OSU wrestlers appreciate Witcraft’s ‘inspiring’ sacrifice
Moments after getting pinned in his first dual appearance of the season last Friday night, Oklahoma State wrestler Reece Witcraft stood up from a mat and limped toward the corner where his coaches sat.
The Cowboys went on to defeat Michigan 24-15 that night, and afterward, coach John Smith was asked about a potential injury to his new 125pounder, but OSU star Daton Fix interrupted.
“That’s just his walk,” Fix said with a smile.
Whether that’s really the case is hard to say. Witcraft showed more signs of pain in the Missouri dual on Sunday.
But either way, Witcraft deserves some slack. The redshirt junior from Broken Arrow offered to cut weight, dropping from the 133-pound weight class to step into the vacancy created at 125 with the injury of starter Trevor Mastrogiovanni.
Zach Blankenship, a true freshman from Bixby, held the spot down while Witcraft worked to get down to weight, and he made it just in time for Blankenship to maintain his redshirt status.
The Cowboys have a challenging weekend with a Friday night dual at South Dakota State, then a home meeting with Stanford at 2 p.m. Sunday at Gallagher-Iba Arena, Witcraft should start to settle into the new weight.
Witcraft is 0-2 so far, but his effort and selflessness have energized his teammates.
“It’s really inspiring, because the team needed him,” 157-pound supersenior Kaden Gfeller said. “For him to see that and be like, ‘I’m gonna get down there,’ you know — he’s an Oklahoma guy. He’s like, ‘I’m willing to sacrifice for the team so that we have a shot at winning.’ It’s really cool to see.”
Smith called Witcraft the “hero” of the Michigan dual for fighting to overtime in his first match out, despite getting pinned in sudden-victory.
“I think everyone saw there’s potential there that can really help us,” Smith said.
Witcraft won’t have many easy matches as he tries to fight his way toward an eventual berth in the NCAA Championships. This week, he has two ranked opponents ahead, with South Dakota State’s Tanner Jordan at No. 25 and Stanford’s Nico Provo at No. 28.
After that, he’ll have OU’s No. 18 Joey Prata and then top 125-pounder in the country, Iowa’s Spencer Lee, before the Big 12 Championships on March 4-5 in Tulsa.
Having been a 133-pounder most of his college career, Witcraft’s sacrifice hasn’t gone unnoticed, regardless of how he finishes on the mat.
“I’m just proud that he stepped up for the team,” Fix said. “He could’ve easily set back and said, ‘I don’t really wanna cut down.’ He made that choice on his own, and it was for the team. He knew we were in a little bit of a jam and he stepped up for us.
“As a teammate, you love that.”