the picture. Scott was brought over for a reason. 

[BuckyBadger]

16 hours ago, Husker_Du said:

plus it's not prohibitive academically. 

 

That’s a nice way of putting it.

[TexRef]

When Boise State had a program and Andrew Hochstrasser, they went to Stillwater for a dual. At that time the #1 guy @ 133 was Jordan Oliver and the #2 guy was Hochstrasser. 

I went to the dual and the place was packed. A lot of people wearing Okie State wrestling gear, and some of it was more than 5 years old lol. The community REALLY enjoys OSU events and recruits love that! A women's volleyball recruit might not know a thing about wrestling, but she likes that GIA is packed! 

Oh Hoch and the broncos lost the dual. It was worth the price of admission! 

[Idaho]

Could be. 

[boconnell]

On 8/27/2023 at 8:13 AM, TexRef said:

When Boise State had a program and Andrew Hochstrasser, they went to Stillwater for a dual. At that time the #1 guy @ 133 was Jordan Oliver and the #2 guy was Hochstrasser. 

I went to the dual and the place was packed. A lot of people wearing Okie State wrestling gear, and some of it was more than 5 years old lol. The community REALLY enjoys OSU events and recruits love that! A women's volleyball recruit might not know a thing about wrestling, but she likes that GIA is packed! 

Oh Hoch and the broncos lost the dual. It was worth the price of admission! 

Yep.  I've gone to a handful of duals while visiting my in-laws, and it's always fun.  Even my family members with no connection to wrestling enjoy it.  It's a bit of an older crowd, but very full by NCAA wrestling standards, and lots of energy.  I would guess their on campus visits go very well for recruits.  

[Big10wrestling]

THey have recruited well for years, the problem has always been off the discipline and culture.  

[alex1fly]

Nice to see folks sticking up for Ok State. I don't think we have many fans on this board. The OP would have hit home if we hadn't already beaten it to death on the 34 and Counting board and there wasn't significant offseason movement.

We've (OK State) placed Top 10 in seven of the last ten championship years. 2022 and 2023 placings were the direct result of Ferraris leaving holes at 165/197/Hwy due to their violent crimes and Mastro leaving a hole at 125 because he left mid-season either to run his zoo, because he got tired of getting yelled at for not getting off bottom or only taking one shot per period, or some combination of the two. Mastro had a lot of promise but chose to leave us in the lurch mid-season rather than work on the two things he needed to improve on. 

This year we have added Coleman Scott, Dean Heil, Eric Guerrero, and Gary Wayne Harding from UNC to our staff; that's a solid handful of NCAA championships, Olympic medals, outside coaching experience, senior-level competition experience, and perspective on how to develop individual wrestlers to their strengths. We've built out the RTC program with the Cowboy Wrestling Club and have freestyle champions in Fix, Plott, and Winchester plus have sent around a dozen athletes to freestyle tournaments this offseason. The university has ramped up the NIL program with an entire department dedicated to NIL for athletes. We've started using the transfer portal, adding several starters and freestyle-aspiring athletes this offseason. We built out a new wrestling locker room last year, upgraded the wrestling room, and have raised about $7 million of $25 million for an entirely new wrestling facility. The wrestling program has beefed up its social media presence considerably in the last couple of years to connect with fans/alums/recruits. Duals are a blast, GIA is a great atmosphere and the locals are consistently stoked about it. The current coaches treat people like family. Christian Carroll even mentioned that part of why he chose OSU was that Smith & Co are loyal to their athletes even though they could buy an entirely new lineup.

So there! Lol

 

Last 10 NCAA Championships:

2013: 2nd

2014: 3rd

2015: 7th

2016: 2nd

2017: 3rd

2018: 13th

2019: 3rd

2020: Canceled (COVID)

2021: 3rd

2022: 14th

2023: 18th