No. 2 Oklahoma State Routs No. 3 Nebraska 27-6 in Top-Three Wrestling Showdown
STILLWATER, Okla. — No. 2 Oklahoma State turned one of the most anticipated duals of the college wrestling season into a rout on Friday night, beating No. 3 Nebraska 27-6 before a sellout crowd of 12,527 at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Cowboys won eight of the ten bouts, landing 15 takedowns to Nebraska’s two. It was their widest margin of victory in a home dual between top-three teams since a 39-0 win over No. 3 Michigan State on 14 December 1996, and it moved Oklahoma State to 2-0 on the season while Nebraska fell to 1-1.
Freshman Zinkin stuns a national champion
The tone was set in the opening bout. True freshman Rocklin Zinkin, stepping in for 2025 NCAA finalist Troy Spratley, beat No. 4 Vincent Robinson — the 2025 NCAA champion — 2-1 in tiebreakers. The win took Zinkin to 6-0 for the season and 2-0 against ranked opponents, and handed Robinson only the fifth dual defeat of his career.
No. 1 Jax Forrest followed with a 21-6 technical fall over No. 8 Jacob Van Dee in exactly six minutes, landing six takedowns for the 14th technical fall of his young career. True freshman Jayden Raney then added a 10-2 major decision over Lincoln Sledzianowski at 141 pounds, and by the end of the lightweights Oklahoma State led 12-0.
Champions deliver in the middle weights
The middle of the lineup belonged to Oklahoma State’s champions. No. 2 Sergio Vega edged No. 5 Anthony Echemendia 4-2 at 149 pounds, improving to 3-0 in their series, and No. 1 Landon Robideau beat No. 3 Antrell Taylor 3-1 at 157 in a rematch of last season’s NCAA final. Robideau won that final; Taylor had beaten him in last season’s dual meeting. No. 3 Casey Swiderski then beat three-time All-American Meyer Shapiro 4-2 at 165, and the Cowboys led 21-0.
Nebraska’s answers come late
Nebraska finally reached the scoreboard at 174 pounds, where No. 2 Christopher Minto beat Lorenzo Norman 5-1 for the Huskers’ first team points of the night. Oklahoma State answered immediately: freshman Mikey White beat Lucas Cochran 9-5 at 184, and No. 2 Cody Merrill beat No. 5 Camden McDanel 4-1 in sudden victory at 197.
No. 14 Cade Ziola closed the evening with Nebraska’s second win, beating Dreshaun Ross 4-1 at heavyweight with a takedown in the final two seconds. It was a consolation rather than a comeback — the gap was already 21 points.
A statement for the Taylor era
“That’s the standard,” head coach David Taylor said afterwards. “Tonight is the standard; everyone we wrestle, no matter who it is. It is worth your drive to watch this team compete. We’re special; it is really special.”
The result was Taylor’s 30th dual win as a head coach. Oklahoma State are now 15-0 at Gallagher-Iba Arena under Taylor, and every home win in his tenure has come by at least 15 points. Friday’s crowd was the sixth of more than 10,000 fans in Taylor’s time in charge, and the programme’s first sellout of the season — former Cowboys quarterback Brandon Weeden led the team out before the first bout.
Oklahoma State now lead the all-time series against Nebraska 54-4-1, including 26-1 in Stillwater. The result capped a big Friday night in college sport, on the same evening as Colorado’s upset of No. 14 Houston in Boulder. The young season has already produced UCLA’s upset of No. 5 Arizona in basketball, and Oklahoma State’s rout now joins that list of early statements. NCAA.com called the Cowboys “one of the best teams in the country” after the performance, while USA Wrestling noted the margin was the programme’s best in a home top-three dual in nearly 30 years.
What comes next
Oklahoma State head on the road for the first time this season, visiting No. 14 Arizona State at Desert Financial Arena on Friday, 20 November, at 7 p.m. CT. Nebraska travel to Philadelphia to face No. 24 Penn on Saturday, 21 November, before competing in the Keystone Classic the following day.
If the Cowboys wrestle like this again, Taylor’s standard will be a problem for the rest of the country.
