Doucet adjusting to life as college wrestler

Konner Doucet ended his high school career as one of the most highly decorated athletes to ever come out of Comanche.

Now, a year into his career at Oklahoma State, he is hoping to continue that success at one of the most highly-decorated college wrestling programs in the country. The Cowboys, who own 34 national wrestling championships, finished third at the NCAA Tournament this year.

The original plan was to redshirt his first year, but COVID-19 rules allowed the athletes to get a free year without using up any eligibility.

Doucet finished his freshman year with an 8-3 record. 

“I thought it was a fun year,” Doucet said. “It’s definitely a lot harder than most people think. It’s different going from high school to having to be on your own all the time, to go to class on your own, and stuff. The workouts got a lot harder but for the most part it was pretty much the same thing I’ve always loved to do.”

He appreciates the fact that Comanche took wrestling seriously and it is taken seriously at Oklahoma State.

“I was lucky to have gone to Comanche where there were so many people serious about sports,” Doucet said. “(At OSU) I am around people who want to make a living playing sports or be the best at the highest level and it’s just good to see the work ethic and learn some things from each other whether it be a softball player or football player or anybody. I can learn something from them. Going to Stillwater, especially, because, unlike other colleges, wrestling is considered one of the top sports, so we’re treated like the top dogs.” 

After being a four-time state champion and going undefeated his junior and senior years in high school, the competition has gotten a lot stiffer wrestling at a major college.

“I wrestled a bunch of top-level guys,” Doucet said. “I think the biggest thing that you have to learn when you’re going to wrestle in college is everybody’s good.”

That is where the high school and college programs begin to separate.

“First off, you really just have to learn how to function when you’re tired,” Doucet said. “Usually in high school, I didn’t really get tired wrestling somebody, but if I did, I was already beating them by a lot of points. So, the hardest thing was just to learn, hey, just because you’re tired, doesn’t mean you can’t do something. You got to keep pushing through. So, that’s the hardest part, learning how to wrestle hard when you’re tired.”

Doucet also moved up a weight class, wrestling heavyweights, where he can give up to 40 pounds to his opponent.

“It’s not really too bad once you get through the adjustment period,” Doucet said. “You just have to learn how to wrestle bigger guys.”

And that was an adjustment for Doucet. He was known for attacking the legs in high school in weight classes where many wrestlers prefer to wrap up and work the top half of the body.

“I think for the most part my style is still the same,” Doucet said. “It’s definitely a lot harder to get to people’s legs. I think it’s a little bit due to the fact they are bigger, but it’s mostly because they’re better wrestlers. It takes a longer time to get your shot in. You just can’t go in there and shoot right off the bat and expect to get a leg.”

Doucet battled throughout the season with another heavyweight to get the right to wrestle on the varsity squat meets and tournaments. They had wrestle-offs three times for that right. The matches were tight with two of the matches going into overtime. Doucet went 1-2 in those matches and he admits the last one was the hardest loss since it was an overtime loss to determine who got to wrestle at the Big 12 Tournament.

Doucet, a CHS valedictorian, made the Dean’s Honor Roll at OSU.

“It was challenging a little bit at first but not too bad,” Doucet said. “Honestly, it was really more of if you were willing to go to class and study a little bit, you would be all right.”

He kept his grades up despite having to travel by bus to places like the Air Force Academy in Colorado, Little Rock, Northern Iowa and other places.

Doucet sighed when he was asked about traveling long distances for those road trips.

“You get on the bus at 9 p.m., ride back through the night to Stillwater and get back in time to go straight to class,” Doucet said.

It helps that he lives with other wrestlers, which makes being away from home and getting through the grind a lot easier.

“We’re all great friends,” Doucet said. “We’re always hanging out together. It’s like living at home.”

He has a piece of advice for those high school athletes wanting to compete at the next level.

“I don’t know if you can apply this to all sports, but I think you can for wrestling and that is don’t be afraid to do the hard stuff,” Doucet said. “Don’t run away from competition. You better go wrestle the best people and look for the best training partners and have a good work ethic because that’s one thing that will get you booted out of college faster than anything is if you’re lazy and you’re not a hard worker. You’re not going to be around very long.”