By BERRY TRAMEL
We are viewing the golden age of Oklahoma State wrestling.
The Cowboy matmen go to St. Louis this week and seem sure to secure their third straight NCAA championship. OSU is the nation’s most historic wrestling school, but it’s been 50 years since the Cowboys hit the trifecta.
The OSU dynasty built by Ed Gallagher – 19 NCAA titles from 1928 through 1956 – is mighty but not as stout as what John Smith’s regime has done in the 21st century.
“A lot of people would debate that, “Smith said. “There is a lot of tradition here, a lot of championships. But here in recent years, it could be a golden age.”
For many years, wrestling was a four-horse race. The two Iowa schools, the two Oklahoma schools.
No longer. Smith says wrestling is better than ever – better wrestlers, deeper programs.
And the Cowboys’ current reign didn’t come because the field fell back. OSU stormed the summit.
“We’re certainly at the level we want to be, “said OSU associate athletic director Dave Martin. “Oklahoma State’s got a lot to sell.”
Martin is an old wrestling guy. An All-American at Iowa State. A long-time member of the NCAA wrestling committee.
He’s lived through OSU’s dark days. The Cowboys did not win an NCAA wrestling title between 1971 and 1989. That’s no big deal if you’re talking basketball, or even football. But that’s the drought of droughts for Cowboy grapplers.
OSU has won five NCAA titles since, and that number could rise past 2005, since Smith has only one senior, 174-pounder Chris Pendleton, in his St. Louis lineup.
The Cowboy dominance is the result of conscious decisions by OSU leadership. The nation’s most hallowed wrestling school was tired of losing at nationals.
What changed?
The renovated Gallagher-Iba Arena was a boon to wrestling. The Cowboys’ wrestling room went from a dungeon below the arena to a glittering, sunlit room on the second floor of the new Athletics Center.
Also, the new training room and academic center are just down the hall. Such digs impress wrestlers the way they impress football players.
Smith’s recruiting budget increased.
Smith’s personal commitment to recruiting did, too.
“John changed his philosophy, “Martin said. “To get the kinds of kids we wanted, he needed to be much more active in the recruiting process. Parents expect the head coach to be there.”
And patrons enabled Smith to beef up his freestyle club, which last year spawned three Olympians. Nothing draws wrestlers like Olympic success.
“Doing all those things together, it turned the program, “Martin said.
Wrestling remains an aristocracy sport. There aren’t 25 teams that win the NCAA. Maybe a dozen can contend; fewer than that realistically.
But Smith says the talent is more widespread. For example, every wrestling school in the Big 12 is competitive. It’s harder now to build big points the way Iowa did 20 years ago.
“It’s never easy to sustain it forever, “Martin said.
But the Cowboys arrive in St. Louis on the cusp of sustaining it three straight years. That makes this OSU’s finest wrestling hour.
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