By Dave Wilson
ESPN Staff Writer
Oklahoma State's Malcolm Rodriguez, one of the country's best linebackers, walked into his locker room after a game and had to make one last takedown.

Picture this: Cowboys coach Mike Gundy is in there, working out right after a win. He sees Rodriguez, just shy of 32 years his junior, and gets up and presents a challenge. The two may have been in a football locker room, but this is Oklahoma, and these are two former wrestlers sizing up each other.

Rodriguez, though, won two state wrestling titles in Wagoner, Oklahoma. He said Gundy hollered a little bit, so he put him down.

"I was like, 'Yeah, Coach, I still got it,'" Rodriguez said. "I could definitely still take him. He'd have no shot."

This would come as no surprise to opposing offenses. Behind Rodriguez and another star wrestler, defensive end Brock Martin, who won three consecutive state titles in Oologah, Oklahoma, the Cowboys are a stiff test for challengers.

Both Rodriguez and Martin said their history as grapplers is a big reason for their defensive success. It's all about angles, physics and technique. Rodriguez said he reads defenders' hips like he would in wrestling.

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