Oklahoma State put in a great showing at the 2020 Southern Scuffle, as the Cowboys walked away with the team trophy. Now back on campus, head coach John Smith caught the media up on all the developing storylines. 

Here are five things the Cowboys discussed.

Dusty Hone & Kaden Gfeller may wrestle-off

Coach Smith talked about the performances of both Dusty Hone and Kaden Gfeller, and with the exception of Kaden Gfeller’s final he was pretty happy with both guys.

“I thought that G. and Dusty Hone both wrestled well here,” Smith said. “Both got a nice win over an All-American. Dusty got a couple nice wins over some quality people.

“We’ll see what we’re going to do this weekend. Maybe have a ranking match before we wrestle this weekend (vs Northern Colorado on Sunday)”

Joe Smith opens up about his weight

Joe was asked about some of his struggles with weight and replied with this:

“Definitely a mindset thing, definitely mental, but it’s also physical, most of it’s probably physical,” he said. “Just because of our offseason and how big I get, and coming back to our regular season and losing weight. I just had a pattern that I had to break this year of not making weight until January. But we got it under control now and I’m ready to go

“It’s definitely nice to be able to settle into 174 . . . (vs 165). It definitely helps a lot. That’s the biggest key with college wrestling is these one-hour weigh-ins. Being 174 this last couple months is definitely going to help me.”

What has his journey in wrestling has been like?

“It’s been a good journey. DI wrestling is not easy. No one said it is going to be, but it’s also really fun. You can make it fun or you can make it tough on yourself and I’ve done a little of both . . . 

“It’s tough. If you try to cut corners or anything, when it comes to competition or winning or your weight. You know it all really comes together. It can be a great experience or a really bad and I did a little of both.”

Coach Smith talks Reece Witcraft’s development

Coach Smith was asked about Reece Witcraft, the true freshman who is currently starting at 133 for the Cowboys, and discussed some of his development and what he’s seen in him over this early part of the season. 

“He’s just a little emotional. He’s kinda jumping around with his emotions,” Smith said.

“He’s done such a nice improvement in his demeanor on the mat . . . since his high school days.

“We’re seeing some things that are positive as it goes through the season and hopefully matures a little bit more.

“It’s good to see his demeanor and his mindset slowly changing in a good direction.”

When asked what demeanor Coach Smith was referring to:

“I just think he just didn’t know how to wrestle hard, didn’t know how to finish a match, (took) timeouts, finding reasons to take a break, just some things that maybe for people that have similar habits — they’re not easy to break. He’s done a good of moving away from some of those hang-ups he’s had.”

Witcraft is now 10-3 on the season and wrestles 20th-ranked Mosha Schwartz in the Northern Colorado dual on Sunday.

John Talks Northern Colorado & seems high on the “new-look” Big 12

“They’re good . . . they had a really nice tournament at the Southern Scuffle. The state of Colorado is starting to produce some better athletes.”

When asked about the Big 12:

“Yeah, I don’t think we’re far off. I believe we’re soon to see a competitive tournament this year. We’ll see how things materialize. We’ve got several big matches on the road.”

Boo Lewallen’s skin issue is cleared up & he should be good to go this weekend

John seems to think the new more strict rules on skin checks are a bit over the top.

“That’s another scenario where I felt like it went over the top a little bit . . . in the end it’s not me that rules on that. Better safe than sorry.

“But he’s healthy and ready to go this week.” 

For the full interview videos, visit Pistols Firing.

Seth Duckworth is a Stillwater-based writer who covers Oklahoma State University wrestling for Pistols Firing Blog, the best OSU news and community site on the internet. Follow Seth on Twitter.