David Taylor on Oklahoma State 43-6 win over Air Force: 'Just picking up where we left off'

No. 3 Oklahoma State dominated Air Force 43-6 to improve to 7-0 on the season and 5-0 in Big 12 duals and David Taylor didn’t expect anything different.

The first-year Cowboys head coach saw his team have no lulls after the holiday break as Oklahoma State continued a season of resurgence. The lone Air Force bout victory came at 133 pounds, via forfeit.

Other than that, it was a dominant display at Gallagher Arena.

“Just picking up where we left off before the break,” Taylor said. “Good to see the guys continue to improve and work on the stuff that we’re working on. Tonight was good for these guys. We’ve had a lot of tough matches, and tonight, we were able to go out, build our leads and score some points.”

Oklahoma State heavyweight Wyatt Hendrickson didn’t wrestle against his former school Friday night. Konner Doucet got the nod at 285 pounds and defeated Antonio Ramos 2-1 to cap off the night.

Taylor also noted 133 pounds was a decision made prior to the dual. No wrestler weighed in, giving Air Force’s Gavin Caprella the win by forfeit.

Reece Witcraft has been the most recent starter at the weight. He and Cael Hughes were both dinged up and Taylor was honest about the approach for other guys to potentially fill that spot Friday night.

“Reece’s knee has been kind of tweaked since Vegas and he’s been kind of wrestling through it, so I felt like this was a time to get healthy,” Taylor said, via The Oklahoman. “We talk about the orange singlet being something you earn, and guys had their chance to get their weight down and wrestle, and they didn’t do it appropriately.”

Elsewhere, starting 165 pounder Cam Amine sat out and Colin Young got the nod, earning an 8-2 decision victory. Amine is expected back on January 12th when NC State comes to town.

“He’s got one speed and it’s just to go out there and wrestle,” Taylor said of Young. “He loves to wrestle. So there wasn’t much to be said. You could see it. He didn’t show a lot of emotion, but you could tell he really enjoyed it.”

Oklahoma State doesn’t want to peak yet, since wrestlers and teams want to do that in March at the NCAA Championships. But there’s no doubt the Cowboys are a wrecking ball through the first half of the season.

“This is a time when people get sick over the holidays,” Taylor said. “This is one of those matches where you’re thinking of the long-term of the season. Get our guys healthy while we can, the best that we can.”

Oklahoma State 43, Air Force 6

• 125: Troy Spratley, OSU, tech. fall Bubba Wright, 21-3 (5:23)
• 133: Gavin Caprella, AF, won by forfeit
• 141: Tagen Jamison, OSU, tech. fall Carter Nogle, 21-5 (6:40)
• 149: Carter Young, OSU, tech. fall Alec Viduya, 18-3 (7:00)
• 157: Caleb Fish, OSU, tech. fall EJ Beloncik, 21-3 (5:56)
• 165: Colin Young, OSU, dec. Andrew Harmon, 8-2
• 174: Dean Hamiti Jr., OSU, pinned Jack Ganos, 1:55
• 184: Dustin Plott, OSU, pinned Gage Musser, 1:46
• 197: Luke Surber, OSU, tech. fall Brian Burburija, 23-8 (5:42)
• HWT: Konner Doucet, OSU, dec. Antonio Ramos, 2-1