Wrestling Set for 188th Edition of Bedlam in Stillwater on Sunday

Sunday, February 18

Stillwater, OK

2 PM

University of Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Wrestling Set for 188th Edition of Bedlam in Stillwater on Sunday

February 16, 2024 | Wrestling

Watch Live Stats

By: OU Athletics Communications

NORMAN – The No. 25 Oklahoma wrestling team (5-6, 2-5 Big 12) will head to Stillwater Sunday afternoon for the finale of their dual season. The second installment of Bedlam in the 2023-24 season against No. 2 Oklahoma State (13-0, 7-0 Big 12) will start at 2 p.m. inside Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Sunday's dual will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ with J. Carl Guymon and Hardell Moore on the call. Live stats and results will be provided on okstate.statbroadcast.com, as well as trackwrestling.com.

LAST TIME OUT

A strong start for No. 23 Oklahoma had the Sooners on top after seven bouts, but No. 12 South Dakota State (12-2, 6-0 Big 12) pulled away down the stretch to claim a 20-13 win on Friday night in McCasland Field House.

The Sooners (5-6, 2-5 Big 12) got big early wins from Josh Heindselman, Jace Koelzer and Willie McDougald to put OU ahead 10-8 after the 149-pound match as these conference foes battled back-and-forth throughout the night. The next four out of five bouts would go the Jackrabitts' way, and the no. 12 team in the country took the victory.

The opening bout of the night featured the heavyweights, as No. 12 Josh Heindselman matched up with SDSU's Luke Rasmussen. Getting a rare opportunity to set the tone from the start, Heindselman came out with a lot of energy from the get-go. He grabbed four takedowns and riding time to propel him to a 14-6 major decision for his 18^th win of the season.

At 133 pounds, Jace Koelzer earned a memorable win on senior night by shutting out No. 16 Derrick Cardinal, 2-0. Scoreless after two periods, Koelzer picked up an escape and riding time point to give the graduate transfer his highest ranked win of the season.

Willie McDougald continued his hot streak for the Crimson and Cream. Fresh off a win over Northern Iowa's Cael Rahnavardi last week, McDougald faced another tough test on Friday night as he squared off against SDSU's No. 18 Alek Martin.

The Niagara Falls native was the aggressor throughout the149-pound bout and finally got his reward in the closing seconds of the third period, where he secured the take down to nab a 4-1 decision. The ranked win makes it three on the season for the redshirt junior.

Cutting down to 165 pounds, Gerrit Nijenhuis wrestled in his first dual for OU since Dec. 3. Matched up with the Jackrabbits' Connor Gaynor, Nijenhuis scored a key third period takedown en route to a 6-4 decision in what proved to be the final win of the night for the Sooners.

PROJECTED OU STARTERS

125: Conrad Hendriksen (12-9) or Christian Forbes (0-2)
133: Jace Koelzer (13-10) or Gabe Vidlak (5-4)
141: Carter Schmidt (8-5) or Kaden Smith (5-7)
149: #21 Willie McDougald (10-6) or Kaden Fetterolf (1-0)
157: #30 Jared Hill (12-7)
165: #26 Cael Carlson (13-9) or Mannix Morgan (5-6)
174: Tate Picklo (11-11) or Gerrit Nijenhuis (7-7)
184: Giuseppe Hoose (11-10) or Carson Berryhill (2-3)
197: #6 Stephen Buchanan (18-1)
HWT: #12 Josh Heindselman (18-4) or Juan Mora (4-4)

PROJECTED OSU STARTERS

125: #10 Troy Spratley (18-4)
133: #3 Daton Fix (11-0)
141: #8 Tagen Jamison (17-5)
149: #15 Jordan Williams (12-5) -or- Sammy Alvarez (15-5)
157: #11 Teague Travis (16-3)
165: #3 Izzak Olejnik (20-3)
174: #20 Brayden Thompson (9-6)
184: #2 Dustin Plott (22-2)
197: #17 Luke Surber (10-3)
HWT: #9 Konner Doucet (15-5)

BEDLAM HISTORY

The two historic programs have met nearly every year since 1920 and were named the greatest (OSU) and fourth greatest (OU) wrestling programs in history by the NCAA. The term "Bedlam" originated from the rowdy wrestling matches between the two schools and then grew to accompany all sports.

