Major decision
Oklahoma State, Penn State went to the mats in the NWCA Dual Finals.
STILLWATER — When the doors opened Sunday afternoon, the line waiting to get inside Gallagher-Iba Arena stretched through the north parking lot and down Hall of Fame Avenue, and when every seat was filled, onlookers stood three and four rows deep in the concourse aisles if only to catch a glimpse.
OSU’s historic arena was first built in 1938, fully renovated in 2001, and with 14,059 in attendance Sunday, never in its history had the old barn been so full. Then again, the spectacle of No. 2-ranked Penn State visiting No. 1 OSU for the NWCA National Dual Championship, the Super Bowl of college wrestling not broadcast on national television, was history best witnessed in person.
“We’re living the good ol’ days,” OSU coach John Smith said.
OSU fans ran the gamut of emotions Sunday, too. The building trembled with noise for each of the Cowboys’ first three match victories. It faded to eventual silence when Penn State roared back with seven wins of its own for a decisive 27-13 dual victory.
“It just kind of looked like a team trying rather than doing,” Smith said. “It didn’t appear when it got real critical that we had the confidence that we needed.”
OSU led 13-0 after three matches with its first, 125, at the cost of an opponent’s health as Nick Suriano left the mat with a reported ankle injury in the third period against OSU’s Nick Piccininni.
Kaid Brock (133) extended the Cowboys’ lead with a 17-6 major decision against George Carpenter. That was followed by a 3-2 decision for Dean Heil (141) after he barely escaped two pin attempts from James Gulibon as time expired in the last two periods.
“Just doing whatever I could to hold on,” Heil said.
That momentum, though, was short lived.
From 149 to 197, six consecutive matches, the Cowboys failed to record a single two-point takedown. Three were lopsided: (157) Jason Nolf’s 24-9 technical fall against Joe Smith at 7 minutes; (165) Vincenzo Joseph’s 12-4 major decision against Chandler Rogers; and (184) Bo Nickal’s pin of Nolan Boyd at 38 seconds.
“If you’re not a competitor, you’re nothing out there, you’re mush,” Smith said. “I thought we had a couple mush matches.”
Two more losses were decided late in the third period: (149) Zain Rethorford’s 2-1 decision against Anthony Collica and (174) Mark Hall’s 3-2 decision against Kyle Crutchmer. Retherford won on riding time, while Hall turned the corner with a third period two-point takedown.
“You need to be the one that strikes,” Smith said. “You can’t wait to steal the match.”
OSU, undefeated (140) in regular season duals, now shifts its attention to the Big 12 Championships — a title the Cowboys have claimed fourstraight years — held March 4-5 at the BOK Center in Tulsa. BOK Center seats will be filled with many of the same fans who broke the GIA attendance record Sunday, and in doing so, impressing Penn State coach Cael Sanderson.
“If you entertain people, they’ll show up,” Sanderson said. “Right now, college wrestling has a very good product.”
However, it’s a bittersweet footnote for Cowboy wrestlers with NCAA team national championship aspirations.
“By the end of the dual, it was kind of upsetting,” Heil said. “You go out and your team doesn’t perform and you feel like you let (the fans) down.”