Oklahoma State University Wrestling

David “Magic Man” Taylor is entering his second season as head coach of the Oklahoma State wrestling program after compiling an uber-impressive rookie season as a first-time head coach. Taylor sparked a new hope into the Cowboy faithful in year one, as the Cowboys finished third at the NCAA Championships, Oklahoma State's highest placing since 2021. With two NCAA Champions, six All-Americans, and nine NCAA qualifiers, the Cowboys took home their highest point total since 2017. Additionally, Taylor became only the second first-year head coach to collect a Big 12 title in his first season. The team compiled a 13-1 record with its only loss coming in nail-biting fashion on the road. Taylor’s Cowboys were a must-see attraction, as Oklahoma State set a new home attendance record in Taylor’s first season. The OSU faithful were not the only ones fascinated with the recharged Cowboys. On the road, three separate foes on the Cowboys’ 2024-25 schedule set new attendance records of their own when the Pokes came to town. Taylor’s Cowboys became a must-see attraction, as Oklahoma State set a new average attendance record with 7,597, eclipsing the previous record by nearly 30%. One of the reasons for the spike was Dan Hodge Trophy winner Wyatt Hendrickson. In the heavyweight’s first season with the program, Taylor and co. were able to propel the nation’s most dominant wrestler to a perfect season, where he defeated Olympic champion Gable Steveson in the NCAA final in one of wrestling’s big

Bryan Pearsall enters his second season as the recruiting coordinator at Oklahoma State following a successful decade on the coaching circuit. Pearsall helped Coach Taylor garner the second-ranked recruiting class in the country in his first season with the Cowboys. Oklahoma State brought in 10 wrestlers, including three wrestlers ranked in FloWrestling’s top six in LaDarion Lockett, Sergio Vega and Landon Robideau. Pearsall has seen continued success heading into the 2025-26 season, landing verbal commitments from four of the top six wrestlers in the country. Pearsall joined the program having spent the past seven seasons at Penn, where he originally began as an assistant prior to his promotion to associate head coach less than a year into his tenure. An instrumental piece of several top-25 classes, Pearsall saw Penn reach unprecedented levels on the recruiting trail, highlighted by a ninth-ranked overall class in 2019. While at Penn, his wrestlers qualified for 34 appearances at NCAA Championships, earned 39 placements at the EIWA Championships, won a pair of individual conference titles and were named All-Ivy honorees 36 times. In his final season as a Quaker, Penn finished in a tie for fourth at the EIWA Championships with 90.5 points before sending eight of its 10 starters to the NCAA Championships two weeks later. There, tenth-seeded Nick Incontrera led the charge at 174 pounds, reaching the Round of 16 and coming up just two wins shy of All-American status. Penn conclu

Jimmy Kennedy begins his second season as associate head coach at Oklahoma State, helping a pair of Cowboys to national titles. Kennedy helped guide the Cowb...

Kevin Ward returns to his alma mater as an assistant coach for his first season after impressive stints at Army and Ouachita Baptist. In 11 seasons at Army West Point, Ward led the Black Knights to a 59-53 dual record and coached 54 wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. In his first year, his team defeated Navy to snap a 17-year winless drought. His tenure at Army also included seven wins over Navy and four-consecutive Star Series victories over the Midshipmen from 2016-17 to 2019-20, as he became the first coach in program history to accomplish that feat. Last season, Ward’s Army team sent seven wrestlers to the NCAA Championships to mark the most for the program since 2021 and the second-most in program history. Ward’s coaching accolades include being named the 2014 NCAA Div. II Coach of the Year, the 2019 EIWA Coach of the Year and a finalist for the 2019 NWCA National Coach of the Year. Ward, who turned a wrestling program built from scratch at Ouachita Baptist University into a national contender, led the Tigers to top-15 finishes at the NCAA Championships in each of the program’s first three seasons. Ward coached 10 All-Americans and two NCAA finalists. An accomplished wrestler at Oklahoma State, Ward started his coaching career as a graduate assistant with the Cowboys during the 2006-07 season, while earning his master’s degree in health and human performance. He assisted legendary head coach John Smith with drill sessions and preparing the team for competitions, as wel

Nick Goldstein joined the Oklahoma State University Athletic Training Staff in August of 2020 as a graduate assistant. While initially working with the track...

Tyler Caldwell is entering his ninth season on staff at Oklahoma State and third as an assistant following a six-year stint as the program’s recruiting coordinator. This past season, Caldwell garnered his first national champions as an assistant coach, with Dean Hamiti Jr. (174) and Wyatt Hendrickson (HWT). The Cowboys dominated in dual competition, going 13-1, and having only one single-digit win. Caldwell helped lead the Cowboys to an impressive nine wins over ranked foes, including three top-10 victories over No. 5 Northern Iowa, No. 5 NC State and No. 7 Virginia Tech. OSU would also collect a Big 12 Championship en route to its third place finish at the NCAA Championships. Caldwell’s first season as an assistant saw Daton Fix and Dustin Plott each finish as national runner-ups, while Izzak Olejnik finished fifth at 165 pounds to give the Cowboys their most placers since 2021. Fix’s final season in Stillwater included becoming the Big 12’s first five-time champion and first five-time All-American in program history. The Cowboys excelled in dual competition throughout the regular season, winning their first 14 duals for the program’s highest win total in five years. Three of those victories came against top-five teams as part of OSU’s nation-leading 12 ranked wins on the year. OSU also set a program average attendance record with 5,871 fans per dual and hosted their first sellout at Gallagher-Iba Arena since 2019. Oklahoma State would go on to finish second at the Big 12 Ch