Published: December 31, 2008 12:30 pm         

Cowboys benefit from short holiday break

While the Oklahoma State football team spent Christmas week in sunny San Diego, enjoying its world-famous zoo and SeaWorld, the wrestling squad was strictly business.

When asked what the No. 13 Cowboys (6-2) did for Christmas, coach John Smith’s eyes narrowed and his face set into a stone mask.

“We worked out,” he said callously before softening to a smile, revealing his joke.

But the jest was only partially fiction. The Cowboys traditionally take six or seven days off for the Christmas break, but this year, Smith decided to shave that down to only Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

“It’s been the shortest (Christmas) break we’ve had in my coaching career,” Smith said. “It’s usually six or seven ... this year, we gave two, just for purposes of trying to get better, and some good things have happened.”

O-State had some good things happen before the break as well. The team took first place at the Reno Tournament of Champions on Dec. 18, topping No. 17 Edinboro by 14 points.

Top-ranked heavyweight Jared Rosholt was the only Cowboy to place first, but OSU also landed four second-placers, two thirds and a fifth.

“This team winning anything right now is a positive,” Smith said. “I felt like we beat a team, Edinboro, that was as good as the teams that beat us the last two years out there. … A lot of good things happened in Reno — but that’s where it stays.

“You’ve got to be ready to move forward and ready to step out in the next match.”

For the most part, the Cowboys agreed that the shorter, two-day break was a good decision for this year.

“I kind of liked it,” sophomore Clayton Foster said. “I was able to get in shape a little better.”

Foster, who was injured out of the Reno tourney, is an Idaho native, so going home for the break wasn’t an option. The 197-pounder said he just took it easy for his time off.

On the other hand, junior Kevin Wainscott, who also forfeited the Reno tourney because of an injury, was able to go home to Dallas for Christmas.

“I was one of the fortunate ones that are closer to home, so I got to go home and spend a little bit of time with my family,” he said. “At the same time, it was kind of a tease to go home because it was for such a short time.”

Wainscott, a 174-pounder, couldn’t stay away from his workout lifestyle, even for the holiday. He got in a few runs before this year’s quick return to the wrestling room, which was good because he needed to get back to rehab for his injury, he said.

“Working out all the time, it seems like if you’re not doing something on your days off, you feel lazy or your body just feels sick, not getting a workout in,” he said.

The Cowboys visit seventh-ranked Minnesota on Thursday.

     

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.