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EspañolEvery week presents a gauntlet.
Every dual can feature several ranked bouts and ranked teams dot dual schedules.
That’s life in the Big 12 — and it’s just fine with Air Force coach Sam Barber.
“There is no margin to not show up and just kinda be at your very best either individually or as a team,” Barber said.
It’s a battle-tested Falcons (5-8 overall, 1-7 Big 12) squad — one with a combined seven freshmen and sophomore starters — prepared for the Big 12 Championships, which begin Friday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
A 19-16 home win against California Baptist on Feb. 15 highlighted the Falcons’ conference slate.
Air Force won five of 10 bouts against the Lancers and Carter Nogle’s win over Jesse Vasquez at 141 pounds helped the sophomore land Big 12 Wrestler of the Week honors.
The win marked the first time in conference competition “where we wrestled as a complete unit all 10 weight classes,” Barber said.
Noble Nogle
The bigger the match, the better Nogle wrestles.
That’s how Barber describes his 141-pounder, who enters the postseason with three consecutive wins.
The streak started with a 5-4 win over Utah Valley’s then-#18 Haiden Drury, before the major decision against Vasquez and, most recently, a pin over Northern Colorado’s Ramon Salazar in Sunday’s loss against the Bears.
“(Nogle) just loves to compete,” Barber said. “He has an incredible intrinsic motivation and fire inside him where he just loves to compete and the bigger the moment, the bigger the match, the more he loves it. He wrestles better in those bigger matches.”
Reverting to the “basics” pushed Nogle levels ahead, Barber said, as he quickly adjusted from setbacks.
“Incredibly coachable,” Barber said. “Highly intrinsically driven and he is really taking the time to look at where he needs to be great. Especially in the core positions in high-level matches.”
Nogle, ranked 30th, brings a 10-3 dual mark into the postseason — tied with 125-pounder Tucker Owens for the Falcons’ most dual wins.
Owens Eyes National Return
Tucker Owens splashed onto the national scene as a freshman, earning an automatic NCAA tournament qualification — the first Falcons 125-pounder since 2013 to accomplish the feat.
Now, as the team’s only returning national qualifier, Owens hopes to end his collegiate career in the same place he started.
An injury spoiled most of Owens’ junior season, but he rolls into Tulsa — just about 120 miles from his hometown of Mustang, Oklahoma, — with a 19-5 record, including 10-2 in duals.
“Tucker is kinda having a season like we expected him to have coming off his freshman year,” Barber said. “So it is great to see him back where he wants to be. He has got big goals and he should be seeded pretty well in the Big 12 Conference because he has had some good wins.”
Owens, ranked 31stt, ended the regular season with five consecutive wins and a 60 percent bonus-point rate in that span.
Five ranked wins litter the team captain’s resume this season, including a 9-2 triumph against North Dakota State’s then-#19 Ezekiel Witt and a decision against Oklahoma State’s Gary Steen.
Owens also beat Utah Valley’s then-#25 Bridger Ricks in sudden victory.
Back To Back
A returning Big 12 placer and standout freshman provide a 1-2 upperweight punch for the Falcons.
It starts at 184 Brian Burburija, who finished sixth at the 2025 Big 12 Championships, before the spotlight shifts to Karson Tompkins at 197.
In one instance, Barber sees a freshman — who will blossom into a guy “to keep an eye on” — competing in a stacked weight. For Burburija, meanwhile, it’s all about belief.”
“We know (Burburija) is a great wrestler,” Barber said. “He has had a bit of an up and down season but just continuing to believe who he is, what he is capable of and that it is going to come together at the right time for him.”
It extends beyond Burburija, too.
“In a tough season like we have had at times, we just really gotta bond together and we gotta support each other and lift each other up,” Barber said. “Elevate each other and elevate our performances. Continue to pick guys up when they are feeling down and when we are up, we gotta look around us and see what we can do to pull guys along the path with us, too. That has been really powerful for our team.”
Burburija will enter the postseason at 11-7, including 5-4 in duals.
Tompkins, ranked #31, bursts into the postseason with two consecutive wins and four in his past five.
His 16-6 mark includes ranked wins over Ohio State’s then-#9 Seth Shumate and North Carolina State’s then-#15 Patrick Brophy.
Tompkins is one of seven Falcons with ranked wins this season.
“You are just seeing the tip of the iceberg about how good (Tompkins) can really be,” Barber said. “Obviously, I think he is going to have a great end to the season and some good things are going to happen. Down the road, his sophomore, junior and senior year, he is a guy to keep an eye on because I think he is just going to explode.”