How Oklahoma State wrestler Izzak Olejnik fit in quickly with 'guys who are like-minded'
TULSA — In the era of the transfer portal, college athletes will often proclaim that their new school “feels like home.”
To Oklahoma State wrestler Izzak Olejnik, that was no cliché.
“I think he’s gonna … buy a house,” said OSU coach John Smith, who recruited Olejnik to Stillwater for his final year of eligibility.
Olejnik grew up in Bakersfield, California, wrestled four years at Northern Illinois in DeKalb, yet has quickly found a new home with the Cowboys.
At 165 pounds, Olejnik is in a critical spot in the lineup when OSU hits the mat for the Big 12 Championships Saturday and Sunday at the BOK Center. On paper, Iowa State is the favorite, but the Cowboys aren’t far behind. Yet they’ll need to outperform their seeds at a few weights to return to the top of the Big 12 podium.
Olejnik has been ranked as high as No. 2 nationally in the weight class, yet finds himself seeded fourth in the conference meet — which is more a sign of the Big 12’s depth at 165 than a failure on Olejnik’s part.
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The top seed is Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole, the two-time defending national champion at the weight, and the No. 2 seed is Iowa State’s David Carr, who won a national title at 157 pounds before moving up two years ago.
So these two days will be a challenge for Olejnik. That’s not only a factor that drew him to OSU, but also a reason he has fit in so well.
“It’s been an awesome thing to wrestle here,” he said. “Having guys who are like-minded, wanting to win a national title, raises the competitiveness in the room. The atmosphere, that’s definitely helped.”
Olejnik has qualified for the NCAA Championships the past four years and he won his conference title in the MAC the last two, earning Most Outstanding Wrestler in the event last year. He went on to earn All-America status with an eighth-place finish at the NCAAs.
But with a team that has climbed to the top five in the national rankings with high hopes for March, Olejnik fell right into place with the Cowboys.
“For the amount of time I’ve been here, the people, my teammates, my coaches, they’ve welcomed me with open arms,” he said. “It’s felt like I’ve been on this team longer than I have.”
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His teammates sensed it as well.
“Oh, absolutely, Izzak’s definitely one of us,” said senior 184-pounder Dustin Plott. “He’s fit in great. This year, we’ve been real close as a team and I think that’s helped.”
And while no one on this Cowboy team is ready to look past the current season, Olejnik feels he has found a wrestling home. He still has a year left to complete his master’s degree, and he’s excited to be part of the Cowboy Wrestling Club regional training center, while also helping out the college team as much as he can.
Just another sign of how well he fit in with the Cowboys from the start.
“I think he felt relaxed and really excited about being a part of it,” Smith said. “He’s pretty comfortable. Ultimately, that’s what it’s about, is having that comfort zone you feel like you can win in and the training for him has been good. He’s had his challenges this year.
“Just needs to wind it up with some great tournaments.”
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Willie McDougald, Stephen Buchanan top Sooner seeds
While all other sports have to decide what Bedlam looks like after OU leaves for the Southeastern Conference this summer, wrestling has removed itself from that list.
Because the SEC does not sponsor wrestling, the Sooners have agreed to remain in the Big 12 going forward. Missouri, which left the Big 12 in 2012, returned to the conference in wrestling after a decade away, and has brought a boost to the conference with its return.
Keeping OU in the league should be similarly beneficial to both sides.
The Sooners have a pair of No. 2 seeds and a few more in the top eight of their weight classes entering Saturday’s action.
At 149, OU’s Willie McDougald earned the No. 2 seed with an 11-6 record and will open against Utah Valley’s unseeded James Emmer.
At 197, OU’s Stephen Buchanan also drew the No. 2 seed and has a first-round bye. He could be in line to face OSU’s seventh-seeded Luke Surber in the quarterfinals. The two have not met this season, with Surber missing the first Bedlam dual because of injury and Buchanan missing the second.
At heavyweight, OU’s Josh Heindselman is the No. 4 seed and received a first-round bye, meaning he is awaiting a potential Bedlam quarterfinal against OSU’s fifth-seeded Konner Doucet. They split their dual meetings this season.
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Tulsa locked in through 2028 Big 12 wrestling championships
The conference announced earlier this month that the Big 12 wrestling championships will remain at the BOK Center in Tulsa through the 2028 season.
The BOK has hosted the championships every year since 2017.
“They’ve committed a lot of years, and put on a great event for the athletes,” Smith said. “Not a lot of conferences are doing that, not a lot of cities are stepping up and doing that for conference events. Everybody wants the national tournament. But BOK has been first-class with Big 12 wrestling.”
Big 12 championship brackets
Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at swright@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State wrestling, Izzak Olejnik ready for Big 12 championships
