Can Penn State be beaten at NCAA Wrestling Championships? Oklahoma State among contenders

John Smith doesn’t soft-pedal his opinions on much of anything — including his own program.

So when the topic of the team race at this week’s NCAA Wrestling Championships came up, the Oklahoma State coach spoke his mind.

“Penn State is the best team in the country this year, and I don’t think anybody’s gonna run ‘em down,” Smith said. “I think there’s maybe five teams that can finish second.”

So that’s what’s on the line when the three-day NCAA Championships begin Thursday at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri — the runner-up trophy.

And Oklahoma State is among those five teams with a shot at second place.

For the Cowboys, it’ll come down to a few key things, like toss-up matches, bonus-point wins and strong showings from the younger half of the roster.

OSU has a wrestler seeded in the top half of the bracket at seven of the 10 weight classes, and five of those are seeded 10th or better. So the Pokes have a chance to pile up some early wins in hopes of gaining momentum moving toward the medal rounds.

Iowa State, which edged OSU for the Big 12 title earlier this month, is among the Cowboys’ prime challengers, along with North Carolina State, Nebraska and Lehigh.

Here’s a look at five storylines to watch for OSU and OU wrestlers in the tournament:

More: How Oklahoma State's Daton Fix is prepping for both NCAA wrestling finals, Olympic trials

Daton Fix’s title pursuit

This is the biggest storyline for OSU wrestling at the NCAA Championships, as it has been each of the four previous times Fix has been in the field.

WIth a 17-0 record, the Sand Springs product is on the top line of the bracket as he tries to finish the job he has come oh-so-close to completing.

Fix has three runner-up finishes and a fourth place to his name, but he continues to reiterate that the No. 1 by his name means nothing.

“Doesn’t really matter. At all,” Fix said. “It just places me in the bracket. I gotta win five matches, and it doesn’t matter who I’m wrestling.

“I have a job to do and that’s to go win.”

Relying on rookies

OSU has five wrestlers who will be making their first appearance at the NCAA Championships.

During the season, that quintet showed little fear on the mat, which is what enabled the Cowboys to rise from outside the top 10 to as high as No. 2 in the rankings with road wins over top-five teams during the season.

But the NCAAs are a different challenge. Team momentum doesn’t build like it does in a dual. It’s a much more solitary environment.

But whether it’s 125-pound Troy Spratley — the highest seed of the newcomers at No. 6 — or 25th-seeded Brayden Thompson at 174, the Cowboys need wins from the youngsters.

“Our young guys have been awesome this year,” said senior Dustin Plott, who is the No. 3 seed at 184 pounds. “Of all the teams I’ve been on, this is the best group of first-year guys in the lineup that we’ve had.

“They’ve done a great job responding to everything and going and competing every week.”

More: How Oklahoma State wrestler Izzak Olejnik fit in quickly with 'guys who are like-minded'

Health concerns linger

Two of the Cowboys’ lower seeds, 149-pound Jordan Williams at No. 20 and 197-pound Luke Surber at No. 27, have battled injuries at times this year.

For Surber, it had appeared his injury issues were behind him, yet he struggled at times during the Big 12 Championships. He has dealt with upper-body and lower-body injuries this season, and his difficulties at Big 12s could have been more a result of lacking mat time.

Williams made a strong run to the final of his Big 12 bracket, but hurt his shoulder along the way and lost the title match via injury default.

“He’s done a nice job being able to work through the process and train a lot,” Smith said. “A lot of times when you hurt something, you end up training a lot harder than you would have if you were competing every day. We feel good.”

Heavyweights on the bubble

Both OSU and OU heavyweight wrestlers are seeded in the top 12, meaning one upset along the way will get them into top-eight contention.

OSU’s Konner Doucet is the No. 12 seed, with OU’s Josh Heindselman at No. 11, which puts them on opposite sides of the bracket. That makes a fourth match between the two this season unlikely, unless it comes somewhere in the consolation bracket.

For OSU, Doucet opens with 21st-seeded Dayton Pitzer of Pittsburgh, who was 11-5 on the season and is considered a darkhorse in the bracket by some experts.

Heindselman has a tough draw in the top-heavy bracket, too. Should the seedings prove true, Heindselman will face Missouri’s Zach Elam in the second round. Sixth-seeded Elam was an All-American last year and enters with the best record of his career at 25-2. He defeated Heindselman via major decision for third place at the Big 12 Championships earlier this month.

OU’s Stephen Buchanan chasing All-America finish

OU’s top wrestler throughout the course of the season, Stephen Buchanan, is the No. 8 seed at 197 pounds, giving him an edge toward a top-eight finish and All-America honors.

Such a feat would be valuable for the Sooners in coach Roger Kish’s first year.

Excluding All-America selections in the 2020 season when the NCAA Championships were canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, OU has had just two All-American finishers since 2016.

NCAA wrestling championships

WHEN: Thursday-Saturday

WHERE: T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State, OU chasing Penn State at NCAA Wrestling Championships