I just wanted to say that I seem to have fixed my issue.

How I fixed the screen tearing with Nvidia control panel:
1.) Open Nvidia control panel
2.) Go to Manage 3D Settings link on the left
3.) Select the Program Settings tab
4.) Add a new program
5.) Go to your freespace installation folder. Mine was: C:\Games\FreespaceOpen\bin\FSO-19.0.0\windows\
6.) You'll notice there are four directories in there (x64, x64_avx, x86, x86_avx)
7.) Within the x64 folder, select the executable to add: fs2_open_19_0_0_x64_AVX.exe
8.) Once added, go down to the vsync setting and turn it ON.
9.) Do steps 4-8 with the other executables in x64_avx, x86, and x86_avx
10.) Hit apply then exit.
For good measure I'd just restart Knossos. Now the screen tearing is gone and the gameplay is smooth
