Ethan Wesloski is Oh for One Against His National Champion Pitching Brother
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FRISCO, Texas – Ethan Wesloski was in Omaha three times for the College World Series to watch his younger brother, freshman OU pitcher Nick Wesloski, help pitch the Sooners to the National Championship.
“It was pretty fun, I was up there three times. And to see him be the pitcher of record in the championship clinching game was great,” Wesloski said. “Watching him carrying the trophy and running around with it, that was incredible.”
“I saw him pitch against OSU in the first game in Arlington that OU win and then Nick ends up pitching against them in a midweek game in Stillwater. He pitched good, but Oklahoma State won,” Wesloksi recounted and said it was good Oklahoma State won.”
Wesloski, now a 6-1, 234 pound linebacker that posted 113 total tackles at North Texas last season and will be a leader for the Cowboys on defense this season did play baseball. He was a catcher at McKinney Boyd High School that made his choice for the gridiron.
“I chose my senior year in high school,” he said. “I wanted to play both sports in college, but I tore up my shoulder in football.”
I suggested a move to first base, like in the movie “Moneyball.”
“I did play first base for a while,” he added. “I faced Nick one time and I was oh for one. I flied out to left field and then I charged the mound, I didn’t even run to first. I went right after him and he started running off.”
So, it’s football and like his younger brother, Ethan was telling media in Frisco that this is not a rebuild at Oklahoma State this season. He is a senior and he wants to deliver the kind of winning season Oklahoma State fans used to be accustomed to.
He thinks the defense will be a positive part of that, and I asked him about the guys in front of him at defensive tackle, which on paper looks inexperienced and thin.
“Yes, I think we’ll be fine there,” Wesloski said of the defensive tackle question. “There are some people there returning from injury a little bit. (Fata) Vailea is returning from injury. There are some great people up there that will be playing for us. It is all about helping each other. They are going to help me make plays and I’m going to help them make plays as well.”
Wesloski confesses that he and the defense needs a player in the middle of the defensive line that needs to draw a double-team. Like Cowboys defensive end Jaleel Johnson, he feels Malik Charles coming back from injury and now 300 pounds could be good in there.
“I haven’t seen him play a whole lot, but I saw him take reps at defensive end and even three technique,” Wesloski said. “He is really athletic and he could be a problem for he offense down there.”
I think he would be a “freak” and as athletic a nose tackle as you could have. Think a big Collin Oliver playing inside on defense. We’ll see how it plays out, but strength inside would be the ticket to linebackers making lots of tackles and opponents punting the ball way more often.
