Oklahoma State Visit Recap: Wrestling, Family, and Faith // Bo's Inner Circle
Oklahoma State Visit Recap: Wrestling, Family, and Faith
Happy Thanksgiving!
Recruiting Update:
Stillwater, Oklahoma was amazing. We arrived really late on Thursday (2:30am) and the official visit started at 8am! These visits are intense and all day long! Every second we are on the move, to a tour, a work, a meeting or something. We started off by checking out the wrestling facility, locker room and Gallagher-Iba arena. They were setting up the arena for the dual meet and the stage was being built. The new coaches told us they are going all in on the home duals and making the atmosphere top level. I love wrestling in those types of atmospheres. We then had a workout and I got to scrap with Tumur from Mongolia. He was very strong and had a great feel. Then in the evening we headed to the wrestling tailgate, yes they have wrestling tailgates in Oklahoma. This was great and everyone was excited for the first home match. We all have been to football tailgates, but not often a wrestling one and it was very solid. It had great food, big screen TV's and live music. The match atmosphere was incredible and OSU wrestled Wyoming. Saturday was a meeting with all the support team and we talked about an overall plan for an wrestler. I was impressed with all the resources and people who would be there helping you become the best you can be. We then headed to the tailgates for the football game. It was fun but not as good as the wrestling one. We went to the game and it was good but a little boring. Sunday we got to talk to the coaches for a while. Then we worked out and headed to Church. We went to a Life Church, which was really nice. Daton Fix and Ladarion Lockett's families go to that one and they were there. We headed back and went to the OSU vs Arizona State Dual. Another great atmosphere and I enjoyed the introductions for the wrestlers. It gave you the UFC/WWE feel, which was cool. Coach Taylor's vision for the program was exciting and he is definitely not there just to place or be top four. His staff is very hungry, excited and going all in. I also love the direction of where their RTC is going. Most colleges use the RTC to help with their college program. I feel their RTC and college programs are completely different and both are going to be very solid. Of course helping each other be successful but both with their own plans. It was amazing to learn about all the new additions and future plans for the program.
Highlights of the trip:
* Wrestling Tumur from Mongolia
* Hanging with Ladarion Lockett, Sergio Vega, Landon Robideau, and Jax
* Got to watch two duals and a college football game vs Texas Tech
* Photo shoot is always fun
* Got to go to John Smith's farm and hang with him for awhile
* Attended Life Church
There is no doubt all the visits have been amazing! Oklahoma State definitely checked the boxes for sure, except the distance is the only thing. But,,,,,We all know Buvaisar Saitiev had to go to Siberia. So who knows? So many great programs, staff and opportunities. This decision is going to be very hard.
Unfortunately this weekend, I had to keep my list coming down. This process keeps getting harder and harder. I definitely value it all and every talk, text message and conversation. I have learned so much in the last few weeks and will never forget some of these memories. This week I took UNI off the list and it's not because they aren't AMAZING. Coach Doug Schwab is one of the best and hardest working coaches in wrestling. I really respect him and his entire program. I had some amazing talks with him about everything. He is a great person, a huge Steeler fan and I will always be a fan of him & UNI wrestling.
As the recruiting visits come to an end for the fall, I can say I love every second of them. I learned so much from some of the best coaches in the world, I scraped with some of the best partners and got to see how amazing some of the top programs are. Honestly out of the top 11, I don't think I could make a wrong choice. To me continued development, my faith, RTC, Atmosphere, training partners, family, education and being the best person & wrestler are the most important things to me when picking a college. This commitment is going to be a long term thing and I want to make sure it's the best place for me, my brothers and family. I do have one more scheduled Official visit with Rutgers at the end of January. I have more home visits and training setup with some of the schools still on the list. For now it's time to focus on Ironman and getting my season going.
