Cowboy Wrestling: Two-Time Texas State Champ to Make Official Visit

The Cowboys have been putting in some work on the recruiting trail recently. They received three commitments last week from Colt Newton, Triston Wills, and Chance Mclane.

They will be hosting a number of other seniors this fall, but one name we haven’t mentioned the date for yet is two time Texas State champ and Fargo All-American Daniel Manibog. We’ve learned Manibog will be making his official visit on October 19th.

The senior out of Katy, Texas, who will be going for his third state title this year, put the wrestling world on notice this summer when he knocked off three-time Fargo champion Anthony Artalona. The Artalona upset was massive. Artalona was on pace to be a four-time Fargo champ, being a four time Fargo champ is more rare than winning the lottery or getting struck by lightning, and Manibog beat him.

He then beat two more ranked guys on his way to a fourth-place finish at 145 pounds. Here’s Manibog knocking off 16th ranked Cade Devos out of Iowa.

Texas wrestling has improved by leaps and bounds over the years. Manibog is a perfect example of that, but it’s still not where the states like Illinois, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Ohio, etc… are. Week in and week out, he’s not wrestling elite level competition like some others are. In part, I think that’s why you saw him come into Fargo a bit under the radar and bust up the whole bracket. To me, if you take that kind of talent and put it in a room with guys that can push him like he’d have at OSU, he could definitely jump levels quickly. In short, there’s a lot of upside with this kid.

Manibog is from Katy, Texas, a suburb of Houston. I did a write-up last year on it, but the sport is growing and improving in Texas. OSU fans need to hope it continues. OSU and OU (and now Arkansas Little Rock, who just started a program), are the only D-1 schools anywhere near Texas that offer wrestling, so geography is a huge advantage for the Cowboys.

He’s a good size fit too. He’s wrestled at both 145 and 152, so I’d project him as a college 149 or 157. OSU clears out just about everyone around this size in two years except Dusty Hone, who will be a senior, and Kaden Gfeller who’s currently a little smaller. So after a redshirt season, he’d have a good shot to start as a freshman.