With the NCAA wrestling off-season in full swing, the Cowboys have been busy signing several top-tier wrestlers from the latent pool. With David Taylor putting Oklahoma State back in the top three in his rookie season, talented wrestlers like LaDarion Lockett, Landon Robideau, Dean Hamiti, and many others have voiced their commitment to the Cowboys. However, OSU has also indulged in side quests like making waves on the international stage.
After their head coach, David Taylor, chose to compete and ultimately earn a bronze at worlds, the Cowboys are now hosting the Chinese national team. Yes, you read that right: the Chinese national wrestling team. “We’re hosting the Chinese National Team for some training this month,” Cowboy RTC posts on social media on July 12. The fans collectively agreed that it was great news, but now they’re angry.
Initially, fans loved the idea that David Taylor’s boys would get to train with Olympians at Cowboy RTC. Could the off-season training get any better? However, with the Chinese team already spending nearly three weeks training with Oklahoma State wrestlers, OSU and China decided to make things competitive with a surprise dual that no one could stream.
In fact, the announcement came at the last moment. “Cowboys Vs China tonight in Dallas. Match is at 7 PM. Follow us for updates and behind-the-scenes content.” Cowboy RTC posted just hours before the dual. Needless to say, the announcement caught the Oklahoma State wrestling fans off guard. No one had any idea that a month-long training exercise would evolve into a dual.
Why is this not being streamed?! https://t.co/CvIP7mdKm6
— Justin Basch (@JustinJBasch) July 31, 2025
What angered the fan even more was that they could only get updates on OSU’s official social media pages, in the form of match and behind-the-scenes clips. However, what the fans really wanted was to watch their favorite OSU stars take on an Olympic-caliber national team on the screen. Since that wasn’t even an option, they took to social media to voice their frustration.
Cowboys fans had questions
“Tonight?!?!? Wtf guys, can’t just drop this on us outta nowhere lol,” one fan wrote while sharing the post. “How do we watch?” asked the fan, only to learn that he couldn’t. So the question is, why would OSU not live stream such an event where NCAA writers tested their skills against another nation’s national squad? Well, one fan apparently had the answer.
“It’s a private donor event,” stated the fan. While the Cowboys didn’t specify who was responsible for organizing the friendly dual, they made it clear that it was a private event. Clips from the dual showed that only university personnel attended the matches, and Oklahoma State didn’t sell tickets either. The stands were mostly empty, and that only fueled the frustration.
“Why even announce this if there is no stream, no tickets, and just behind the scenes? Just post about it after since there’s no way for us to watch your closed-door wrestling event. DT let me down here, not gonna lie. Silly,” commented one clearly angry fan. What’s more? The Cowboys did pretty well against the Chinese opponents, which included Olympians and Asian champions.
“Konner (Doucet) beats Olympian Habila Awusayiman 3-0,” OSU posted on social media with a clip of the highlights. In another clip they shared: “(Alex)Facundo beats Asian Championship gold medalist Cao Nan 4-1,” and a similar clip. Cowboys RTC posted the results of all six matches against the Chinese team, but the confusion remained.
Credits – Instagram @cowboywrestling
Some fans held out hope that FloWrestling might let them stream the dual at a later date. One curious fan browsed FloWrestling and even found a listing, but something didn’t add up. “Flo has it listed as an upcoming event?” asked the fan. However, Justin Basch snuffed out any hopes. “Likely just using Flo back-end for the event/scoring/etc, not the streaming,” the Baschamania podcast host explained.
Then there were the Cowboys fans who were simply disappointed. “It’s a poorly covered sport, simple as that. All around,” commented one fan. While nothing can be done about it anymore, Cowboys fans won’t be starting off international wrestling action completely. OSU’s Wyatt Hendrickson and Zahid Vallencia have made the 2025 U.S. team for worlds, while another member of the orange brigade will represent another nation.
Besides these two, Uzbekistani wrestler and 2023 Cowboy commit Mirzo Khayitov, who became the first wrestler to win six national titles in his nation, has made it to the Uzbek national team. Uzbekistan will compete at this year’s world championship in Zagreb, Croatia. It’s safe to say that’s one competition fans will be able to stream without much hassle.
The post Cowboys Fans Angry at Oklahoma State’s Dual With Team China Over Frustrating Reason appeared first on EssentiallySports.
