Cowboys Lock Up Runner-Up Finish at NCAAs

Oklahoma State continued its push heading into the final session of the 2026 NCAA Wrestling Championships on Saturday.

With the results of the fifth session, OSU has officially clinched a second-place finish at the national tournament, which is taking place at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. It marks the Cowboys' best finish in nationals since 2016. And while Penn State mathematically clinched its fifth-straight, it also marks the second-straight top-three finish under coach David Taylor, now in his second season at the helm.

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OSU entered Session 5, focusing on placement matches, where the Cowboys tallied onto their historic weekend.

In the consolation semifinals, fifth-seeded 125-pounder Troy Spratley clashed with Vincent Robinson of North Carolina State in a rematch of their second-round bout in the tournament. After a scoreless sudden victory, Robinson was awarded a late reversal in the tiebreaker period following an extended review, and Spratley was counterattack, dropping the bout 3-2.

However, Spratley responded as he has all season, pinning Indiana's Jacob Moran to clinch a fifth-place finish at 125.

At heavyweight, 7-seed Konner Doucet capped off his tournament with a fourth-place finish. Doucet advanced to the third-place match after former national champion and OSU wrestler AJ Ferrari logged a medical forfeit. But in the third-place match, Big Ten champion Taye Ghadiali of Michigan scored a late first-period takedown and let his defense do the rest, adding an escape before finishing off a 5-1 decision.

At 149, 8-seed Casey Swiderski placed eighth to finalize his second career All-American finish. Swiderski gave up an early takedown in his seventh-place match against Penn's Cross Wasilewski, and never regained momentum. Swiderski only managed a late escape point, as Wasilewski held on for a 5-2 decision.

At 184, 22-seed Zack Ryder also finished eighth after medically forfeiting his final match against Wyoming's Eddie Neitenbach. The redshirt-freshman and former Penn State transfer battled a shoulder injury throughout the tournament, but still managed to secure his first set of All-American honors.

Now, the Cowboys shift their focus to the finals round, which begins at 5:30 central standard time. OSU will showcase four wrestlers — Jax Forrest at 133, Sergio Vega at 141, Landon Robideau at 157 and Cody Merrill at 197 — with a chance at adding onto an already stellar weekend to cap off Taylor's second campaign as coach.