Cowboys in third after Day 1
The Oklahoma State wrestling team was in third place after the first day of the NCAA Tournament in St. Louis. But the Cowboys remain in striking distance of front-running Penn State.
ST. LOUIS — Oklahoma State sits in third place after one day of competition at the NCAA Wrestling Tournament inside the Scottrade Center.
The Cowboys totaled 25.5 points Thursday, trailing only Ohio State (26) and Penn State (30.5). OSU advanced seven wrestlers to the quarterfinals.
Cowboys moving on in the championship bracket on Friday: (125) No. 8 Nick Piccininni (125) vs. Iowa’s
No. 1 Thomas Gilman; (133) No. 3 Kaid Brock vs. Pittsburgh’s No. 6 Dom Forys; (141) No. 1 Dean Heil vs. Missouri’s No. 8 Jaydin Eierman; (157) No. 5 Joe Smith vs. Nebraska’s No. 4 Tyler Berger; (165) No. 9 Chandler Rogers vs. Illinois’ No. 1
Isaiah Martinez; (184) No. 4 Nolan Boyd vs. Northern Iowa’s No. 12 Drew Foster; and (197) No. 6 Preston
Weigel vs. Ohio State’s No. 3 Kollin Moore.
Two OSU wrestlers who earned Session 1 victories — (149) No. 2 Anthony Collica and (285) No. 6 Austin
Schaffer — were defeated in Session 2 and will compete in wrestlebacks Friday. OSU’s Kyle Crutchmer, No. 7 at 174 pounds, was the lone Cowboy wrestler to lose his opening-round match. Crutchmer remained in contention for at least a third-place finish, though, with a 15-4 major decision victory against Purdue’s
Jacob Morrissey to advance to the second round of the consolation bracket.
The most impressive OSU performance Thursday belonged to Rogers, who pinned both of his opponents: North Dakota State’s
Andrew Fogarty (fall 2:27) and West Virginia’s Dylan
Cottrell (fall 0:52). Cottrell had previously defeated Rogers in the Big 12 Tournament finals, 5-4.
“What I noticed in my last match (against Cottrell) is I didn’t come out hard,” Rogers said. “So right off the bat, I took him down. I knew I wanted to get a takedown within the first 15 seconds. Once I did that, it set the pace for my intensity.”
Sooners fail to reach quarterfinals
Oklahoma had a rough start to the NCAA Tournament. Only one Sooner wrestler, unseeded Brad
Johnson at 197 pounds, advanced in the championship bracket after the first round with seven others being sent to wrestlebacks with losses. Johnson then fell in the second round to Minnesota’s No. 2 Brett
Pfarr, 6-1, eliminating OU from the quarterfinals and championship bracket Friday.
OSU fan attendance high
All-session tickets for the tournament were sold out before opening rounds with only a small number of seats available for Saturday’s action inside the Scottrade Center.
The reported attendance for the first two sessions Thursday was 36,314 — including a large contingent of OSU fans. An orangeclad group sat together in one 100-section corner with more dotted throughout the arena. Among them in the front row was Clay
Hutson, 32, of Enid. A 2007 OSU graduate, Hutson has attended every NCAA Wrestling Tournament since 1999.
“We take a big crowd, OSU is a good tradition, obviously,” Hutson said. “It’s a dynasty. They continue to win and continue to put on a good show.”
Bowlsby open to Big 12 wrestling expansion
Big 12 commissioner
Bob Bowlsby was in attendance Thursday. He has a vested interest in the sport, considering Bowlsby was a four-year letter-winning wrestler at Minnesota State University (Moorhead) in the early 1970s and previously chaired the NCAA Wrestling Committee.
The Big 12 added six wrestling programs to the league — Air Force, Northern Colorado, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Utah Valley and Wyoming — in 2015. Might more be on the way? Bowlsby wouldn’t detail specifics, but indicated the league could bring in additional members.
“I think we’re openminded to adding teams,” Bowslby said. “I think we’ve got a good situation right now, but the fact is, I’m a former wrestler and I care about the sport. If we can do things to help keep the sport strong, then I think we should do that. I think we’ve done that with the addition of these six, and if there are more that are interested, we’d be open-minded.”