It’s no joke when we say that the NCAA collegiate wrestling teams are emerging with prominence. When talking specifically about David Taylor’s Oklahoma State Cowboys, this team is coming off with one of the biggest changes made last year, and boy, have we seen some of the best-ever performances by its collegiate wrestlers!

Under John Smith’s coaching, the Cowboys were already established, but ever since Taylor’s steps entered the Cowboys mat, it’s been a new makeover that we all have seen in NCAA wrestling. We already had Cael Sanderson’s dominance reflected through Penn State wrestlers, but giving it tough competition came Taylor and its Cowboys wrestlers.

Cowboys with its top three stars

David Taylor’s Oklahoma State Cowboys currently have three of their wrestlers, all ranked third in the country. No. 3 Dustin Plott, No. 3 Dean Hamiti Jr., and No. 3 Wyatt Hendrickson. Quite impressive, right? So let’s not stop here. All three impressive accolades and achievements are worthy of mentioning.

From the junior class, we have their heavyweight, Wyatt Hendrickson. The third-seed NCAA Champion went 27-2, but his highlighting performances came from Ohio State No. 9 Nick Feldman and Oklahoma No. 10 Josh Heindselman. An impressive 35-win streak in dual matches and his career victories making a century also come into account.

Joining the likes of Hendrickson are senior players Dean Hamiti Jr. and Dustin Plott. The fifth-seed NCAA Champion comes with a 28-4 record that includes his 16-4 record made against the other ranked opponents. Winning 15 of the 16 dual matches, Dean owns two championship titles, both coming in the same year, including the 2023 Michigan State Open and the 2023 Ken Kraft Midlands Championships.

Now coming to 184 pounds, Dustin Plott, with his first-ever NCAA finals win in the 2023-2024 season, has an impressive 31-4 record. The record, however, comprises 14 wins in dual matches and 19 wins against ranked opponents. Those ranked wins come against opponents like Minnesota’s Isaiah Salazar and Oregon State’s Trey Munoz.

Now coming to their Friday match against University of Northern Iowa wrestling, the Cowboys stole the show. Taking away the win by 22-14 at the McLeod Center, the performances shown by the wrestlers were promising. But there is another name who is coming off with an emerging career from the OSU Cowboys and under Taylor’s coaching.

David Taylor’s team has another emerging star

Although the top wrestlers are being discussed in great numbers, let’s not forget there’s a 4th-ranked wrestler in the OSU Cowboy’s that too has greatly contributed to the team. While coming in as the 10th seeded player in the NCAA Championship, the wrestler places fourth at the Big 12 Championship.

A key player at 141 pounds, Tagen Jamison’s 21-10 record for the team comes promising with a 9-4 performance in dual matches. The wins made against Nebraska No. 4 Brock Hardy, Iowa State No. 4 Anthony Echemendia, and Bucknell’s wrestler Braden Bower come in as major highlights from Davis Taylor’s mentees.

Now coming to his current performance in the Friday match against UNI No. 5 wrestler Cael Happel, Tagen, however, fell short. The defeat by 3-7 comes as a big setback, with Cael scoring three points in the last 26 seconds. This was, however, not enough to bring down Taylor’s Cowboys. Dominating its opponent, the Cowboys took the upper hand, taking the win by 22-14.

Taking the upper hand like this, Oklahoma State has given out wins that made Taylor’s relevance in the team more promising than ever. Giving tough competition against the already established coaches like Cael Sanderson, Tom Brands, and Kevin Dresser, David Taylor’s dominant coaching proves a success for the Cowboys.