Oklahoma State freshman wrestler Victor Voinovich's key is 'very consistent' approach

STILLWATER — The first-period buzzer had not yet sounded on Victor Voinovich’s first wrestling match in the Oklahoma State dual lineup last month and he had already fallen behind 8-0.

Not the start Voinovich had in mind for his Cowboy career.

So he had to go to work.

“I wouldn’t say there was panic, but more so, it made me get more dialed in,” the redshirt freshman said. “Like, ‘Oh, crap, I’m down 8-0 now. I need to get to work. The only thing I can do is keep working and put more points on the board.”

Voinovich rallied to tie the match, then scored a takedown in sudden victory for a 15-13 win over Lehigh’s Manzona Bryant IV.

Voinovich has since added two more victories for a 3-0 start to his season entering the ninth-ranked Cowboys’ 2 p.m. Sunday showdown with No. 13 Minnesota at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

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“I feel like I’m performing well, but not as well as I think I should be performing, or hopefully will be performing soon,” Voinovich said. “I’ve won my matches, but it’s not the way I wanted to win them.”

Regardless, Voinovich has climbed into the top 20 at 149 pounds, now ranked 18th entering a match against No. 17 Michael Blockhus, who is 6-0 this season. It’s one of eight matches pitting ranked wrestlers against each other in what should be an intense dual.

Minnesota is the best opponent the undefeated Cowboys have faced during their 3-0 start that includes wins over Lehigh, Bucknell and Wyoming.

While he was redshirting last year, Voinovich went 16-1 competing in open tournaments.

“His exposure last year, I think he learned a lot,” OSU coach John Smith said. “He didn’t sit idle. He’s seeing match-by-match where he’s going. I’m real pleased with his effort in the wrestling room. That’s where it starts. You may not see everything you wanna see early on with these young guys, but I sure like what I see in the room with him.”

Kaden Gfeller held down the 149-pound slot in the OSU lineup on the way to his second Big 12 Tournament title in the weight class.

But now, Gfeller has moved up to 157 pounds, with Wyatt Sheets bumping up to 165 and Travis Wittlake up to 184. If those moves are going to work out, part of the puzzle is Voinovich’s progress needs to continue.

And even if Smith adjusts the lineup later in the season to get guys to lower weights, Voinovich’s presence still helps build depth that was missing from the lineup last year when injuries and other issues mounted.

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“As we saw last year… I think we wrestled 17 different people last year,” Smith said. “However it leads us, I’m not sure. We went from 16-18 to about 13 guys toward the end of the year. It didn’t help us when you have too many guys out and not enough to replace them with. You just keep everyone ready and make decisions as you go along.”

Sitting behind Gfeller last year, Voinovich came to understand the veteran’s approach. Now, Voinovich is taking what he learned and applying it on the mat in Gfeller’s old spot.

“It helped just seeing him compete in all his matches, seeing how it’s like to go week-in and week-out wrestling all these top guys,” Voinovich said. “Guys he wrestled last year, I’m wrestling this year, so I look back and see how he wrestled them and what he did to get big points and extend scores.”

Originally from Brecksville, Ohio, Voinovich’s family has moved to Stillwater, where his younger brother, Kael, is wrestling for the Pioneers. The family is getting to witness Voinovich’s emergence in the lineup first-hand.

And Voinovich’s attitude is perhaps his strongest asset as he tries to become a regular contributor for the Cowboys.

“He’s very consistent,” Smith said. “He comes to training every day and very seldom has an off day with his practices. I’m not saying he doesn’t get beat sometimes. He’s ready to go.

“He’s not moping around, ‘I had a long day. I studied all day. I stayed up late at night.’ If he’s done that, I don’t ever see it.”

OSU vs. Minnesota

2 p.m. Sunday at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater (ESPN+)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Consistency key for Oklahoma State freshman wrestler Victor Voinovich