@ostatepsycho @BluegrassPoke
STILLWATER — First-year wrestling coach David Taylor didn’t inherit big shoes when he took over in Stillwater.
He was stepping into the biggest shoes in the nation, replacing John Smith, who held Oklahoma State’s all-time records with 33 individual NCAA champions and 153 All-Americans.
That Smith didn’t also hold the record for NCAA team championships with five speaks to the program’s success.
In fact, Oklahoma State could stop wrestling for five years and still lead the nation by a comfortable margin in all-time NCAA team championships, NCAA individual titles and All-Americans.
Despite all of that, Taylor wanted to make history this year.
“This year, we had two goals,” Taylor said. “Beat the attendance record, which we did, and get over 10,000 people to a match.”
Oklahoma State’s largest crowds at home:
14,059 vs No. 2 Penn State in 2017 (OSU was No. 1)
13,811 vs No. 3 Iowa in 2019 (OSU was No. 2)
13,721 vs No. 4 Iowa in 2024 (OSU was No. 2)
10,802 vs No. 6 Oklahoma in 2001 (OSU was No. 2)
10,740 vs No. 20 Missouri in 2025 (OSU was No. 3)
“Sweet, it is pretty dang awesome. … That is pretty dang close to a sellout here,” Taylor said of the crowd after Sunday’s dual. “Historically, that is not something you see in here all the time. You don’t see that in many places.”
Bolstered by the largest crowd of the season in the Cowboys’ final home dual, Oklahoma State finished with an all-time record attendance average of 7,597 fans which also marked a nearly 30% increase from Oklahoma State’s 2024 attendance numbers.
The significance of the record certainly wasn’t lost on first-year Cowboy and senior Dean Hamiti.
“This place is historical for wrestling,” Hamiti said. “And to be able to break that record with this team and these guys, it makes it a little more special for me.”
The win was one of many good things for Taylor’s program this week. The Cowboys rose in the coaches poll and now rank second nationally, behind only Penn State, for the first time this season.
The Cowboys also secured multiple top commitments first from FloWrestling’s No. 3 overall 2026 prospect, 215-pounder Dreshaun Ross on Sunday. On Thursday, the No. 2 overall 2026 prospect, 132-pounder Jax Forrest pledged for the Cowboys.
Although Taylor can’t comment on any of these wrestlers, he did connect the attendance record and his ability to pitch future recruits on his vision prior to Forrest’s decision.
“I think when we first got here, there was a lot of, hey, this is what we want to do, and now we’ve been here, and this is what we’re doing. … Obviously your actions always speak louder than words,” Taylor said. “And that is the way we want to lead and that is the way we want to wrestle. … set the bar high, and we’re going to continue to surpass that.”
The only thing that prevented this from being a perfect week on paper occurred on Tuesday night when the nation’s top 2026 prospect, Bo Bassett, chose to commit in a highly publicized stream on X to Iowa over Oklahoma State, Penn State and Virginia Tech.
Regardless, it's hard to paint a negative picture considering Taylor has the Cowboys undefeated with a 317 total point differential, which is Oklahoma State’s best through 12 duals since the 1996-97 season. Oh, and the 47.4% bonus rate is the program’s best mark in 90-plus seasons.
“We’re never settled, you can never settle,” Taylor said. “That is something about me, as a competitor I never settled, and as a coach we’ll never settle. We’re going to continue to push the limits and push the bar. Our goal is to sell it out every single time we have a match.”
David Taylor is coming for OSU record books, attendance mark was just the start
Tyler Waldrep
OSU Sports WriterSTILLWATER — First-year wrestling coach David Taylor didn’t inherit big shoes when he took over in Stillwater.
He was stepping into the biggest shoes in the nation, replacing John Smith, who held Oklahoma State’s all-time records with 33 individual NCAA champions and 153 All-Americans.
That Smith didn’t also hold the record for NCAA team championships with five speaks to the program’s success.
In fact, Oklahoma State could stop wrestling for five years and still lead the nation by a comfortable margin in all-time NCAA team championships, NCAA individual titles and All-Americans.
Despite all of that, Taylor wanted to make history this year.
“This year, we had two goals,” Taylor said. “Beat the attendance record, which we did, and get over 10,000 people to a match.”
Taylor accomplished both on Sunday when 10,740 people attended Oklahoma State’s 36-3 dismantling of then-No. 20 Missouri. It was the fifth-largest recorded home crowd in Oklahoma State’s history and something of an outlier considering the other four all came against top-six opponents.
Oklahoma State’s largest crowds at home:
14,059 vs No. 2 Penn State in 2017 (OSU was No. 1)
13,811 vs No. 3 Iowa in 2019 (OSU was No. 2)
13,721 vs No. 4 Iowa in 2024 (OSU was No. 2)
10,802 vs No. 6 Oklahoma in 2001 (OSU was No. 2)
10,740 vs No. 20 Missouri in 2025 (OSU was No. 3)
“Sweet, it is pretty dang awesome. … That is pretty dang close to a sellout here,” Taylor said of the crowd after Sunday’s dual. “Historically, that is not something you see in here all the time. You don’t see that in many places.”
Bolstered by the largest crowd of the season in the Cowboys’ final home dual, Oklahoma State finished with an all-time record attendance average of 7,597 fans which also marked a nearly 30% increase from Oklahoma State’s 2024 attendance numbers.
The significance of the record certainly wasn’t lost on first-year Cowboy and senior Dean Hamiti.
“This place is historical for wrestling,” Hamiti said. “And to be able to break that record with this team and these guys, it makes it a little more special for me.”
The win was one of many good things for Taylor’s program this week. The Cowboys rose in the coaches poll and now rank second nationally, behind only Penn State, for the first time this season.
The Cowboys also secured multiple top commitments first from FloWrestling’s No. 3 overall 2026 prospect, 215-pounder Dreshaun Ross on Sunday. On Thursday, the No. 2 overall 2026 prospect, 132-pounder Jax Forrest pledged for the Cowboys.
Although Taylor can’t comment on any of these wrestlers, he did connect the attendance record and his ability to pitch future recruits on his vision prior to Forrest’s decision.
“I think when we first got here, there was a lot of, hey, this is what we want to do, and now we’ve been here, and this is what we’re doing. … Obviously your actions always speak louder than words,” Taylor said. “And that is the way we want to lead and that is the way we want to wrestle. … set the bar high, and we’re going to continue to surpass that.”
The only thing that prevented this from being a perfect week on paper occurred on Tuesday night when the nation’s top 2026 prospect, Bo Bassett, chose to commit in a highly publicized stream on X to Iowa over Oklahoma State, Penn State and Virginia Tech.
Regardless, it's hard to paint a negative picture considering Taylor has the Cowboys undefeated with a 317 total point differential, which is Oklahoma State’s best through 12 duals since the 1996-97 season. Oh, and the 47.4% bonus rate is the program’s best mark in 90-plus seasons.
“We’re never settled, you can never settle,” Taylor said. “That is something about me, as a competitor I never settled, and as a coach we’ll never settle. We’re going to continue to push the limits and push the bar. Our goal is to sell it out every single time we have a match.”
