MORGANTOWN — Oklahoma State wrestling came into Hope Coliseum and took care of business, stomping West Virginia.

The No. 5-ranked Cowboys won 34-3 Sunday over No. 17 West Virginia, handing the Mountaineers their second-straight loss of the season. WVU lost on Friday against North Carolina in Chapel Hill and is now 5-2. Oklahoma State moved to 7-1 on the year.

“We were much more energetic than against UNC two days ago,” WVU head coach Tim Flynn said. “From that standpoint, it was much better. We just wrestled a much better team. We have to be 100 percent healthy, 100 percent on to beat a team like that.”

The dual was supposed to feature a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup at 157 pounds between the Mountaineers’ top wrestler, redshirt sophomore Ty Watters, and Oklahoma State’s freshman Landon Robideau. But the undefeated Watters was banged up after the North Carolina dual and wasn’t able to wrestle.

“He’s kind of beat up,” Flynn said on Watters. “We don’t wrestle for about three weeks, so we’re gonna use it all.”

Freshman Cole Evans took his place, and Robideau dominated.

Evans came out firing, but Robideau’s superior defense countered, securing an early takedown, then had another shortly after. Robideau had three takedowns in the first period. From there, it was total domination, resulting in a 21-5 win.

Oklahoma State also scored bonus points at 174 pounds. No. 14 redshirt junior Alex Facundo took down freshman Leo Contino, who didn’t put up much resistance. Facundo won by technical fall, 20-5, making it 19-3 overall through six matches.

The Cowboys are a much more talented squad than the banged-up Mountaineers. WVU had four wrestlers out of the lineup, and almost every one of Oklahoma State’s wrestlers who wrestled Sunday was ranked at their respective weight classes. WVU was hoping for some upsets to make it closer.

Flynn said it was “very good” to face a team like Oklahoma State this early in the season.

“Anytime you compete, period, is good to see where you are at,” Flynn said. “But, yeah, it was a good test.”

It wasn’t all Cowboys, though. Out of the gates, Point Pleasant High School graduate freshman Gunner Andrick started off the day hot for WVU. The No. 19th-ranked wrestler at 133 pounds took a close 4-2 win over freshman Ronnie Ramirez, making it 3-0 for WVU, and WVU’s only win on the day.

“He’s a very good kid,” Andrick said. “Feels good to wrestle someone who is actually a freshman, too. I’ve been wrestling like a lot of grad students and seniors. It just feels good to grab someone kind of my age.”

At 184 pounds, No. 21 redshirt junior Ian Bush put up a respectable fight against No. 10 redshirt freshman Zack Ryder. It was all squared at 1-point a piece, and then Bush was given a second stall warning, awarding a point to Ryder with 10 seconds left in the third period. Flynn threw the brick, but the challenge failed, handing a close 2-1 victory to Ryder.

After WVU’s opening match win, it didn’t find much success. The Cowboys won the next nine matches. There were some close ones, even with the lineup changes. The substitutions didn’t go out without a fight. They showed some aggression, but ultimately couldn’t score, while the Cowboys wrestlers were racking up points.

Flynn thought in some ways it was a moral victory to have some of the matches so close with all the injuries.

“These kids come here with high expectations,” Flynn said. “‘Hey, I want to be an All-American. I want to win nationals.’ They got to go out there and compete. They’re supposed to be getting their opportunity here, so they take advantage of it.”

WVU has some time off before its next dual. The Mountaineers face Arizona State on Jan. 9. The Sun Devils haven’t had the best start to the season, so it should be a good get-back dual for the Mountaineers.

WVU could get Watters back, too, providing a boost of confidence for the program.

“We have to do a bit of everything,” Flynn said. “We got to get healthy. It’s a little bit of everything. It’s not one glaring thing. But today, just staying in the center of the mat, and getting off the bottom are two things we’ll try to address.”