good to see some local attention and glad these duals are back to a home and home....been too long.
Sooners set to host OSU for first time in three years
NORMAN — With a team he feels is more competitive than the last couple years, Oklahoma coach Lou Rosselli is ready to see how his wrestlers will hold up in their first home Bedlam dual in three years.
Rosselli and Oklahoma State coach John Smith came to an agreement prior to the 2017-18 season that the traditional home-and-home Bedlam matches would end temporarily, with Smith having one stipulation: If they’d be meeting only once, it would be in Stillwater.
But Bedlam is back on the schedule twice this season, beginning with the dual at 2 p.m. Sunday at OU’s McCasland Field House.
“We’re very young,” Rosselli said. “I think they’re all making progress. Those young kids still need to get battle-tested.
“Oklahoma State has a rich tradition. There’s gonna be some great matches. Being that kind of high-profile match is good for all of our young guys to understand it and respect it and give what they gotta give for themselves and for our program.”
No. 9 Oklahoma State will send either five or six individually-ranked wrestlers to the mat, depending on whether 141-pound sophomore Kaden Gfeller makes his season debut.
OU has ranked wrestlers at four weights, including 141 with reigning Big 12 champion Dom Demas.
In the previous two seasons, Rosselli saw a single Bedlam dual as a better opportunity for his team to go outside the Big 12 for an extra match in hopes of building the program and strengthening his wrestlers’ résumés.
The Cowboys have faced some early challenges and injuries this season, but Smith is excited to push his team in the Bedlam road environment.
“It’s been a while,” Smith said. “It’s nice to get back to wrestling them home and away. I’m looking forward to wrestling, and I know our guys are looking forward to it.”
OSU 149-pound senior Boo Lewallen attended matches at OU when he was younger, but has never wrestled a Bedlam dual there.
“For myself, I’m from Yukon, so it’s probably 30 minutes to Norman,” Lewallen said. “I could go there and watch it, so it was good to have it closer. We always made the drive up to Stillwater, too. But for a lot of kids, it helps, because it’s right there in the Oklahoma City metro. I think it’s a good thing for the state.”
Sooners set to host OSU for first time in three years
NORMAN — With a team he feels is more competitive than the last couple years, Oklahoma coach Lou Rosselli is ready to see how his wrestlers will hold up in their first home Bedlam dual in three years.
Rosselli and Oklahoma State coach John Smith came to an agreement prior to the 2017-18 season that the traditional home-and-home Bedlam matches would end temporarily, with Smith having one stipulation: If they’d be meeting only once, it would be in Stillwater.
But Bedlam is back on the schedule twice this season, beginning with the dual at 2 p.m. Sunday at OU’s McCasland Field House.
“We’re very young,” Rosselli said. “I think they’re all making progress. Those young kids still need to get battle-tested.
“Oklahoma State has a rich tradition. There’s gonna be some great matches. Being that kind of high-profile match is good for all of our young guys to understand it and respect it and give what they gotta give for themselves and for our program.”
No. 9 Oklahoma State will send either five or six individually-ranked wrestlers to the mat, depending on whether 141-pound sophomore Kaden Gfeller makes his season debut.
OU has ranked wrestlers at four weights, including 141 with reigning Big 12 champion Dom Demas.
In the previous two seasons, Rosselli saw a single Bedlam dual as a better opportunity for his team to go outside the Big 12 for an extra match in hopes of building the program and strengthening his wrestlers’ résumés.
The Cowboys have faced some early challenges and injuries this season, but Smith is excited to push his team in the Bedlam road environment.
“It’s been a while,” Smith said. “It’s nice to get back to wrestling them home and away. I’m looking forward to wrestling, and I know our guys are looking forward to it.”
OSU 149-pound senior Boo Lewallen attended matches at OU when he was younger, but has never wrestled a Bedlam dual there.
“For myself, I’m from Yukon, so it’s probably 30 minutes to Norman,” Lewallen said. “I could go there and watch it, so it was good to have it closer. We always made the drive up to Stillwater, too. But for a lot of kids, it helps, because it’s right there in the Oklahoma City metro. I think it’s a good thing for the state.”