OU vs. Oklahoma State wrestling: 3 storylines that will decide season's first Bedlam dual

NORMAN — The first Bedlam wrestling dual of the season arrives on Sunday.

Eighteenth-ranked OU hosts No. 11 Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. inside McCasland Field House, to be broadcast on ESPN+.

While the Sooners are 4-1 on the young season, this will be OSU’s third dual of the season.

Both teams are coming off wins over ranked opponents, with OU topping No. 21 West Virginia 21-19 last Sunday, and the Cowboys downing No. 20 Lehigh 25-12 on Friday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater.

Here are three storylines to watch for the first Bedlam dual of the season:

New faces

Depending on how the lineups shake out, more than half of the wrestlers could be taking part in their first Bedlam.

And on top of that, this is the Bedlam debut for new OU coach Roger Kish, too. Kish, of course, is not new to the Big 12. He was the North Dakota State coach when that program joined the league in 2015 and guided NDSU’s rise on the national landscape over the last decade-plus.

Now, he’s being tasked with breathing life back into a Sooner program that has plateaued as a middle-tier team in the Big 12. And finding success against the in-state rival will be critical, considering the Sooners haven’t won a Bedlam dual since 2013.

There is little history to rely on for this matchup, considering all the new starters in both lineups. Based on potential starters, this dual will be the first meeting between the wrestlers at eight  — and possibly nine — of the weight classes.

OSU’s health in question

The Cowboys won on Friday without two highly ranked wrestlers, and coach John Smith provided little clarity as to their health for Sunday.

Daton Fix, ranked third at 133 pounds, and Luke Surber, ranked 12th at 197, both missed the Lehigh dual with recently sustained injuries.

With Fix, OSU would be a significant favorite at 133, but if he can’t go, the Cowboys would likely call on Reece Witcraft, who filled in against Lehigh, though Zach Blankenship could also get some consideration.

At 197, the Sooners have second-ranked and unbeaten Stephen Buchanan, a Wyoming transfer who redshirted last year and defeated Surber in their only previous matchup.

If Surber is unavailable, Buchanan could be a candidate for a bonus-point win.

Key matchups

The injury uncertainty aside, a few other matchups will go a long way toward deciding Sunday’s result.

At 141 pounds, OSU’s ninth-ranked Tagen Jamison will face No. 10 Mosha Schwarts of OU. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two, though Schwarts has the experience edge as a fifth-year senior while Jamison is a redshirt freshman.

At 174, OU has 17th-ranked Tate Picklo, who was a key figure emerging over the second half of last season. OSU will send out true freshman Brayden Thompson, who is coming off his first victory of the year on Friday. He was one of the top recruits in the country in the 2023 signing class.

Should the dual go in weight order — which won’t be known until Sunday afternoon — the finale could be a critical heavyweight matchup between OU’s No. 10 Josh Heindselman and OSU’s 11th-ranked Konnor Doucet. They’ve met twice, each winning once.

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.

Bedlam wrestling

NO. 18 OU VS. NO. 11 OSU: 2 p.m. Sunday at McCasland Field House in Norman (ESPN+)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Bedlam wrestling storylines that will decide OU-Oklahoma State dual