Oklahoma State beats Penn State on raised platform in Stillwater, 21-18
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by Roger Moore
By Roger Moore, Special to Themat.com
Photo of OSU coach John Smith courtesy of Oklahoma State wrestling website.
STILLWATER, Okla. – For the first time in the long history of Gallagher-Iba Arena the big orange mat was put on a stage similar to the NCAA Championships’ annual primetime Saturday night show. And host Oklahoma State and Penn State, the reigning national champions, provided fans with one spectacular afternoon.
After twists and turns, pins and video reviews, and energetic coaches on the stage almost as much as their wrestlers, it was No. 7 Oklahoma State edging No. 5 Penn State, 21-18, in front of 4,691. Austin Marsden’s wild 4-3 first tiebreaker win over Jon Gingrich at 285 pounds provided the final three points for the Cowboys, who won 6 of the 10 bouts but gave up pins at 133 and 149 pounds.
“I liked the stage. I thought it created a good environment for us,” OSU head coach John Smith said. “We were able to deliver. It’s been two years since we’ve been able to win a big dual meet.”
Marsden and Gingrich had to sit and watch the nine crazy bouts before them.
“I was emotionally drained,” said Marsden, an All-American last March. “I got caught up with the match instead of worrying about my match. It wasn’t my shape or conditioning, it was mostly letting things get to my head and that really slowed me down.
“I should’ve done more, but I got the win.”
Gingrich, in a fight with Jimmy Lawson for the starting spot for PSU head coach Cael Sanderson, got the call on Sunday. A second period reversal provided a 2-1 lead with two minutes to wrestle. An escape for Marsden tied it and a late flurry almost resulted in a takedown for the Cowboy junior. After a lengthy video review, one of many on Sunday, official Kevin Linich did not award points and sent the two to overtime tied at 2 where tiebreakers eventually ensued.
In the first 30-second session Marsden secured a reversal and fought off Gingrich’s attempt for his own reversal. Another video review resulted and the two went to another 30-second tiebreaker with Marsden up 4-2. Gingrich escaped, but a pair of final takedown attempts came up short and a wild day was over.
This Cowboys’ losses this season came at Minnesota (19-15 on Nov. 29), at Missouri (25-13 on Jan. 23) and on home mats against top-ranked Iowa (30-7 on Jan. 11. And it appeared the Nittany Lions (10-4) might win for the second straight trip to Stillwater when James Gulibon (19-4) flattened Gary Wayne Harding in 3:32 at 133 pounds and Zack Beitz turned a standing switch into a cradle and pin at 149 pounds against All-American Josh Kindig at 149 pounds. It put PSU up 12-6 after four bouts.
But OSU (10-3) got a clutch performance from sophomore Anthony Collica at 157 pounds and the day was just getting started.
“I was just, like ‘I have to do a bigger job than what I was supposed to do,” said Collica, a 141-pounder last season. “I just went out there and wrestled tough. I knew (Alton) gets tired and I knew I had to wrestle hard the whole time and I’d be all right.”
Earlier this season, PSU senior Dylan Alton pinned Collica at the Southern Scuffle. But this time around a visually struggling Alton had little in the tank after a 2-1 first-period advantage. Collica (19-9) scored four second period takedowns and added a three-point near fall; in the final two minutes the Cowboy added four takedowns and demolished Alton, 24-9, to cut the deficit to 12-11.
“It was really cool, I’ve never seen it like this here before,” Collica added. “I haven’t been on a stage since high school.”
National champion Alex Dieringer (24-0) had little trouble with Garrett Hammond at 165 pounds, rolling to a 14-4 major decision. It was the hosts’ first lead since Eddie Klimara’s 8-7 victory over Jordan Conaway at 125 pounds.
The afternoon took another twist at 174 pounds where second-ranked All-American Matt Brown (21-2) withstood a late rally to beat Kyle Crutchmer, 9-7 in overtime. Crutchmer scored a long-range, desperation takedown in the final five seconds to lead by one – Brown’s 1:21 of riding time sent the match to overtime where the Nittany Lion senior secured a takedown to tie the dual at 15-15 with three bouts remaining.
