The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the
intercollegiate athletic teams that represent
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
, located in
Stillwater. The program's mascot is a
cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
named
Pistol Pete Pistol Pete may refer to: People
*Frank Eaton (1860–1958), American scout, Indian fighter and cowboy
*Peter Handscomb (born 1991), Australian cricketer
*Pete Loncarevich (born 1966), American former bicycle (BMX) racer
*Pete Maravich (1947–1988) ...
. Oklahoma State participates at the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
(NCAA)'s
Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...
(FBS) as a member of the
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...
. The university's current athletic director is Chad Weiberg, who replaced the retiring
Mike Holder on July 1, 2021. In total, Oklahoma State has 52 NCAA team national titles, which
ranks fourth in most NCAA team national championships. These national titles have come in
wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
(34), golf (11), basketball (2), baseball (1), and cross country (4).
Athletics history and tradition
![Big 12 logo in OKState colors](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Big_12_logo_in_OKState_colors.svg)
Prior to 1957, Oklahoma State University was known as Oklahoma A&M. As was common with most
land-grant schools, its teams were known for many years as the ''Aggies,'' though they were sometimes also called the ''Tigers''. However, in 1923, A&M was looking for a new mascot to replace its pet tiger (the inspiration behind the school colors of orange and black). A group of students saw famed cowboy
Frank Eaton
Frank Boardman "Pistol Pete" Eaton (October 26, 1860 – April 8, 1958) was a scout, sheriff, and cowboy.
Early life
Eaton was born in 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut, and at the age of eight, he moved with his family to Twin Mound, Kansas.
...
leading the
Armistice Day
Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I a ...
parade. He was approached to see if he would be interested in being the model for the new mascot, and he agreed. The caricature acquired the nickname "Pistol Pete."
Only a few decades removed from the
cattle drive
A cattle drive is the process of moving a herd of cattle from one place to another, usually moved and herded by cowboys on horses.
Europe
In medieval central Europe, annual cattle drives brought Hungarian Grey cattle across the Danube River ...
era, the
cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
was still an important figure in the
Southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
. The new mascot had become so popular that by 1924, Charles Saulsberry, sports editor of
The Oklahoma Times
''The Oklahoma Times'' was a newspaper published in Oklahoma City.
History
On May 9 1889, Angelo C. Scott and his brother Winfield W. Scott published the first issue of ''The Oklahoma Times''. The paper was soon forced to change its name to ''The ...
, began calling A&M's teams the "Cowboys." "Aggies" and "Cowboys" were used interchangeably until A&M was elevated to university status in 1957. In 1958, the "Pistol Pete" caricature was formally adopted as Oklahoma State's mascot, though it had been used unofficially for over three decades before then.
The Waving Song
The "Waving Song" is one of the
fight song
A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...
s for Oklahoma State. At Oklahoma State football games, the song is played by the
Cowboy Marching Band
The Cowboy Marching Band is the marching band of Oklahoma State University.
History
The first band at Oklahoma A&M College (now Oklahoma State University) was organized in 1905 by Harry Dunn, a student at the school, and directed by a Mr. Wood. I ...
during the pregame traditions, following touchdowns, and after victories against the Cowboys' opponents. For other athletic events, the Waving Song is played after Oklahoma State victories as the start of the fight song trilogy. While the song is played, fans wave their right arms in the air; the effect is similar to wheat waving in the wind.
The song's melody is that of "The Streets of New York," a song from the Victor Herbert operetta, ''The Red Mill''. The lyrics used by Oklahoma State were written by H.G. Seldomridge, a professor at what was then Oklahoma A&M who heard the tune on a visit to New York City. It was first sung in 1908 at a follies show at
Stillwater's Grand Opera House. Ever since, it has been a tradition to play the song at Oklahoma State athletic events. The only real change over the years has been to replace "OAMC" with "Oklahoma State."
Conference history
* Independent (1901–1914)
*
Southwest Conference
The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...
(1914–1924)
*
Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association
The Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) was a college athletic conference and the second college conference formed upon its foundation on January 12, 1907.David A. Campaigne and John R. Thelin, "Big Twelve Conference", in ...
(1924–1927)
*
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest.
History
The MVC was established ...
(1927–1956)
* Independent (1956–1957)
*
Big Eight Conference
The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...
(1957–1996)
*
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...
(1996–present)
Varsity teams
Oklahoma State is one of only two
Power 5 schools that do not sponsor women's volleyball, the other one being
Vanderbilt, and barring a later addition of the sport will be the only such school once Vanderbilt adds women's volleyball in 2025. (All four schools that will join the Big 12 in 2023—BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF—sponsor the sport.)
