John Smith knows a little something about winning streaks. 

From 1996-99, his Oklahoma State wrestlers won 69 matches in a row and it’s exactly the same amount of wins Tom Brands and his Iowa wrestlers will bring into historic Gallagher-Iba Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Stopping Iowa’s win streak is of less importance to Smith, with more focus being on the actual dual itself. Trying to stop Iowa’s streak is more of a byproduct than anything.

“Absolutely we want to win, we want to win every dual meet,” said Smith. 

The Cowboys are coming off what many call a disappointing performance at last week’s NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals in Cedar Falls, Iowa.  Coming in as the tournament’s second seed, the Cowboys were upended by Virginia Tech and then fell to Missouri in the fifth-place match.

“It’s about performance and how you want to perform coming off the National Duals,” said Smith. “I felt like we wrestled pretty good, but was disappointed in the losses. (We’re) looking for an improved performance from the National Duals.”

But as the streak comes into the discussion, Smith remembers his teams during their own 69-match win streak.

“The difference is, I didn’t have the teams that should have been running off that many wins in a row,” said Smith. “For them, they’ve had some great teams.

“It’s personal,” he said. “We’ve been behind them the last several years and most years, to get to the top, you have to go through Iowa. I think it’s important from that standpoint, they have won the last three years and for us to move forward towards our ultimate goals at the end of the season, it becomes significant.”

Still without heavyweight Alan Gelogaev, Oklahoma State’s matchup with the Hawkeyes will also center around freshman Jon Morrison when he squares off with returning NCAA champion Matt McDonough at 125 pounds.

“That’s probably one of many that will be tough,” said Smith. “McDonough is a returning national champion, 12-1, and had a pretty solid performance last year as a freshman and looks like he’s backing that up again this year.

“Everytime you get the chance to wrestle a defending national champion, you need to embrace it and be excited about the opportunity that’s considered the best at the weight,” said Smith.
Top-ranked Jordan Oliver will take on 11th-ranked Tyler Clark or Tony Ramos, while true freshman Josh Kindig could be seeing action in his first Iowa-OSU dual, facing off against Mark Ballweg. 

Kindig’s redshirt was pulled at National Duals, but Luke Silver still could be the guy for the Cowboys at 141. 

Jamal Parks should be slightly favored over Iowa’s Matt Ballweg at 149 pounds, while Neil Erisman will face Iowa freshman Derek St. John at 157 pounds. 

Smith points to Erisman as a catalyst for success on Sunday.

“This is an incredible guy,” said Smith. “He hasn’t been on the mat but for two, three weeks. He has a level of conditioning unlike most people. What he did while he was injured allowed him to come back at a pretty high level, percentage wise.

“(Erisman’s training) wasn’t any easier than what we were doing on the mat,” said Smith. “He’s ready to wrestle hard. He had a chance to wrestle a few matches at the National Duals and for the most part, looked good. There was a little bit of a scramble in the Missouri match where he ended up bridging for a minute and a half and ended up getting pinned.

“He’s got a little bit of fire in his eyes right now,” said Smith. 

One of the key bouts of the dual is at 174 pounds, where Mike Benefiel of Oklahoma State will take on Iowa freshman Ethen Lofthouse. Both are ranked in the teens, but Benefiel is coming off a subpar performance at the National Duals and didn’t wrestle in the Cowboys final two duals at the event.

Two talented freshmen will square off at 184, with Oklahoma State’s Chris Perry facing Iowa’s Grant Gambrall. Perry comes in 13-4, while Gambrall is 11-3.