David Taylor recently reflected as Oklahoma State won the 2025 Big 12 Wrestling Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, against Northern Iowa. Both teams were tied at 149.5 points before OSU's Wyatt Hendrickson secured the win by winning his 285-pound match with a takedown and escape.
Oklahoma State won its 54th conference title and its 20th Big 12 trophy out of 29 awarded. Their head coach, David Taylor, became the second coach to win a Big 12 title in his first season, following Cael Sanderson, who achieved this with Iowa State in 2007.
The video of Taylor appreciating his team's efforts was shared on X/Twitter on March 10, 2025, accompanied by the caption:
"@Cowboywrestling head coach David Taylor on the lessons his team learned this weekend on the way to the hard-fought Big 12 title. #OkState"
In the video, the head coach said:
"About every point matterning and talk about bonus points that we can score the team and shoot. We need every single point today, you know. So, it's a lot of good experiences that we can take from this, leading in the national tournament. I think when our team's at our best, we're scoring. That's something that we got to continue to focus on the next couple weeks, but I think our team has been battle-tested, prepared. Now we go to the national tournament. Gotta go wrestle."
At the Big 12 Wrestling Championship, Missouri’s Keegan O’Toole was named Most Outstanding Wrestler after beating Oklahoma State’s Dean Hamiti with a 7-4 sudden victory. Northern Iowa finished second with three winners: Cael Happel (141 lbs), Parker Keckeisen (184 lbs), and Wyatt Voelker (197 lbs).
David Taylor highlights team efforts after Big 12 Championship Victory

At the 2025 Big 12 Wrestling Championships, coach David Taylor's Oklahoma State team had several performances during the event. Jett Strickenberger won the 125-pound title with a 5-2 sudden victory against Oklahoma State's Troy Spratley.
In the 141-pound match, Tagen Jaminson lost in overtime to UNI's Cael Happel. Despite this, the Cowboys stayed ahead and won their 54th conference title.
During the post-game interview, reflecting on the game, the interviewer asked:
"What do you think of the finals and the event as a whole?" (0:01 onwards)
Coach Taylor responded:
"It's the sports such a combination you know you have an individual you have a team um and it all makes up, you know what their product is you know they took team effort. We talk about every Point mattering, we talk about the bonus points that we can support the team, and sure we made every single point today you know. So, um, there a lot of good experiences that we can take from this national tournament."
David Taylor took the role of Oklahoma State coach in May 2024.