Cowboys riding high
The NCAA Wrestling Championships began Thursday in Cleveland, Ohio. Oklahoma State is seeking its 35th national title but first since 2006.
CLEVELAND, OHIO — Nick Piccininni’s sharp performance led a contingent of five Oklahoma State wrestlers into the quarterfinals Thursday before 18,680 fans at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Quicken Loans Arena.
Joined by Kaid Brock (27-3), two-time national champ Dean Heil (25-5), Boo Lewallen (28-5) and Derek White (25-2), OSU’s 125-pounder posted a pin and a solid 6-3 decision to lead the Cowboys into seventh place with only a few late consolation matches remaining.
As expected, defending champion Penn State and Big 10 champ Ohio State advanced with a flurry of bonus point victories. After the second round in championship bracket, Ohio State led 36-28.5. Iowa was third with 27, followed by Michigan at 23 and North Carolina State with 20. Missouri was sixth at 18.5, OSU seventh with 15.
Piccininni, who placed fourth last year but is seeded sixth this year in a loaded weight class, started with a bang, piling up a quick lead then pinning Illinois’ Travis Poitrowski in only 1:47. In the second round, he met a serious rival, No. 11 seed Sean Russell of Edinboro.
The Cowboy sophomore had edged Russell in overtime in last year’s NCAA Tournament and outlasted him by virtue of a penalty point in a February dual. But this time he took control early with a takedown, added another plus riding time and was never threatened in a 6-3 triumph.
“He (Russell) has been a nemesis,” said OSU head coach John Smith. “They’ve gone back and forth the last two years, but Nick wrestled well. Those two takedowns put him in control. That’s what did it. A good win plus the pin in the first round made it a good day.”
In Friday’s quarterfinals, Piccininni (23-3) faces Iowa freshman standout Spencer Lee, a 10-5 winner over Piccininni in a January dual match. Brock is OSU’s only favorite in the five quarterfinal matchups.
Oklahoma State had a disappointing first round, partially due to an injury and a controversial referee’s decision that shoved two seeded Cowboys into the consolation brackets.
No. 9 seed Preston Weigel was defending a takedown attempt by unseeded 197-pounder Kyle Conei of Kent State and injured a knee in the process. Weigel, a returning All-American who had beaten Conei by technical fall in the regular season, had little mobility thereafter and suffered a 5-0 defeat. He withdrew from the tournament.
No. 8 Chandler Rogers trailed 6-5 to Jonathan Viruet of Brown in the final 40 seconds. Rogers put Viruet on his back and thought he was awarded a takedown and near fall, but no points were awarded. OSU challenged the call, but after video review the call stood.
Only 27 seconds remained, and Rogers could not secure the winning takedown. He stayed alive in consolations with a 16-1 technical fall. Unseeded 184-pounder Keegan Moore fell 9-2 to No. 4 seed Pete Renda of North Carolina State., yielding four takedowns, and was eliminated by getting pinned in the first round of consolations.
Brock advanced with 7-4 and 10-3 decisions. Heil struggled but won 4-2 and 6-2. Lewallen ousted the two wrestlers he met in the Big 12 Conference Tournament semifinals and finals by handling Oklahoma’s Davion Jeffries 7-3 then Northern Iowa’s Max Thomsen 10-6.
Heavyweight White won 6-1 then needed a reverse and two penalty points in tiebreaker to beat Arizona State’s Tanner Hall, 6-4.