Basketball
Men's basketball
Oklahoma State first took the basketball court in 1908.
Under head coach
Henry Iba
Henry Payne Iba (; August 6, 1904 – January 15, 1993) was an American basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College, now known as Northwest Missouri S ...
, the team won NCAA championships in
1945
1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat.
Events
Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix.
Januar ...
and again in
1946
Events January
* January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held.
* January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...
. A&M center Bob Kurland was named the NCAA Tournament MVP during their two championship seasons. Kurland was the first player to win the honor two times. Oklahoma State has a total of six
Final Four appearances.
Under
Eddie Sutton
Edward Eugene Sutton (March 12, 1936 – May 23, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. A native of Bucklin, Kansas, Sutton played college basketball at Oklahoma A&M (later Oklahoma State) and was a head coach at the high school, junio ...
, the team made two
Final Four appearances—in 1995 and in 2004. Sutton's son,
Sean Sutton
Sean Patrick Sutton (born October 4, 1968) is an American college basketball coach. He is currently the advisor to the head men's basketball coach at Texas Tech University. Sutton served as the head men's basketball coach Oklahoma State Univers ...
, began coaching the team in 2006 but resigned on March 31, 2008. The team is now coached by
Mike Boynton Jr., who was promoted to head coach after
Brad Underwood
Bradley Cole Underwood (born December 14, 1963) is the current head coach for the Illinois men's basketball team. Previously, he served as head coach at Oklahoma State, Stephen F. Austin, Dodge City Community College, and Daytona Beach Community ...
departed to become head coach of the
Illinois Fighting Illini
The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports.
The University operates a number of athletic faci ...
.
Women's basketball
Oklahoma State first fielded a women's team during the 1972-1973 season. The team's head coach is currently Jim Littell, who took over after their former head coach
Kurt Budke
Kurt John Budke (June 3, 1961 – November 17, 2011) was an American college basketball coach. Budke was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015. His final coaching job was as the head coach for the Oklahoma State Cowgirls baske ...
was killed in a
plane crash
An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...
in
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
in November 2011, just after the season had started.
Baseball
The Cowboys won their only national championship in 1959, but have finished runner-up on five other occasions. Oklahoma State won 16 consecutive conference championships under head coach Gary Ward in the Big 8 Conference. During that time,
Pete Incaviglia
Peter Joseph Incaviglia (born April 2, 1964), is an American former professional baseball left fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 12 seasons (–), for six different big league teams, also spending one year in Nippon Professi ...
was named Baseball America's Player of the Century, and
Robin Ventura
Robin Mark Ventura (born July 14, 1967) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager. Ventura played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Los Angeles Do ...
was inducted in the inaugural class into the College Baseball Hall of Fame. Overall, Oklahoma State has made 19
College World Series
The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...
appearances, including seven straight from 1981–1987.
The Cowboys' current head baseball coach is
Josh Holliday
Joshua S. Holliday (born September 14, 1976) is an American college baseball coach and former professional player in Minor League Baseball. Currently the head coach of the Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball team, he was hired to this position pri ...
.
Football
![Texas at OSU 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Texas_at_OSU_2007.jpg)
The Oklahoma State football program has participated in 28 bowl games overall and have been to 11 straight. There have been 11 conference championships won, one
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
winner, two National Football League Hall of Fame members, and 53 All-Americans to the Cowboys' name.
Oklahoma State plays football on Lewis Field, in
Boone Pickens Stadium
Boone Pickens Stadium (previously known as Lewis Field) has been home to the Oklahoma State University Cowboys football team in rudimentary form since 1919, and as a complete stadium since 1920. Aligned in an east-west direction since 1920, th ...
.
The Cowboys all-time record is 566-539-47.
The current head coach is
Mike Gundy
Michael Ray Gundy (born August 12, 1967) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at Oklahoma State University. Gundy played college football at Oklahoma State, where he played quarterback from 1986 to 1989. ...
(94-46 and 6–3 in bowl appearances). During Gundy's playing career, the Cowboys have enjoyed six 9+ win seasons in the past eight seasons. Gundy coached the team to a record 12 win season in 2011, culminating with a Fiesta Bowl victory over Stanford. His accolades consist of the 2010 Big 12 Coach of the Year, 2011 Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year, 2011 Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Year, and the 2011 American Football Monthly National Coach of the Year.
