Men’s College Notebook: Oklahoma Cruises Over Iowa; NC State Wins Thriller in Raleigh

All week, the Oklahoma State coaching staff was keeping a tight lip on if they would send out true freshman Jax Forrest against Iowa this weekend. If he were to wrestle, it would mean he burns the redshirt and will be in the postseason lineup.

Not only did he compete, but he made sure the nation knew he was coming for the national championship at 133 pounds less than two months after he graduated high school and enrolled a semester early.

Sporting a perfect 9-0 record and climbing up to #6 in the national rankings, he scored a top-10 win for the second straight weekend. Last weekend, it was fellow true freshman sensation Aaron Seidel from Virginia Tech; this weekend, it was two-time NCAA finalist Drake Ayala of Iowa.

Thanks to a takedown and four-point near fall from a cradle in the second period, Forrest breezed to a 19-3 tech fall win. It was the first time Ayala had surrendered bonus points this season.

Forrest dominated the headlines from the nationally televised dual on ESPN in front of a sellout crowd of 12,629 in Stillwater, but the Cowboys continued to make noise heading into the postseason as a team.

They avenged their lone loss of the season (18-16 to Iowa at the National Duals in November) by winning seven of the 10 bouts, with four going for bonus, and three of those were falls in the 32-11 win.

The win was the largest victory over Iowa since 1961, and it's the most points the Cowboys have scored against the Hawkeyes.

Oklahoma State hurried out to a 17-5 lead after the first five bouts. After Iowa collected back-to-back decisions, including #4 Mikey Caliendo getting revenge and handing #2 LaDarion Lockett his first loss (4-2), the Cowboys closed out with three straight wins, including the final two via fall.

There was one very entertaining non-conference dual taking place in Raleigh this past weekend, as the ACC’s NC State hosted the Ivy League’s Cornell. On paper, this was set to be close, and it lived up to the hype.

NC State chose to start the dual at 197 pounds and came out on fire, winning the first four bouts to take a 16-0 lead, thanks to tech falls at heavyweight and 133 pounds. The Big Red were without their starters at 197 and 133 pounds, and the Pack took advantage.

Cornell got on the board with a decision at 141 pounds, then the bout of the night came at 149 pounds. NC State’s #8 Koy Buesgens secured a takedown in overtime and handed #2 Jaxon Joy his first collegiate loss, 6-3. The Pack was up 19-3 with four bouts left.

Cornell then went tech fall-major decision to close the gap to 19-12. In the second-to-last bout, it was a battle of a pair of 2025 All-Americans as #2 Simon Ruiz came back from a 6-1 deficit to defeat #6 Matty Singleton, 8-6.

Cornell needed at least a major decision to even the team score and score +13 to win on criteria. But the Big Red had to settle for a decision at 184 pounds and fell 19-18 in the dual.

Army vs. Navy. You knew it would be a battle on the mat, and this year’s version did not disappoint.

With only two bouts left, Army found themselves down 18-13, and the final two bouts were ranked matchups at the upper weights.

First, #28 Wolfganga Frable scored a 5-0 decision over #31 Zan Hall at 197 pounds. Then, in a marquee battle at heavyweight, it was a second straight shutout for Army to win the dual, as #16 Brady Colbert got past #14 Spencer Lanosga, 2-0. It was a second-period ride out for Colbert, which proved to be the biggest move in their bout.

Army has now won three straight over Navy, and eight over the last 12 years overall.