Sunday's dual is the 188th meeting between the programs. OU trails the all-time series with a 27-150-10 career record against the Cowboys.

The two programs have produced a combined 760 All-Americans, 210 individual national champions, 61 Olympians and 41 team national championships - all marks are more than any other rivalry in the country.

SCOUTING THE COWBOYS

OSU comes into the second installment of Bedlam in the 2023-24 season with a perfect 13-0 record, joining Penn State as the only two undefeated teams in the nation.

Fresh off a 31-6 win over No. 12 South Dakota State, the Cowboys lead the country with 11 ranked wins and have defeated a ranked opponent in nine straight duals, their longest streak in 20 years.

John Smith's squad is ranked in all ten weight classes, including six inside the top-10. The OSU lineup is one of just three teams in the country with at least three wrestlers ranked third or higher.

OUR LAST MATCH WITH OKLAHOMA STATE

The Sooners last took the mat against the Cowboys in Norman on Dec. 10, 2023, in the season's first ediiton of Bedlam.

In the most attended wrestling dual at historic McCasland Field House in at least 15 years, Oklahoma fell to Oklahoma State 28-9.

The Sooners were victorious at 149 and 197 pounds, but ultimately were downed by the Cowboys

Willie McDougald got the Sooners on the board at 149 pounds. The redshirt junior was able to score a final minute takedown on Jordan Williams to secure the 5-4 decision in what was a top-25 mathcup. With the victory, the Niagara Fall, N.Y., product earned his first career win against the Cowboys.

Stephen Buchanan put on a clinic at 197 pounds versus Kyle Haas, claiming a pin in the second period (4:19). Buchanan landed shot after shot in his Bedlam debut to improve his record to 9-0.

SOONERS IN THE RANKINGS

The NCAA announced the second coaches' ranking for the 2024 NCAA Championships on Thursday, Feb. 15. Six Sooners were included in the second release, with three slotted inside the top 20 of their respective weight class.

Willie McDougald (No. 16 at 149), Jared Hill (No. 27 at 157), Cael Carlson (No. 29 at 165), Tate Picklo (No. 32 at 174), Stephen Buchanan (No. 6 at 197) and Josh Heindselman (No. 13 at 285) represent Oklahoma in the latest release.

The coaches ranking, along with RPI, are two of several criteria that will be evaluated by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee during the at-large selection and seeding process along with head-to-head competition, quality wins, conference tournament placement, results versus common opponents and win percentage.

The Sooners moved down two spots to No. 25 as a team in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll release.

285 POUNDS: A BATTLE OF EVENLY MATCH HEAVYWEGHTS

The heavyweight matchup between No. 12 Josh Heindselman and No. 9 Konner Doucet will mark the fourth career meeting between the Oklahoma natives dating back to last season, with every bout ending with the same score in tiebreakers.

Heindselman won the first bout in Norman with a 2-1 TB-1 victory. Doucet claimed his revenge in Stillwater, defeating Heindselman in the same manner via 2-1 TB-1. In a fitting ending to this season's first edition of Bedlam in Norman, Doucet once again topped Heindselman, 2-1 TB-1, to earn his first career top-10 win.

LEGENDS OF THE GAME

Oklahoma honored their alumni during the intermission of their Bedlam dual in Norman against Oklahoma State on Feb. 9.

The Oklahoma wrestling program had six wrestlers named to FloWrestling's Top 100 American Wrestlers of All Time list in 2022.

Sooner legends Dave Schultz (No. 12), Mark Schultz (No. 13), Wayne Wells (No.20), Danny Hodge (No. 26), Melvin Douglas (No. 30) and Andre Metzger (No. 51) all found spots inside the top 100.

Oklahoma's five names inside the top-30 gave them more in that range than any other school in the country. The Sooners sit third among Division I programs in the total number of wrestlers ranked.

For updates, follow @OU_Wrestling on Twitter and Instagram, or like Oklahoma Wrestling on Facebook.