On a chaotic day, it may have been Nolan Boyd (21-7) and his methodical 4-0 decision of Matt McCutcheon at 184 pounds that proved the biggest. PSU’s fourth-ranked Morgan McIntosh (22-2) followed with a 6-1 decision of Luke Bean at 197 pounds putting the dual in the hands of Marsden and Gingrich.
It was another tough loss for the reigning NCAA champions, who lost to Iowa last Sunday, 18-12; to Minnesota, 17-16; and to Ohio State, 22-15.
“I think we wrestled okay,” PSU head coach Cael Sanderson said. “I think we had some big wins with (Zack) Beitz and (James) Gulibon. We lost some close matches.
“I’m not saying we are going back to the hotel and celebrate or anything, but we did okay.”
Both squads may be chasing Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and others come March in St. Louis. Smith provided a realistic view of his squad following the match.
“Probably in mid-January when I realized, ‘hey we may not be a team that can compete for a championship but let’s take a real look at what we can do to maybe put ourselves in a position next year.’
“In my 24 years of coaching I have never done that, but I have done that now.”
Regardless of what happens in St. Louis, both squads provided wrestling fans with a fantastic effort on Sunday.
No. 7 Oklahoma State 21, No. 5 Penn State 18
125-#9 Eddie Klimara (O) dec #8 Jordan Conaway, 8-7
133-#5 James Gulibon (P) pin Gary Wayne Harding, 3:32
141-#15 Dean Heil (O) dec Kade Moss, 8-5 tb1
149-#18 Zack Beitz (P) pin #4 Josh Kindig, 3:17
157-#18 Anthony Collica (O) tech fall #6 Dylan Alton, 24-9 (7:00)
165-#1 Alex Dieringer (O) maj dec #18 Garrett Hammond, 14-4
174-#2 Matt Brown (O) dec #11 Kyle Crutchmer, 9-7 SV
184-#18 Nolan Boyd (O) dec #19 Matt McCutcheon, 4-0
197-#4 Morgan McIntosh (O) dec Luke Bean, 6-1
285-#5 Austin Marsden (O) dec Jon Gingrich, 4-3 tb1
Photo of OSU coach John Smith courtesy of Oklahoma State wrestling website.
STILLWATER, Okla. – For the first time in the long history of Gallagher-Iba Arena the big orange mat was put on a stage similar to the NCAA Championships’ annual primetime Saturday night show. And host Oklahoma State and Penn State, the reigning national champions, provided fans with one spectacular afternoon.
After twists and turns, pins and video reviews, and energetic coaches on the stage almost as much as their wrestlers, it was No. 7 Oklahoma State edging No. 5 Penn State, 21-18, in front of 4,691. Austin Marsden’s wild 4-3 first tiebreaker win over Jon Gingrich at 285 pounds provided the final three points for the Cowboys, who won 6 of the 10 bouts but gave up pins at 133 and 149 pounds.
“I liked the stage. I thought it created a good environment for us,” OSU head coach John Smith said. “We were able to deliver. It’s been two years since we’ve been able to win a big dual meet.”
Marsden and Gingrich had to sit and watch the nine crazy bouts before them.
“I was emotionally drained,” said Marsden, an All-American last March. “I got caught up with the match instead of worrying about my match. It wasn’t my shape or conditioning, it was mostly letting things get to my head and that really slowed me down.
“I should’ve done more, but I got the win.”
Gingrich, in a fight with Jimmy Lawson for the starting spot for PSU head coach Cael Sanderson, got the call on Sunday. A second period reversal provided a 2-1 lead with two minutes to wrestle. An escape for Marsden tied it and a late flurry almost resulted in a takedown for the Cowboy junior. After a lengthy video review, one of many on Sunday, official Kevin Linich did not award points and sent the two to overtime tied at 2 where tiebreakers eventually ensued.
In the first 30-second session Marsden secured a reversal and fought off Gingrich’s attempt for his own reversal. Another video review resulted and the two went to another 30-second tiebreaker with Marsden up 4-2. Gingrich escaped, but a pair of final takedown attempts came up short and a wild day was over.
