Oklahoma State will continue to have the shortest road to the Big 12 Wrestling Championship.
The Big 12 and Tulsa Sports Commission announced Tuesday that the BOK Center in Tulsa will remain the host of the Big 12 Wrestling Championship through 2028. The tournament has been in Tulsa since 2017, and the agreement was set to expire after this season before the extension.
This year’s Big Wrestling Championship will be on March 9-10.
The BOK Center also hosted the NCAA Wrestling Championship last year after seven successful years of housing a conference tournament. This year’s site of the NCAA Wrestling Championship, T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, hosted the Big 12 tournament for one year in 2016 before it was moved to Tulsa long-term. Before the short stop in Kansas City, the tournament’s location was rotated each year for a different conference affiliate to host.
Although the venue for the Big 12 Wrestling Championship will be the same next year, the participants will not. Arizona State will join the conference from the Pac-12 next year. There are also other Pac-12 members that may be looking for a new conference to call home in wrestling by next year.
“Those numbers and bringing teams in, hopefully you get a voice in what we want to see with wrestling a little bit more, I think,” said OSU coach John Smith earlier this before facing ASU. “Hopefully we’re not done. I’m not sure what’s gonna happen with the rest of the Pac-12. I sure hope that we have an opportunity to bring them into the Big 12.”
Oklahoma, though, will still keep some in-state familiarity at the event. Despite leaving the Big 12 for the SEC in every other sport, the Sooners will stay in the Big 12 as an affiliate member for wrestling. Fellow SEC member Missouri also joined the conference in this capacity two years ago. The Tigers have won the past two Big 12 titles since rejoining the conference.
The Big 12 will be at 14 teams for wrestling next year with OU staying and Arizona State joining. Other affiliate members are Air Force, Cal Baptist, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, Utah Valley and Wyoming. Those affiliate members join legacy members OSU, Iowa State and West Virginia to round out the Big 12.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
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