The 1945 Oklahoma A&M team was retroactively awarded a national title in October 2016 by the
American Football Coaches Association
The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...
. The Aggies finished with a 9-0 record, completing the season with a 33-13 win over
St. Mary's College in the Sugar Bowl.
Barry Sanders won the
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
in 1988.
Author Steve Budin, whose father was a New York bookie, has recently publicized the claim that the 1954
"Bedlam" game against rival
OU was fixed by mobsters in his book ''Bets, Drugs, and Rock & Roll'' ().
Golf
Karsten Creek
Karsten Creek Golf Club is located west on State Highway 51, just outside Stillwater, Oklahoma. It replaced Lakeside Golf Course as the home course of the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Men's and Women's golf teams in 1994. Karsten Creek now st ...
serves as the home course of the Oklahoma State University men's and women's golf teams. The
Tom Fazio
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
layout was named ''
Golf Digest
''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit under its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competiti ...
s "Best New Public Course" and served as the host site for the
NCAA Men's Championship in 2003, 2011, and 2018.
The men's program has qualified for the NCAA Championship 74 times in 75 years – from 1947 to 2022, the only year they did not qualify was 2012. They have won 11
national championships
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...
(1963, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2006, 2018), 9 individual national championships (Earl Moeller in 1953,
Grier Jones
Grier Jones (born May 6, 1946) is a former college head golf coach and former PGA Tour professional golfer.
Jones was born, raised and has been a lifelong resident of Wichita, Kansas. He attended Wichita's Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School wh ...
in 1968,
David Edwards in 1978,
Scott Verplank
Scott Rachal Verplank (born July 9, 1964) is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions.
Early years and amateur career
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Verplank was a leading member of the W.T. Wh ...
in 1986,
Brian Watts
Brian Peter Watts (born March 18, 1966) is an American professional golfer.
Early life and amateur career
Watts was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to European parents, but is now a U.S. citizen who lives in Texas. He played college golf at Okla ...
in 1987, E. J. Pfister in 1988,
Charles Howell III
Charles Gordon Howell III (born June 20, 1979) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on LIV Golf and formerly on the PGA Tour. He has been featured in the top 15 of the Official World Golf Ranking and ranked 9th on the PGA Tour m ...
in 2000,
Jonathan Moore in 2006,
Matthew Wolff
Matthew Brandyn Wolff (born April 14, 1999) is an American professional golfer. He was an NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State University, and won the 2019 NCAA Division I individual championship. Wolff picked up his first win on the PGA Tour a ...
in 2019), and 56 conference championships.
Numerous Cowboys from the men's team have gone on to success in
professional golf
For information about professional golf see:
* Professional golfer, which describes the various branches of the profession.
*Professional golf tours
Professional golf tours are the means by which otherwise unconnected professional golf tournaments ...
on both the
PGA PGA is an acronym or initialism that may stand for:
Aviation
* IATA code for Page Municipal Airport, Coconino County, Arizona
* ICAO designator for Portugália, regional airline based in Lisbon, Portugal
* Abbreviation for Prince George Airport ...
and
European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
Tours, including
Bob Tway
Robert Raymond Tway IV (born May 4, 1959) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments including eight PGA Tour victories. He spent 25 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking in 1986–87.
Early life
Tway w ...
(8 PGA Tour wins, including
1986 PGA Championship
The 1986 PGA Championship was the 68th PGA Championship, held August 7–11 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Bob Tway won his only major championship, two strokes ahead of runner-up Greg Norman, the 54-hole leader.
Heavy rains on Sunday stop ...
),
Hunter Mahan
Hunter Myles Mahan (born May 17, 1982) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He is a winner of two World Golf Championship events, the 2010 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the 2012 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. ...
(6 PGA Tour wins, including 3
WGC events),
Rickie Fowler
Rick Yutaka Fowler (born December 13, 1988) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He was the number one ranked amateur golfer in the world for 36 weeks in 2007 and 2008. On January 24, 2016 he reached a career high fourth ...
(5 PGA Tour wins, including
2015 Players Championship, and 2 European Tour wins),
Scott Verplank
Scott Rachal Verplank (born July 9, 1964) is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions.
Early years and amateur career
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Verplank was a leading member of the W.T. Wh ...
(5 PGA Tour wins),
Danny Edwards
Richard Dan "Danny" Edwards (born June 14, 1951) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and Champions Tour. He is the older brother of former PGA Tour player David Edwards.
Edwards was born in Ketch ...
