Gallagher-Iba Arena hosts Iowa for the first time since Piccininni's pin

Feb. 21—On Feb. 24, 2019, Nick Piccininni stunned the wrestling world and sent Gallagher-Iba Arena into a frenzy.

Iowa's Spencer Lee was the reigning NCAA Champion at 125 pounds and in the middle of one of the most dominant runs in the history of college athletics when he met Piccininni on the mat that day. Four minutes and 55 seconds later, Lee was on his back for the first time in his career, Piccininni started an O-S-U chant and Oklahoma State coach John Smith was as amped as he has ever been.

"What made it great was just the eruption of the crowd and how loud it actually was," Smith said. "That's not what you expected."

Five years and one day removed from Piccininni's iconic pin, the No. 2 Cowboys will look to complete the program's 48th undefeated season in its history with a win over No. 4 Iowa on Sunday.

OSU has lost its last three duals against the Hawkeyes — two in Iowa City and one in Arlington, Texas — by a combined score of 85-22.

The dual is back in Gallagher-Iba Arena, and it's the hottest ticket in town since Bedlam football. The program reported on Tuesday that only about 1,000 tickets remained.

Wrestlers and coaches raved about the crowd for the Bedlam dual, many saying it was the most packed they had ever seen GIA.There was a reported attendance of 9,912, but Cowboy wrestling has drawn crowds of 14,000 for top duals.

If they thought Bedlam was crazy, they have no idea what's coming.

Smith said he expects a big advantage from the home fans.

"(They) can lift you up beyond your abilities to do things. Trust me," he said. "You find strength that you didn't know you had if they're yelling for you. And if they're yelling against you, I've seen some ugly things."

Dustin Plott was in the stands as an OSU commit for Piccinnini's pin. He called it his most memorable experience of the Greatest Rivalry in College Wrestling.

"There was a sudden uproar (when Piccinnini hooked up the cradle) because a lot of people knew that was a scoring position, and when he took (Lee) to his back, the place was deafening," Plott said.

Plott hopes the team can give the fans another great memory from this rivalry.

But to do that, Smith said, it'll have to beat the best, toughest team it has wrestled all year.

"We need to do what we've been doing all year long: win some matches we're not supposed to win. That's how you win big dual meets," Smith said. "And we're ready. There's no reason why we can't do that."

Smith assumed that, despite the team rankings, Iowa should be favored because of the individual rankings.

The Hawkeyes have the higher ranked wrestler at six weight classes, via InterMat:

125: No. 4 Drake Ayala vs. No. 12 Troy Spratley

141: No. 2 Real Woods vs. No. 8 Tagen Jamison

149: No. 8 Caleb Rathjen vs. No. 18 Jordan Williams

157: No. 5 Jared Franek vs. No. 10 Teague Travis

174: No. 7 Patrick Kennedy vs. No. 21 Brayden Thompson

197: No. 11 Zach Glazier vs. No. 16 Luke Surber

While OSU has the edge in only four:

133: No. 3 Daton Fix vs. No. 20 Cullan Schriever

165: No. 3 Izaak Olejnik vs. No. 7 Mikey Caliendo

184: No. 2 Dustin Plott vs. Aiden Riggins

285: No. 11 Konner Doucet vs. No. 29 Bradley Hill

So, the Cowboys will need to win at least one or two upsets and/or the bonus point advantage to come away with the win.