This Cowboys’ losses this season came at Minnesota (19-15 on Nov. 29), at Missouri (25-13 on Jan. 23) and on home mats against top-ranked Iowa (30-7 on Jan. 11. And it appeared the Nittany Lions (10-4) might win for the second straight trip to Stillwater when James Gulibon (19-4) flattened Gary Wayne Harding in 3:32 at 133 pounds and Zack Beitz turned a standing switch into a cradle and pin at 149 pounds against All-American Josh Kindig at 149 pounds. It put PSU up 12-6 after four bouts.
But OSU (10-3) got a clutch performance from sophomore Anthony Collica at 157 pounds and the day was just getting started.
“I was just, like ‘I have to do a bigger job than what I was supposed to do,” said Collica, a 141-pounder last season. “I just went out there and wrestled tough. I knew (Alton) gets tired and I knew I had to wrestle hard the whole time and I’d be all right.”
Earlier this season, PSU senior Dylan Alton pinned Collica at the Southern Scuffle. But this time around a visually struggling Alton had little in the tank after a 2-1 first-period advantage. Collica (19-9) scored four second period takedowns and added a three-point near fall; in the final two minutes the Cowboy added four takedowns and demolished Alton, 24-9, to cut the deficit to 12-11.
“It was really cool, I’ve never seen it like this here before,” Collica added. “I haven’t been on a stage since high school.”
National champion Alex Dieringer (24-0) had little trouble with Garrett Hammond at 165 pounds, rolling to a 14-4 major decision. It was the hosts’ first lead since Eddie Klimara’s 8-7 victory over Jordan Conaway at 125 pounds.
The afternoon took another twist at 174 pounds where second-ranked All-American Matt Brown (21-2) withstood a late rally to beat Kyle Crutchmer, 9-7 in overtime. Crutchmer scored a long-range, desperation takedown in the final five seconds to lead by one – Brown’s 1:21 of riding time sent the match to overtime where the Nittany Lion senior secured a takedown to tie the dual at 15-15 with three bouts remaining.
On a chaotic day, it may have been Nolan Boyd (21-7) and his methodical 4-0 decision of Matt McCutcheon at 184 pounds that proved the biggest. PSU’s fourth-ranked Morgan McIntosh (22-2) followed with a 6-1 decision of Luke Bean at 197 pounds putting the dual in the hands of Marsden and Gingrich.
It was another tough loss for the reigning NCAA champions, who lost to Iowa last Sunday, 18-12; to Minnesota, 17-16; and to Ohio State, 22-15.
“I think we wrestled okay,” PSU head coach Cael Sanderson said. “I think we had some big wins with (Zack) Beitz and (James) Gulibon. We lost some close matches.
“I’m not saying we are going back to the hotel and celebrate or anything, but we did okay.”
Both squads may be chasing Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and others come March in St. Louis. Smith provided a realistic view of his squad following the match.
“Probably in mid-January when I realized, ‘hey we may not be a team that can compete for a championship but let’s take a real look at what we can do to maybe put ourselves in a position next year.’
“In my 24 years of coaching I have never done that, but I have done that now.”
Regardless of what happens in St. Louis, both squads provided wrestling fans with a fantastic effort on Sunday.
No. 7 Oklahoma State 21, No. 5 Penn State 18
125-#9 Eddie Klimara (O) dec #8 Jordan Conaway, 8-7
133-#5 James Gulibon (P) pin Gary Wayne Harding, 3:32
141-#15 Dean Heil (O) dec Kade Moss, 8-5 tb1
149-#18 Zack Beitz (P) pin #4 Josh Kindig, 3:17
157-#18 Anthony Collica (O) tech fall #6 Dylan Alton, 24-9 (7:00)
165-#1 Alex Dieringer (O) maj dec #18 Garrett Hammond, 14-4
174-#2 Matt Brown (O) dec #11 Kyle Crutchmer, 9-7 SV
184-#18 Nolan Boyd (O) dec #19 Matt McCutcheon, 4-0
197-#4 Morgan McIntosh (O) dec Luke Bean, 6-1
285-#5 Austin Marsden (O) dec Jon Gingrich, 4-3 tb1
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