Feb. 17—Oklahoma State wrestling didn’t need a dramatic conclusion in its second meeting with its Bedlam rival Thursday night at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Unlike the Cowboys’ trip to Norman in December — which came down to the final match of the dual — they secured the victory with two matches remaining in their home dual finale.

Travis Wittlake knocked off former OSU wrestler Keegan Moore, who moved down a weight since the first Bedlam dual, with a 7-4 decision at 184 pounds to clinch the dual that eventually finished as a 26-6 victory for the Cowboys.

“We win Bedlam,” said Oklahoma State wrestling coach John Smith after OSU improved to 149-27-10 in the all-time Bedlam series. “You have to have an attitude if you’re gonna have little cocky words that you say. You have to have an attitude if you’re gonna say it.”

The outcome of the unique Thursday night dual was a storybook conclusion for super senior Kaden Gfeller as it closed the final chapter on his home wrestling career. The Heritage Hall product — who this time a year ago had already made his decision that he wasn’t going to take advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic — sent the Cowboy faithful home with kisses just two days after Valentine’s Day.

With a bit of flair for the theatrics, Gfeller closed out his truly final dual inside Gallagher- Iba Arena with a 14-3 major decision, and blew kisses to the crowd after having his hand raised one final time in the historic athletic venue.

“I wish they would have called the pin, but I don’t know what I would have done — something crazy,” Gfeller said.

How Gfeller accomplished that final result is what truly impressed Oklahoma State’s legendary wrestling coach.

After wrestling to a tie in the first period, Gfeller blanked his opponent with an 11-0 advantage in scoring over the final two periods. He did so with a takedown in each of the final two periods, including one that turned into a fourpoint nearfall that he felt was close enough to have been a pin.

“Keep doing that buddy,” Smith said to Gfeller, who was sitting in the back of the press conference.

While many OSU fans felt the love from Gfeller when he was motioning kisses to the crowd, there was one special, young Oklahoma State fan staying up past her bedtime who his kiss was most likely intended for.

Among the crowd was his 10-month-old daughter, Charlotte, whom he said he was most excited to have seen him win his final match in GIA — even though he knows she won’t remember it.

“I think it’s cool that I’ll be able to tell Charlotte one day that she came to watch me wrestle,” the 157-pounder said. “That will be cool. ... Even though she won’t remember, but to have those pictures of us, I think that’ll be really cool for her to see when she gets older.”” All the while Gfeller was talking about his decision to come back for another year, sitting next to him during the press conference was Daton Fix who has a similar situation now facing him.

However, when pressed about the topic of having to think about whether he will be back next year, Fix — who won his match at 133 pounds by 15-6 decision — painted a picture that made it seem his decision has already been made.

“It makes sense to me to take advantage of every year for sure,” Fix said. “I’m not gonna say anything right now for sure, but I wasn’t up there on the stage for senior night — so that’s a pretty good indicator of where my mindset is.”

When given a rebuttal about the possibility of a storybook ending if he were to win a national championship in his hometown with Tulsa hosting the NCAA championships in May, he gave what Gfeller said was really good “counter” argument.

“Two-time national champion would be pretty good,” Fix said.