Drexel Preview: Turquoise, Tradition and a Tune-Up

The #2 Oklahoma State Cowboys (0-0) open the dual season Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in Gallagher-Iba Arena against the Drexel Dragons (0-0), and if we are being real at all, the result is not in doubt. OSU has won 26 straight home openers going back to the turn of the century, has never lost to Drexel (3-0), and the last time the Dragons came to Stillwater in 2021 they left on the wrong end of a 45-0 shutout. The dual is on ESPN+, and Karsten Melton takes over the radio call on 93.7 KSPI-FM for his first full season.

Sunday is also the annual Native American Heritage dual, so the Cowboys will be in the turquoise singlets for the second time and will be led out by the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, which was pretty cool when they did it last year. On the giveaway front, the first 500 fans through the doors get a turquoise OK State wrestling shirt, and the first 2,500 get rally towels. There’s also a pre-dual tailgate on Hall of Fame Avenue, north of Gallagher-Iba Arena, from 11:00 to 2:00, open to the public.

All of that is part of a bigger push. Last year the Cowboys set the program’s season attendance record for the third straight year, averaging 9,259 over six home duals and selling out Gallagher-Iba twice, including the 12,629 who showed up for Iowa in the finale. The challenge this year is keeping that momentum going when the home slate doesn’t have quite the same marquee value. Drexel isn’t Iowa, and nobody is pretending otherwise, but a big Sunday crowd for a turquoise dual with giveaways and a tailgate would be a good sign that the fan base is showing up for the program and not just the opponent.

Drexel is a decent team in the EIWA. Matt Azevedo is in his 16th season running the program, the Dragons went 13-7 last year, finished fifth at the EIWA tournament and won their second straight EIWA Independence Division title. They opened this year by winning the Mercyhurst Open with eight individual champions. That said, they graduated or lost most of their 2025-26 lineup, and only one of last year’s three NCAA qualifiers, heavyweight Nate Schon, is back. Four Dragons are ranked by InterMat (nobody higher than #20) and one by Flo. OSU, meanwhile, has every weight ranked somewhere by somebody, including three #1s.

A couple of lineup notes before the matchups. Six Cowboys (Dee Lockett, Lorenzo Norman, Bennett Berge, Kody Routledge, Tagen Jamison and Jordyn Raney) are in East Lansing on Saturday for the Michigan State Open, so Mikey White and Casey Swiderski get the nod at 184 and 165. Konner Doucet has yet to wrestle this season and Flo has previously commented that he is a second-semester guy, so Dreshaun Ross is the heavyweight for now (and maybe for the season). Cody Merrill injury defaulted out of the Cowboy Invitational final against Stephen Little, but the lineup floating around this week has him in it. And Troy Spratley is dealing with a minor shoulder issue that the staff is being careful with, so true freshman Rocklin Zinkin will probably get the start at 125 here.

Let’s get to the lineups and predictions. Rankings (Flo/InterMat), records and common-opponent history from WrestleStat.

125 Rocklin Zinkin (4-0) or (6/7) Troy Spratley (0-0) vs. (UR/33) Oumar Tounkara (4-0)

Tounkara is a sophomore who went 5-4 as a freshman and came out of the Mercyhurst Open with the title and InterMat’s #33 ranking. He was a legit recruit (Super 32 and Fargo All-American) and is probably Drexel’s best shot at keeping something close in the lower weights. Zinkin rolled four straight at the Invitational with bonus points in every match, and a win here would be his first over a ranked opponent. There is no common-opponent history to lean on, so this is a true first look at the freshman against a Division I starter. If Spratley goes instead, he should handle Tounkara comfortably. Either way, I expect OSU to score in bunches.

PREDICTION: Zinkin by major decision. OSU 4-0.

133 (1/1) Jax Forrest (3-0) vs. Cole Hagerty (4-0) or Jaden Perez (3-1)

Forrest is the unanimous #1 in the country and went pin, pin, tech at the Cowboy Invitational, including a 20-4 tech of #8/#9 T.K. Davis in the final. Hagerty is a freshman who won Mercyhurst, Perez is the backup. It doesn’t much matter who Drexel sends out; the only question is how fast it will be over.

Drexel Preview: Turquoise, Tradition and a Tune-Up

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