(5 PGA Tour wins),
David Edwards (4 PGA Tour wins),
Michael Bradley (4 PGA Tour wins),
Mark Hayes (3 PGA Tour wins, including 1977
Players Championship),
Charles Howell III
Charles Gordon Howell III (born June 20, 1979) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on LIV Golf and formerly on the PGA Tour. He has been featured in the top 15 of the Official World Golf Ranking and ranked 9th on the PGA Tour m ...
(3 PGA Tour wins),
Bob Dickson
Robert B. Dickson (born January 25, 1944) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour.
Amateur career
Dickson was born in McAlester, Oklahoma. He was introduced to golf at the age of five by his father, ...
(2 PGA Tour wins),
Bo Van Pelt
Bo Van Pelt (born May 16, 1975) is an American professional golfer who has played on both the Nationwide Tour and the PGA Tour. He has featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
Van Pelt was born in Richmond, Indiana. He graduat ...
(one win each on PGA Tour and European Tour),
Willie Wood
William Vernell Wood Sr. (December 23, 1936February 3, 2020) was an American professional football player and coach. He played as a safety with the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League (NFL). Wood was an eight-time Pro Bowler an ...
(one PGA Tour win),
Kevin Tway
-->
, death_place =
, height =
, weight =
, nationality =
, residence = Edmond, Oklahoma
, spouse =
, partner =
, children =
, college = Oklahoma St ...
(one PGA Tour win),
Pablo Martín (3 European Tour wins),
Matthew Wolff
Matthew Brandyn Wolff (born April 14, 1999) is an American professional golfer. He was an NCAA All-American at Oklahoma State University, and won the 2019 NCAA Division I individual championship. Wolff picked up his first win on the PGA Tour a ...
(1 PGA Tour win),
Viktor Hovland
Viktor Hovland (born 18 September 1997) is a Norwegian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2018 U.S. Amateur and then became the first Norwegian to win on the PGA Tour (at the 2020 Puerto Rico Open) and on the European Tou ...
(2 PGA Tour wins), and
Peter Uihlein
Peter Uihlein ( ; born August 29, 1989) is an American professional golfer who formerly played on the PGA Tour and the European Tour and now plays LIV Golf. He was a member of the victorious U.S. team at the 2009 Walker Cup, where he compiled a 4 ...
(1 European Tour win). Additionally,
Brian Watts
Brian Peter Watts (born March 18, 1966) is an American professional golfer.
Early life and amateur career
Watts was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to European parents, but is now a U.S. citizen who lives in Texas. He played college golf at Okla ...
went on to great success on the
Japan Golf Tour
The Japan Golf Tour ( ja, 日本ゴルフツアー機構) is a prominent golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006 it offers the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after th ...
, earning 12 wins.
The women's program has also had its share of success. Under former coach Ann Pitts, the Cowgirls won 15 conference championships and made 15 appearances at the NCAA Championship. Laura Matthews led the Cowgirls to be Big 12 champions in 2005 and a top-20 finish at the NCAA Championship.
Caroline Hedwall
Caroline Ingrid Hedwall (born 13 May 1989) is a Swedish professional golfer who plays on the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the LPGA Tour. In 2013 she became the first player to win five matches in a single Solheim Cup event. As an amateur she w ...
won the
NCAA Division I individual championship in 2010 under new coach Annie Young.
Conference championships:
* Men
** Missouri Valley Conference (9): 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955
** Big Eight Conference (36): 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
** Big 12 Conference (10): 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2019, 2021
* Women
** Big Eight Conference (14): 1977, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996
** Big 12 Conference (10): 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2016, 2021
Softball
Oklahoma State's softball team has appeared in twelve
Women's College World Series
The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...
, in 1977, 1980, 1981,
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
(AIAW),
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
(NCAA), 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2011 and 2019.
In 1982, the Cowgirls played in both the last AIAW WCWS and days later the first NCAA WCWS. After having played their way through the 1982 regular season, a conference tournament, NCAA first round, winning an AIAW regional title, a loss in the AIAW WCWS final, the team's marathon season ended with 13-inning and 14-inning one-run losses in the NCAA tournament.
Wrestling
Oklahoma State wrestling's tradition started in 1916 when
Edward C. Gallagher, whose name is part of
Gallagher-Iba Arena
Gallagher-Iba Arena, also once known as ''"The Rowdiest Arena in the Country"'' and ''"The Madison Square Garden of the Plains”'', is the basketball and wrestling venue at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. Origi ...
, became head coach. With his expertise in
anatomy
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its ...
, he pioneered the sport of wrestling.
