Oklahoma Sooners can’t keep treating wrestling like an afterthought

It's time the Oklahoma Sooners start giving wrestling the attention and support that fans deserve.

Just down the road in Stillwater on Sunday, 12,629 fans packed into Gallagher-Iba Arena to witness the No. 3 Cowboys beat No. 7 Iowa 32-11. With it being the last dual of the season, it officially set the average attendance for the season at 9,259 to break the record for the third year in a row. It was also the second sellout of the season, with the first being when OSU beat the Sooners 37-0 in front of 12,549 fans. And for those who couldn't get a ticket for Sunday's top-10 clash, it got the primetime slot on ESPN.

But as college wrestling is more popular than ever around the country, it's at an all-time low at OU.

Oklahoma State proving OU can find success with college wrestling more popular than ever

What's going on at OSU isn't just a phenomenon by a school that has always cherished its wrestling program. It should be proof that the Sooners, too, can have a thriving wrestling program with an excited fan base in this rare state where the sport is as popular as any other.

Tulsa annually hosts the Big 12 Wrestling Championships at BOK Center, and last year's event broke a record with a total attendance of 21,309. Even Division-II Central Oklahoma in Edmond consistently fills its 3,000-seat Hamilton Field House for duals. The now-demolished Jim Norick Arena in Oklahoma City barely had an open seat when it housed the high school wrestling state championships. Plenty of those are OU fans who know the university doesn't care about their favorite sport, so why should they, then they find somewhere else to enjoy the sport.

OU wrestling averaged an attendance of 1,380 last season. Although it likely dipped again this season to be below 1,000, OU didn't even mention attendance in match notes this year. Meanwhile, OSU's smallest home crowd was 6,246 against Little Rock.

But if OU fans will fill Lloyd Noble Center and set attendance records for women's gymnastics, a sport with little popularity throughout the state, then they would definitely pack McCasland Field House with a capacity of only 3,325. Or even the LNC someday.

Wrestling has been malnourished for years now at OU, though, with the most recent instance being when former athletic director Joe Castiglione seemingly left the program to die last summer when it wasn't one of the six sports included to get a share of the $20.5 million in revenue to pay student-athletes. Although those six other sports deserve their share, too, that made it clear how far wrestling had dropped on OU's priorities. But with new leadership under Roger Denny, now is the time to dig OU's wrestling program out of its grave.

It is not like the Sooners will have to start a program from nothing with no proven success. OU wrestling has brought the university seven national titles, which is the fifth-most in the country and tied for the third-most with football and women's gymnastics among all OU sports. The Heisman Trophy of college wrestling, the Dan Hodge Trophy, is even named after a former Sooner. Even this season, the Sooners went 10-6 while consistently remaining in the top 20.

History proves it's a program that can succeed, even today, but the further it falls, the longer it will take to get back up.

First, the wrestling program needs at least the smallest slice of the revenue-share pie to be competitive on the mat. The cost of one wide receiver could lure in a solid wrestling lineup. That's the first step in the university showing there's at least a little care about the wrestling program, and more wins will also draw more attention.

The next phase will barely even cost OU, because excitement and hype is relatively cheap. Second-year OSU coach David Taylor has taken the enthusiasm at GIA to a new notch with WWE-like entrances and confetti falling from the ceiling after pins. He puts on a show for fans and recruits, and that has resulted in just as much attention and success than NIL checks.

Even at the rotting McCasland Field House, a crowd of 3,325 can get loud in such a small venue. It might take a spotlight on the mat, Brent Venables or John Mateer leading the team out, putting students closer to the mat and wrestlers getting entrances with fire and smoke.

Or how about the next time Missouri visits Norman to play the Sooners in football, have OU and Mizzou -- the only two SEC schools with wrestling programs -- dual inside Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium before or after the game for SEC bragging rights.

Simply, OU just needs to care about wrestling, and then fans will, too. And the time is now as college wrestling is on the rise and before OU's wrestling success isn't just history, but the entire program is.