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OSU Wrestling Coach John Smith Opens Up About His Father’s Death

TULSA — John Smith wasn’t on the sideline for all seven of Oklahoma State’s Big 12 Championship matches on Sunday.

He spent much of the evening out of the limelight because his father, Lee Roy Smith Sr., died at about 9 p.m. Sunday night. He was 85.

“It’s been a tough weekend, but the last thing he asked, when he could speak, was he was concerned about the Big 12 Tournament,” John Smith said. “He got to come here the last couple of years and really enjoyed it. Somebody sent me a picture where he was up in the stands and he started the O-S-U with his cowboy hat on.