Gallagher coached the Cowboys until his death in 1940 from pneumonia.
During those 24 years, Gallagher had 11 team national titles, 19 undefeated seasons, and a 138-5-4 record.
After Gallagher's death, Art Griffith took over and proceeded to win two straight national championships. Due to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Oklahoma State wrestling was forced off the mat for three years. After the war, Griffith coached for another 11 years and won six more national championships in that time. Due to health reasons, Art Griffith resigned as head coach and Myron Roderick took over. At 23 years old, Roderick became the youngest coach to win a national championship in 1958. Roderick proceeded to win another 5 championships. In 1970, Myron Roderick stepped down to take an executive position with the U.S. Wrestling Federation. Former
Stillwater High School coach
Tommy Chesbro was hired as head coach and won eight
Big Eight titles and one national championship in 15 years. Between 1985 and 1991, Joe Seay, former
Cal State
The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public universi ...
coach won five conference titles and two national titles.
In 1993,
John Smith became the seventh head coach of Oklahoma State University wrestling. Smith led the Cowboys to a national title in 1995 and four consecutive national titles between 2002–2006.
Notable non-varsity sports
Rugby
Founded in 1974, the Oklahoma State University Rugby Football Club plays
college rugby
College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States of America. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the ...
in the Division 1
Heart of America conference against several of its traditional Big 8 / Big 12 rivals. The Cowboys are led by head coach Miles Hunter. Oklahoma State also has a women’s rugby team that plays in the Mid-America college rugby conference.
Cheerleading
The Oklahoma State University Cheerleaders compete in the
National Cheerleaders Association
The US National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) was established as a way to bring cheerleaders together to learn new skills. Since 1951, the NCA has held summer camps, and is credited with the invention of the herkie jump, the pom pom, the spirit st ...
in Division 1A coached by
Lindsay Bracken.
They have won 16
NCA national team championships and two group stunt national championships in the following divisions:
NCA Large Co-Ed Div. 1A - 2021, 2022
NCA Cheer Division 1A - 1988, 1991, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
NCA All-Girl 1 - 1988, 1990, 1995, 1996
NCA Small Co-Ed 1A - 2012, 2019
NCA Small Co-Ed 1 - 2007
NCA Group Stunts - 2014, 2015
STUNT
The Oklahoma State University STUNT team competes in
Stunt (sport)
Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...
Division 1A coached by
Lindsay Bracken.
They have won 8
consecutive national team championships in the following years: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
Championships
NCAA team championships
Oklahoma State has won 52 NCAA team national championships.
*Men's (52)
**
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
(1): 1959
**
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
(2): 1945, 1946
**
Cross Country (4): 1954, 2009, 2010, 2012
**
Golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
(11): 1963, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995, 2000, 2006, 2018
**
Wrestling
Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...
(34): 1928*, 1929, 1930, 1931*, 1933*, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1971, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
**
Football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
(1): 1945
(*) Unofficial NCAA team national championships
* See also:
**
Big 12 Conference national team titles
**
Other national team championships
Listed below are five national team titles in current and emerging NCAA sports that were not bestowed by the NCAA.
*Men's (1)
**Football (1): 1945
a
*Women's (5)
**
Equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
*Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
:
***''(Varsity Western)'' (4): 2003, 2004, 2006, 2013
***''(Dual discipline)'' (1): 2022
a The AFCA established a "Blue Ribbon Commission" in 2016 to begin retroactively selecting Coaches' Trophy winners from 1922 through 1949. OSU was the only team to apply for any of the 28 years considered.
Below are five national team titles won by Oklahoma State teams at the highest collegiate levels in non-NCAA sports:
*All (5)
**Equestrian ''(
AQHA
The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), based in Amarillo, Texas, is an international organization dedicated to the preservation, improvement and record-keeping of the American Quarter Horse. The association sanctions many competitive eve ...
western)'' (1): 2000
**Flying ''(aviation)'' (2): 1971, 1975
**Rodeo ''(women's)'' (2): 2001, 2004
* See also:
**
**
Intercollegiate sports team champions The first tier of intercollegiate sports in the United States includes sports that are sanctioned by one of the collegiate sport governing bodies. The major sanctioning organization is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Before mid- ...
See also
*
List of Oklahoma State University Olympians
Since the 1924 Olympics, 68 Oklahoma State University Olympians have won a total of 30 medals, 21 gold, 4 silver, and 5 bronze. Oklahoma State University has been represented in every Olympics that the United States has competed in since 1924.
...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Oklahoma State University